Vasilevsky, Andrey Andreevich

He is a pupil of Ufa hockey. He played for the Tolpar youth club and the KHL club Salavat Yulaev . Andrei’s father, Andrei Leonidovich Vasilevsky (born 1966), is a professional hockey goalkeeper, a pupil of the Ufa hockey, he made a name for himself in the Rubin Tyumen , and at the end of his career he returned to Ufa in 2000 where he became the goalkeeper coach ^{[5] [6 ] [6 ] ]} youth hockey team Tolpar . By that time, his two sons were already growing up - Alexey, born in 1993 and Andrey, born 1994 It was decided to give both of them to the hockey section of “ Salavat Yulaev ”. At first, both played in the position of striker , but later, the senior Alexey retrained as a defender , and the youngest Andrei - as a goalkeeper .

Married, his wife's name is Ksenia, the wedding took place in 2014 ^[7] . At the end of 2015, the couple had a son, Lucas ^[8] .

Club career

KHL

Andrei Vasilevsky’s debut in the Continental Hockey League took place as part of the Ufa “ Salavat Yulaev ” in the 2012/13 season , on November 23, 2012 in a match with the Donetsk “ Donbass ”.

In the 2013/14 season, as part of the Ufa “ Salavat Yulaev ” he took 2nd place in the Russian championship and 3rd place in the KHL championship.

NHL

At the 2012 NHL Draft in Pittsburgh , he was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning Club in the first round under a common 19th number.

On May 6, 2014, the Tampa leadership signed a three-year rookie contract with goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky. At the end of the 2013/14 KHL season , Andrei did not renew his contract with the Salavat Yulaev club and announced his departure to the NHL .

The debut match in the NHL was held on December 16, 2014, in a match against the Philadelphia Flyers , in which Tampa won with a score of 3: 1, and Vasilevsky beat 23 shots out of 24 ^[9] .

March 3, 2015 in the match against the “ Buffalo Sabers ” won his first “dry” victory in the NHL reflecting all 28 shots ^[10] .

June 6, 2015 won his first victory in the playoffs, which took place in the second match of the Stanley Cup final against the Chicago Blackhawks ^[11] . Andrei played 1:37 while Ben Bishop came to his senses after an injury, but at that moment Jason Garrison scored a winning goal. Immediately after the goal, Bishop returned to the goal, but, having played a little more than 3 minutes, could not continue the game, and less than 8 minutes before the end of the 3rd period, Vasilevsky returned to the goal, having managed to keep the goal intact. He also completely played the fourth match of the final series, in which Tampa lost 1: 2, and Andrey beat off 17 shots from 19.

In the 2015/16 season, he played 24 games in the regular season, but in the playoffs after another injury, Ben Bishop became the main Tampa goalkeeper in the series with the Pittsburgh Penguins . “Lightning” lost in series 3-4, but Andrei earned flattering reviews about himself, reflecting more than 30 shots in each match.

In the summer of 2016, he entered into a new three-year agreement with Tampa Bay Lightning for $ 3.5 million per year, starting from the 2017/18 season ^[12] .

The 2016/17 season started in the status of a reserve goalkeeper, but left the starting lineup quite often, replacing Bishop, whose contract with the Lightning ended at the end of this season. And after Ben’s exchange at the Los Angeles Kings , he finally established himself as the first issue of Tampa. Total for the season he spent 50 games, 47 of them in the starting lineup, having won 23 wins in them. Despite this, the Lightning failed to get into the playoffs and completed the season.

The next season , the first under a new contract, began with the unconditional first number of the team, having won the first six matches without replacements and gained five victories. On October 30, 2017, after defeating the Florida Panthers (8: 5), he became the Tampa record holder with nine consecutive wins ^[13] .

International Career

Youth World Cup 2012

December 23, 2011 the name of Vasilevsky was named in the final composition of the youth team of Russia to participate in the 2012 World Youth Championship ^[14] , with Andrei being the youngest of all the players on the list. The coaching staff decided to try in the first meetings of the group stage two goalkeepers, Vasilevsky and Andrei Makarov , and depending on their performance, decide on the first number for the decisive games ^[15] .

In the opening match of the Russian national team against Switzerland, Vasilevsky designed a “shutout”, reflecting 40 shots of opponents on his own goal, and was recognized by the organizers as the best player of the match as part of his team ^[16] . The head coach of the Russians Valery Bragin said that the victory of the national team is the merit of the goalkeeper ^[17] .

In the second game against the Slovak national team, Makarov defended the goal. He acted confidently and also helped the team win, but still missed one goal. Vasilevsky entered the third game, and again chalked up a “dry” match - with a score of 14: 0 the Latvians were defeated. After this match, Valery Bragin said that even though the Tolpar goalkeeper hadn't missed in 120 minutes even once, he was not ready to consider him number one, since Makarov also showed himself to be great. “We’ll still think about the goalkeeper position,” said Bragin ^[18] .

In the next match for the first place in the group and the right to directly reach the semifinals against Sweden, Vasilevsky played at the gate. The first two periods he kept his possessions locked, and in the third he missed three times, and another in overtime - the Swedes reached the semifinals. The goalkeeper coach of the Russian national team Sergei Cherkas, in anticipation of the 1/4 final match, told the following words in the press about his players:

After the morning roll, a decision will be made on the goalkeeper when we see how they both look. So far, both Vasilevsky and Makarov are preparing. The final decision is made by the head coach. The match with the Swedes was the hardest for Vasilevsky, he played well, and if not for him, the team would have missed pieces 7-8. Andrei cried after the match. And you’ll cry here, when you lead 3-0 after the first period, no one could have imagined such an outcome, but it happened. He took it this way, because for the first time he plays for the youth team. He felt that fortune was near, 3-0 already, and such an emotional strain in the end. We are concerned about his psychological state.

- Sergey Cherkas about Andrei Vasilevsky after the match with Sweden ^[19]

Nevertheless, Bragin entrusted the post at the gate in the quarter finals to the young Ufa man. The Russians in a difficult match were able to defeat the Czech team only in overtime, the final score was 2: 1. Vasilevsky’s game received rave reviews in the media ^{[20] [21] [22]} .

In the semifinals, played the very next day, the well-exhausted Russian team was opposed by rested Canadians. Fueled by home stands, eager to revenge for the defeat in the final of the MFM a year ago, the “maple” after the first two periods had a huge advantage in throws - 35:18. The score, however, was diametrically opposite - 5: 1 in favor of Russia ^[23] . Three goals of Evgeny Kuznetsov and reliable play by Vasilevsky were the main reasons for such a confident result. The third period initially evolved according to the previous scenario. In the 48th minute, Nikita Kucherov makes the score 6: 1; and then trouble started. The Russians lost concentration, and Canadians, who did not stop bombing the enemy’s gates, finally managed to score, not without the help of fortune. Moreover, to score twice with a time interval of 23 seconds ^[23] . After the match, Valery Bragin admitted his mistake, saying that Vasilevsky should have been replaced at that moment ^[24] . But Andrei remained at the gate and, as journalists noted in his reports, slightly “floated” ^{[25] [26]} . At the 51st and 55th minutes, Canadians scored two more goals, reducing the gap to the minimum ^[23] . Bragin finally decided to replace the goalkeeper, and in the valid ending, Andrei Makarov managed to defend the winning score 6: 5 for Russia.

The issue of the goalkeeper for the final match against Sweden was decided on the day of the game itself, after the morning roll. Here is what Sergey Cherkas said about this:

We decided that Makarov will play in the final match. There are no complaints against Vasilevsky, just a very big load fell on him, this was a general decision of the coaching staff. Vasilevsky played just fine at the tournament, but Makarov had to be ready anyway.

- Sergey Cherkas on choosing a goalkeeper for the final match ^[27]

In the final match, despite the brilliant game of Makarov, who reflected 57 shots on his own goal out of 58, the Russians lost 0-1 in overtime.

Youth World Cup 2013

At the 2013 World Youth Championships in Ufa, Vasilevsky continued to compete with Andrei Makarov .

At the playoff matches, the coaching staff of the national team, as in 2012, Vasilevsky was chosen as the main goalkeeper.

In the quarter finals against the Swiss national team, the Russian team, evening the score in the last minutes, snatched out a 4: 3 shootout victory. Andrey beat 41 of 44 shots in the match, missed 1 goal in 5 attempts in the shoot-out and was one of the best players in this match.

In the semifinals against the Swedes, the Russian team, having missed two goals in the first ten minutes, remained in the game thanks in large part to the game of Vasilevsky, reflecting in the end 38 out of 40 shots. Having scored a goal in 8 minutes of 2 and 3 periods, the Russians transferred the game to a futile overtime. In the shootout, Andrei missed 1 goal in 3 attempts, but this Swedish team was enough to win.

In the bronze match, a place in the goal was taken by Andrei Makarov and was able to win the enchanting game against the Canadians (6: 5).

According to the results of the tournament, Vasilevsky became the second in the percentage of reflected shots and was included in the top three players of the Russian team.

2014 World Cup

2014 World Champion. He played 2 matches of the preliminary round in the tournament. Both matches ended with the victory of the Russian national team. Recognized as the best player in the national team of Russia . He proved to be excellent in the game against the US team , reflecting 39 of 40 shots on his own goal (victory of the Russian team with a score of 6: 1). Held a “dry match” against the German national team , reflecting all 27 shots (victory of the Russian team with a score of 3: 0).

In total, he played for the national team of Russia at three junior, three youth and two adult world championships.