If you missed the statistics, then Alexander Radulov has already scored 701 (245+456) points in 631 career games in the KHL. One of the best players in the history of our league. And this summer, the big event was Radulov’s move from Ak Bars as a free agent to Lokomotiv. But Sasha started playing hockey in Yaroslavl and worked with Igor Nikitin 10 years ago at CSKA.
This is how small our hockey world is, this is how everything is closed. At the end of the pre-season, Alexander found time for an interview with .
From this conversation with Radulov you will learn:
“I talked with Kudashov, but it didn’t work out any further.”
— What do you think about Lokomotiv’s pre-season games? How did you manage to join the team? You played wonderfully at the tournament in Omsk.
– Everything is fine, we are working. Pre-season training went well. Good team, youngsters. Well, what else can you say? It is too early to draw conclusions.
— Is Lokomotiv’s project radically different from that of Ak Bars? After all, Yaroslavl has the best defense in the league.
— There is a difference with Kazan, yes. We play a little more aggressively without the puck. That’s what catches the eye and is felt. That’s what we’re asked to do during training sessions and meetings.
The model of Lokomotiv is probably closer to what it was at CSKA when I played there a long time ago. Of course, some nuances have changed, but there are more similarities with that time.
— How attentively did you watch the Gagarin Cup final? Lokomotiv was the favourite, but why couldn’t it beat Magnitogorsk?
— Lokomotiv played quite powerfully in all three rounds of the last playoffs. But Magnitka is the champion, what can I say? The strongest team won without any questions. Perhaps this ten-day break before the final did not have a positive effect on Yaroslavl. It is always difficult when you have matches every other day, from one round to the next, and then you have a big break. You are without hockey for a week and a half, and it seems to me that it did not benefit Yaroslavl, but it helped Magnitka.
— Lokomotiv head coach Igor Nikitin told me this: “The most important thing is not to put everything on Sanya’s shoulders, he must play his role and help our youngsters grow.” Can you feel it?
— I understood at the beginning of the conversations with Yaroslavl why they were inviting me. After a few meetings with the management, with Igor Valerievich (Nikitin), it was directly discussed and discussed. And I understood that Lokomotiv is a very diverse team. There are a lot of good young people who have proven themselves that year. And no one left, the core remained.
I have to come in, join the team. Try to follow the coaches’ instructions and devote yourself entirely to hockey. And there will be what will be. It’s like I haven’t forgotten how to play. When there is an opportunity to create a moment, we will try to do it.
— It is clear that many clubs applied for you during the off-season. There was talk of your move to Dynamo Moscow. What weighed in favor of Lokomotiv?
— I had a conversation with Dynamo. You could say that they were the first to contact me at the end of this season. For some time I was waiting for an offer from Kazan, because I didn’t really want to leave or change anything. As you know, I have a family, children. The child went to school, the other went to training.
We were happy with everything in Kazan. But this is hockey, this is life. This is a business, after all. They made a decision there and I entered the free agent market. Initially, there was a conversation with Dynamo. I met with head coach Alexei Kudashov. We talked and seemed to understand each other. But at the level of agents and managers, something was wrong.
I don’t know the details anymore, I wasn’t there and didn’t talk to anyone. Then I found out that they had signed Anton Slepyshev. And I understood that the option with Dynamo was no longer available. Then they started looking for a team and after a few days Igor Valerievich (Nikitin) called. Then I started talking to Lokomotiv.
“The euro note costs more than 500 euros”
— Your vision of football is very interesting, especially since you like the RPL. Zenit won the title six years in a row. The last season had an extremely intriguing ending.
— Yes, I watched the matches of the last round. You can’t imagine, I played three matches online. There it was decided who would win the gold. Well done, well, we can congratulate them.
To be honest, I was a fan of Dynamo Moscow. I wanted them to win. Not because I support the “blue and white” in football or anyone in particular. I just wanted the other team to become champions. You know yourself that Dynamo has not won anything for a very long time. It would be great for them to win gold. But Zenit also proved it, managing to strengthen at the decisive moment. This is their great merit.
— Why is Zenit so cool? And why can’t SKA win six KHL titles in a row? After all, the sponsor is the same, and St. Petersburg also brings together the best players on the market.
“And I don’t even know how to tell you.” We probably have slightly different rules in the KHL in terms of foreign players and the number of games. And in hockey, there are playoffs, especially with four rounds. That’s not the case in football; the championship is fluid. Teams advance and score points. Lost there, won here. But in hockey, you lose four games and you’re out.
I think hockey is more interesting. Although I also like football.
— Did you manage to go to a football match in the summer?
– Yes, I flew to the European Championship – for one match. It was only the first match between the Spaniards and the Croats, which took place in Berlin. From the very beginning, I supported the Spaniards. I even bought a sweater, a T-shirt from Spain there. After all, ours were not there.
— The ticket cost a fortune?
– Relatively, yes.
— A thousand euros?
– A little less. Between 500 and 1000 euros.
— How do you like the setting?
– Actually, a bomb! They played at the Olympic stadium, almost 70,000 spectators gathered there. I was pleasantly surprised by all aspects. We arrived early, with my wife and friends. I liked it very much. And the match turned out to be crazy, the Spaniards won with a score of 3:0. And then, as usual, we reached the title of European champions. I think Spain deserves it. And at the Olympics, they didn’t give anyone a chance.
“Nikola Jokic is a masterpiece of art”
— Have you watched the Olympics?
– Only football and basketball. Because it was even problematic to find all these programs. I mostly watched the athletics finals, the 200 and 100 meters. And I really liked the basketball semi-final. I was rooting for the Serbs and they were winning until the third quarter. But then they lost to the Americans, of course. American basketball players, listen, are on a completely different level.
— Is their basketball Dream Team a work of art?
– In a way. Although I would say that the masterpiece of art is rather Nikola Jokic, who played 38 minutes out of forty and carried his team. It was a shame that he didn’t have enough. But what do you do when a man comes out and makes four threes in a row? So what can Jokic do?
— As I understand it, Stephen Curry hit three.
“They all three cover him, he takes him and throws him.” And then he runs, saying, “Let’s go to bed.”
– Who is the best basketball player in general, according to you? Victor Vembanyama?
—Michael Jordan. The best of all time. The young Frenchman is cool too, what can I say? The same Jokic is fine, LeBron James. All those who play big in the NBA deserve our attention.
“Time flies and you can’t catch up.”
— Is it difficult to score points in the KHL compared to the NHL? I mean, Evgeny Kuznetsov can get a powerful bonus by being among the top three scorers in the league. But it is not so easy to do.
– But someone gets caught?
— You got it when you completed the bonus at Ak Bars. It was all decided in the last game of the regular season.
— Yeah, it’s hard to score points everywhere. I wouldn’t say it’s easy in the NHL. All the best hockey players in the world play it. No matter how we say it, it’s a fact now. The best strive for it, the best play it. And when you play a best-of-the-best format, maybe that has an effect. Both the quality of the passes and the quality of the decisions with the puck on the same power play. Look at what Connor McDavid does.
— He has 25 minutes on the ice, including almost two minutes on the power play. A total bet is made on him, and that also affects.
– For now. If they put you in, you will play the leading roles. But if you stop producing results, they will look at you and remove you. There are such examples, and our boys experienced this when they were highly drafted. And they were expected to make a breakthrough for a very long time, but in the end they did not succeed. I do not know the reason. But in America, they will not wait long. Yes, you will have some kind of privilege if you were selected in the first or second round. But this is still relatively short time. A year or two, and if not, you will become one of the many.
Time flies. And you can count for yourself how many new hockey players will enter the league this year. And Canadians, Americans, Russians, Finns, Swedes, and Czechs… Everyone. And it happens every year. And they keep coming. And time doesn’t stop.
— I remember when Ryan Johansen was a big star, and now he’s been selected in the waiver draft.
– Yes, and there are many such examples. The main thing is that there are no injuries. Especially for young people who are just entering the league to make a name for themselves. And so that they use their chance, evaluating it correctly. This applies to the NHL, KHL and all leagues. Time – it flies by very quickly. And you will never catch up with it. If you missed it a little, you will regret it later, and it is always unpleasant.
— The most important thing is that Alexander Radulov will play in the KHL until he is 50. It is difficult to imagine our hockey without you.
– Thank you for your kind words!
FONBET The KHL Championship starts on September 3 with the Opening Cup match between Metallurg and Lokomotiv. Watch the live broadcast of the match from 16:45 (Moscow time) on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.
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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.
