Moscow Hockey Club goalkeeper coach “Dynamo” Konstantin Vlasov explained why Andrei Vasilevsky became one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Vasilevsky graduated from Ufa Salavat Yulaev, where he played from 2012 to 2014. He was selected 19th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL Draft. As part of the Lightning, the Russian goaltender became a two-time Stanley Cup winner and also won the Vezina Trophy in 2019.
– All experts understood that the guy simply has great prospects. Andrei played for the Russian national team not only in his year, but also two years earlier. That’s a rarity among hockey goaltenders. It was very important to properly develop this potential. In hockey, there were cases when interesting and promising goalkeepers did not realize: somewhere they were physically overloaded and injuries appeared, somewhere they psychologically collapsed, which prevented their growth future. Andrei went through these stages exactly thanks to his father, who also played in goal, – Metaratings.ru quotes Vlasov.
– A goalkeeper of Vasilevsky’s level is born once in decades? Or if you configure the system, these can be produced every few years?
No, it’s not a system. You can develop good goalkeepers, but players like Vasilevsky, with such a core, such genetics and such talent, appear once every ten years.
– Is it possible to call Vasilevsky one of the best goalkeepers in history NHL or even all hockey?
– May God bless Andrey with health and longevity in sports. At present, Vasilevsky has already made a serious contribution to the history of North American and Russian hockey, but to be considered the best in the world, you need to play at a good level for many seasons, win cups , world championships and the Olympic Games. History remembers winners of champions,” Vlasov said.
Metaratings.ru
Source : MatchTV
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