Radulov, Alexander Valerevich

Junior career

Alexander was born on July 5, 1986 and spent his childhood in Nizhny Tagil . From a young age he was a very active child, so the parents decided to send his son to the hockey section. Alexander was also greatly influenced by his older brother, Igor Radulov , who is also a professional hockey player. The first coach of the future champion was Alexander Weingardt, it was he who noticed the huge potential in the boy. He studied temporarily in the sports boarding school of Yaroslavl with his brother Igor . He made his debut in the championship of Russia in the 2003/2004 season, speaking for the Tver THK .

At the age of 16, Radulov became a member of the Dynamo Moscow club. For two years, the novice athlete practiced in the second team. In the 2003/04 season , Alexander made his debut in the Premier League, he only went out on ice once a season, but this did not prevent him from leaving a positive impression on himself - even then Radulov was accepted as one of the best hockey players of the team.

In 2004, Radulov was drafted by the team of the Canadian Junior League QMJHL Quebec Remparts . In the 2004/2005 season, he became the club’s third scorer with 75 points in 65 matches. The following season, along with Angelo Esposito, made up one of the league’s most powerful attacking duets. On October 28, 2005, in a match with Drummondville Voltizhurs (11: 3), Radulov set a club record for performance, designed a hexa-trick (6 goals) and scored 7 points per game. On March 19, 2006, in a match with Rimuski Oceanic (16: 3), he broke his record, set up a septa trick (7 goals) and made 4 assists. With his club, he became the finalist of the playoffs (Presidential Cup) and the owner of the Memorial Cup . Radulov became the top scorer of the regular season - 152 points (61 + 91, club record for each indicator) and playoffs - 55 points (21 + 34, club record and second result in league history). In addition, he became the top scorer of the Memorial Cup. In the 2005/2006 season, he set another club record - scoring points in 50 games in a row. This is the second result in league history after Mario Lemieux (62).

Beginning of an NHL career

In mid- 2004, Radulov decided to move to the NHL . In the draft, he was chosen by the Nashville Predators club at number 15. At home at that moment, the hockey player had the title of winner of the World Junior Championship and one of the country's top scorers. He began the 2006/07 season at the Nashville Farm Club - Milwaukee Admirals (scoring 18 points in 11 matches). On October 21, 2006 he made his debut in the main team of Nashville. In his first season in the NHL, he played 64 matches and scored 37 points (18 + 19). The next season, Radulov appeared on the site much more often, taking part in all (except one) matches of the regular season, gaining a total of 58 points (26 + 32).

Successes in the KHL

In 2008, he signed an agreement with the Salavat Yulaev club under an existing contract with Nashville. This transition caused a great scandal between the NHL and the KHL . IIHF critically evaluated Radulov’s behavior, however, she didn’t take any sanctions against the player and the club, as the contract parties acted in different leagues.

In the KHL, Alexander almost immediately became one of the team leaders, as well as one of the most prominent league players. Three times in a row, the striker was recognized as the MVP (best player) of the regular season, twice became the best scorer of the regular season and once the best scorer of the playoffs. In the 2010/2011 season, “Salavat Yulaev” won the Gagarin Cup , and Radulov received the prize for the most useful player of the season with a +27 rating. This was the highest achievement of the striker in the Ufa team. Playing in “Salavat Yulaev” in 2010, Alexander scored the fastest goal in the history of domestic hockey, distinguishing himself in the 6th second in the match with “ Ugra ”.

After relegating from Salavat Yulaev’s playoffs in the 2011/12 season, Radulov went to play the season in the NHL, where he had obligations to Nashville. As part of the club, he spent 9 matches in the regular season and 8 in the playoff series , gaining a total of 13 (4 + 9) points. Before the third match of the second round of the Stanley Cup, Radulov was suspended from the game for violation of team discipline: according to the Nashville management, he violated curfew, returning to the team’s location too late. This incident caused a lot of criticism of the hockey player from the North American media. After the end of the season, “predators” abandoned Radulov ^[4] .

On July 2, 2012 Radulov returned to the KHL, signing a four-year contract with CSKA ^[5] . The transfer price for the transfer from Salavat amounted to 255 million rubles ^[6] . As part of the “army” Radulov became the main star of the team, which in many respects predetermined its high results. The most successful season for Alexander in CSKA was the 2014/2015 season , when Radulov won several regular season awards at once (prizes to the most useful player, the most valuable player with a +37 rating, prize to the best scorer), and also became the best scorer of the playoffs. The success of the player in Russia again attracted the attention of NHL clubs to Alexander.

Return to the NHL

On July 1, 2016, he signed a one-year contract with Montreal Canadiens for $ 5.75 million. ^[7] Having scored 54 points in a season, he became the team's second scorer after captain of Montreal Max Pacioretti (67 points). In the playoffs, Radulov scored 7 points (2 + 5) in 6 matches, but the Montreal took off in the first round, losing to the New York Rangers in 6 matches.

On July 3, 2017, on the eve of its 31st anniversary, it signed a 5-year contract with the Dallas Stars club for $ 31.25 million. ^[8]

In the first season for “Dallas” he became one of the leaders of the team, most often playing in the top three with Jamie Benn and Tyler Segin . By the break for the All-Star Game, the NHL topped the list of “star” scorers, gaining 48 points (20 + 28) in 50 matches. At the same time, Alexander's productive series was 9 meetings, in which he scored 16 points (6 + 10). In total for the season, he scored 72 points, losing only Bennu and Segin to the team, but could not help Dallas get into the playoffs.

On November 18, 2018, Russian Dallas striker Alexander Radulov became the first star of the NHL gaming day. The hockey player in the game against the New York Islanders (6: 2) scored 3 points (2 + 1). At the same time, the Russian scored his 100th goal in the NHL. ^[9]

Russian team

Alexander Radulov twice participated in the world championship among juniors. He became one of the famous players who took part in a grand match against the Canadians. He also has the titles of silver medalist at the World Championship among youth teams, the world champion among juniors and the holder of the Memorial Cup .

Under Vyacheslav Bykov, Radulov was a player in the main clip of the Russian national team , first joining it in 2007. In 2008, at the world championship in the national team, he became the owner of a gold medal, but did not play a special role in that victory (0 + 3 in the goal + pass system). In 2009, he won the second world title, and in the final match with the Canadians Radulov scored the winning goal ^[10] . After that, Alexander took part in two more world championships and two Olympic games . After Bykov left the national team, Radulov became less likely to participate in the national team, and in 2016 refused to participate in the home world championships , and a year later the world championships in Germany and France . On April 9, 2018, it became known that Radulov will also miss the World Cup in Denmark ^[11] .

Club career

International Competitions

•   Two-time world champion 2008 , 2009 .
•   Bronze medalist at the 2007 World Cup.
•   Silver medalist of the World Youth Championship 2005, 2006.
• Best Player of the Year at the Canadian Hockey League ( CHL ) 2006.
• Top scorer of the year CHL 2006.
• The top scorer of the Major Junior Hockey League of Quebec ( Jean Beliveau Trophy ) 2006.
• Best Player of the Memorial Cup ( Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy ) 2006.
• Winner of the prize Michelle Brier Memorial Trophy 2006.
• The best attacking player of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League ( Telus Cup (attack) ) 2006.
•   Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) bronze medalist of 2009-2010.
•   Gagarin Cup Winner 2011 .
•   Silver medalist of the Gagarin Cup 2016 .
•   Winner of the Continent Cup 2009-10 , 2014-15 , 2015-16 .
• The most valuable player in the KHL regular season, 2009-10, 2014-15.
• The best scorer of the KHL regular season 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15.
• The best scorer of the KHL playoffs 2009—2010, 2014-2015.
• In 2010, he scored the fastest goal in the history of domestic hockey, 6 seconds (match “Salavat Yulaev” - “Ugra”) ^[12] .
• The owner of the "Golden Stick" 2009—10, 2010-11.
• Seven-time participant in the KHL stars match (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016).

• Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, 2nd class ( June 30, 2009 ) - for a great contribution to the victory of the Russian national hockey team at the world championships in 2008 and 2009 ^[13]
• 4 Golden Sticks (seasons 2009/2010 , 2010/2011 , 2011/2012 , 2014/2015 ) - prize to the most valuable player in the KHL regular season

In August 2015, Alexander married gymnast Daria Dmitrieva ^[14] . November 11, 2015 the couple had a son, Makar. ^[15] On June 7, 2017, the couple divorced. ^[sixteen]

Alexander Radulov is depicted on a postage stamp dedicated to the victory of the Russian national team at the 2008 World Hockey Championship (together with D. Grebeshkov , A. Markov , M. Afinogenov ).

• Player page on the site about the history of HC Dynamo Moscow