It was in Toronto, where Kucherova They love to boo him since he failed to do his due diligence during one of the All-Star Game contests. According to the fans, of course. Gennady Kurdin later explained to me that Nikita was “cold” in the arena while he was waiting for his call. And running at crazy speed in competition, at the risk of tearing your groin or tearing a muscle, means staying out for a long time with an injury, and losing a lot more.
Kuch made the right choice. And he answered the fans’ whistle with three assists against Toronto (4:1), thus scoring his 130th point for the championship and updating his personal best. After all, Kucherov had 128 points in the 2018/19 season, and then it seemed like a gap.
I called Gennady Gennadievich, again asking about his student.
“Kucherov plays more interesting now than in his best years”
—How do you like Kuch?
– Well done, then. He set an all-Russian record in the NHL: he scored 130 points. But I think he can reach 140. Do the math for yourself: Tampa still has seven games in hand and Nikita is scoring 1.76 points per game. There is potential!
— Does his race with Nathan MacKinnon (127) and Connor McDavid (126) speed him up? They are like “three white horses” flying towards the Art Ross Trophy, the prize awarded to the league’s top scorer.
“I think that encourages me.” Yes, everyone thinks about their team. Additionally, Tampa had a moment in the championship where they might not have made the playoffs. After the All-Star Game, Nikita called me, we talked for three hours. He wasn’t more worried about himself, but about the team that would make the top eight. They were tumbling. Only now are they positioned in the table in such a way that they can no longer be pushed out of the playoff zone.
And it’s very exciting to win a race against the best of the best in the NHL. Everyone is ambitious, everyone wants to win. Getting ahead of both Macs – McDavid and MacKinnon – is a prestigious thing. There is also a competition here. I want to win everything – such a light burns inside. Otherwise it’s not interesting.
But hockey is a game. Sometimes she doesn’t go. Sometimes all the rebounds are for you, and you even score behind the goal with the laces of your skates. And it happens that at a distance of one meter, you cannot enter an empty frame. You don’t know how everything will turn out, how your partners will help you.
— Kucherov started throwing more this season and taking control of the game. You noticed?
— It improves every year. And this season, it promises to be much more interesting than even in its best years. Even then, he won, scored points and won the Stanley Cup. But now Kucherov has become an even better player. He has more confidence. He is on the ice more often, his playing time has increased by a minute and a half compared to last season. And his partners trust him even more, just like the coach. Nikita is now the one who plays the most among Tampa’s attackers.
– And I have enough strength.
“The main thing is that it doesn’t stop.” Nikita was not satisfied with last season, when Tampa lost to Toronto in the first round (2-4). The summer turned out to be long, but even he was upset. And I prepared even better for this season.
“Nikita simply has no competition for the Hart Trophy”
— It’s almost a record in the NHL since the introduction of the salary cap: Kucherov is ahead of the club’s second scorer, Brayden Point (83), by 47 points. This suggests Tampa is counting on one player in particular. And in the playoffs, they’ll just close it out.
– That may be the case. After all, the Stanley Cup is won by the team, not individual players. Well, Tampa is disappointed with weak central unit play, that’s why it’s sagging. The team lost strong middle peasants who helped progress towards the championship. They take off, get good contracts and move to other clubs. And there is no one to replace them.
“Tampa” is running under the salary cap. The weaker guys come. They still need to log into the system – and Nikita and I talked about that too. Well, what are you going to do? Yes, his playing time has increased, he is taking on more responsibilities. And if Kucherov hadn’t stuck around, where would Tampa be now?
He gets 90 points… That seems like a good result. But minus 40 points and Lightning would have collapsed in the standings. Can you imagine how many matches they would have lost? That’s why Nikita is so stretched, tearing everything out of himself.
— Mikhail Sergachev is injured, Steven Stamkos (-22) is the worst on the club in terms of utility… How will they play in the playoffs?
– I don’t know. Let’s see… I think Tampa’s management is still bad. It’s my point of view. They invite bad players. When Steve Yzerman worked as general manager, he built a team for the future. When Steve left, Tampa was already full. And she took her cups.
Yzerman is a very important person. He recruited players from lower leagues. The guys came and added. But now they take the wrong ones – and such an effect is not visible. As they say, “the staff decides everything”. This means that the person responsible for recruiting within the office is underperforming.
Tampa has leaders – Kucherov, Point, Hedman and Vasilevsky in goal. All hope rests on them. But that’s not enough for the Stanley Cup. What if these guys get hurt? They will be eliminated in the playoffs. And there’s no one behind them.
McDavid plays with Draisaitl in Edmonton and Hyman scores 50 goals there. “Colorado loses Nichushkin, but doesn’t even notice – the team is there and there’s depth on the roster. But Tampa doesn’t have that.
Stamkos is already 34, mind you. Throughout his career he was a distinctive marksman. There is a good, well-placed throw. But playing defense is his weak point. Apparently, over the years he has also lost his movements. It’s like that.
— Is there any intrigue as to who will receive the Hart Trophy?
– I do not think so. The regular season Most Valuable Player Award is given to the person who has contributed the most to their team’s success. And I’ve already told you what a colossal influence Nikita has on Tampa. He doesn’t even have any competitors! Even McDavid doesn’t make that kind of contribution to Edmonton’s game. Although there were years when Connor played alone for the Oilers.
Maybe only Panarin will compete. He has scored 110 points and the New York Rangers are in first place in the league. But there are still two first lines, and Artemy himself plays in the second. He is not alone and everyone is involved in it. And not a single player can dispute Nikita’s contribution to Tampa.
“He’s like an ascetic, he submits his life to hockey”
— How does Kucherov organize his life? How does he live? It is so closed that little is known about the hero of Tampa.
— Nikita is a strong family man, twice a father. Daughter and eldest son. He has matured, and it affects him too. How does he live? Family and hockey mainly.
– So few?
– And that’s true. If Nikita hung out more, there would be less time to play hockey. If I didn’t recover, if I didn’t rest, injuries would occur and my career would deteriorate…
Nikita subordinates his lifestyle to hockey. In this sense, he is an ascetic. But that’s where the results come from. Why did Igor Larionov play for so long? He took good care of his health. If there are no injuries, which can happen like an accident, Nikita can play for a long time.
— Up to 45 years old?
– Well, I’m not sure. But he is now 30 years old. Nikita will probably be active and at the top until he is 38 years old. He’s the kind of person by nature who isn’t going to hang around somewhere at the bottom of the rankings with poor results. He always wants to be first. And if you succeed, you rarely go on the ice – so why such hockey? Better to leave.
— Can Kucherov become a coach after his playing career? Does he have such inclinations?
– It’s hard to say. He analyzes the game very well. He has a deep understanding of hockey and can teach. The main thing is whether there is a desire? If yes, then Nikita is capable of being a coach. Even Tampa coach John Cooper sometimes says that Kucherov sees the game very well: “I miss certain moments myself, and then he tells me: I’m starting to look at these moments differently.”
— He’s going to Russia, isn’t he?
– He told me yes, he really wanted it. I haven’t flown lately because of my young children, because the logistics are complicated now, you have to cross several countries. And this year we celebrate 15 years of hockey school graduation. And I planned to bring everyone together: Nikita Kucherov, Nikita Gusev, Igor Ozhiganov… I don’t know how it will turn out.
— The NHL does not allow the Stanley Cup to be brought to us. But let Kucherov take with him the Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Trophy.
“I will definitely give him this idea!” When he brought the Stanley Cup to his children’s palace “Umka” in River Station, it was a children’s holiday. I think there would also be some buzz around the individual awards. But first you have to conquer them.
And even if he doesn’t win, Nikita has already set a new Russian record for points. It’s also very cool!
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
