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Tuesday 6th September 2022

Evgeny Nabokov: Several generations have grown up on his game

Evgeny Nabokov is a hockey goalie of the highest class, a living legend of Russian sport. During his long career in sports, he managed to set a lot of records, but he did not manage to win the main personal and team awards. Nevertheless, thanks to his reliable goaltending, Evgeny Nabokov became an idol for many young hockey players. This article will talk about the sports career of Evgeny Nabokov.

Childhood

The future hockey star was born on July 25, 1975, in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Mother Tatyana worked as an engineer at a local plant, and father Viktor is a former professional hockey goalkeeper, who for 18 years played for different clubs in the Soviet Union. So it's not surprising that Yevgeny chose hockey among a variety of sports. He followed in his father's footsteps in hockey and chose the position of goalie.

By the way, today horse race tips India also advise to study the history of sportsmen. This will help determine in advance the strengths and weaknesses of the athlete and identify a potential favorite.

Adult hockey

For a long time, Evgeny trained at the local school Torpedo, and at the age of 16, he managed to make his debut as a member of the local team. As a member of his first professional club, the young goalkeeper played 3 seasons. 1994 became one of the most important years of Evgeny Nabokov's career. Despite little experience playing at the professional level Evgeny took part in 3 matches as a member of the Kazakhstan team and helped his team win third place in the tournament.

The second event of 1994 is the NHL Draft, where Evgeny Nabokov gets a ticket to the strongest hockey league in the world. The young goalie was drafted in the ninth round by San Jose. The most surprising thing about this is that the Sharks' management had no information about Nabokov before. They were looking for a completely different goalie, but fate decided otherwise. The next stage of Nabokov's sports career was a move to Moscow.

With Dynamo Moscow, the athlete spent quite a successful 3 seasons. He managed not only to get into the lineup and win first place in goal but also together with the team became the champion of Russia. A couple of years later in the 1996-97 season, Evgeny helped his team to reach the finals of the European League. After a few successful years in Russia, San Jose management offered the young goalie a contract.

Not every athlete who was drafted into the NHL gets a chance like that. However, Evgeny was in no hurry to give his consent. He was fine with Dynamo, where he was number one and considered a true star. Nabokov didn't see the point of changing all that for playing in the lower leagues of America. Nevertheless, the home team persuaded him to accept the invitation.

NHL

As expected, Evgeny did not make the main roster for the Sharks. Instead, he played in the American Hockey League in Kentucky. In the new place was extremely painful. More than once Evgeny had the thought of giving it all up and going back to Russia. Meeting his future wife and the goalie coach who helped Evgeny improve his style of play helped him cope with all the difficulties.

Nabokov started the next season on another affiliated team, the Cleveland Sharks. Nabokov didn't stay there for long. He played about 20 games with great results and was invited to the main team. After the exchange of the main team goalie, the team needed someone for the role of understudy. Evgeny made his NHL debut on January 1, 2000. Evgeny replaced the first goalie in the third period. Eugene was able to fully enter the ice as the starting goaltender on January 19 in a game against the Avalanche. In that game, the young talent not only made 35 shots saved but also took his first NHL shutout.

Evgeny played in 11 regular season games and also appeared once in the playoffs. He would have probably kept his place on the bench without a bad accident. At the start of the 2000-2001 season, starting goalie Shields suffered an ankle injury. He is out of action for several months. Thus Evgeny Nabokov becomes the first goalie off the San Jose Sharks.

Nabokov was able to make the most of this moment. Thanks to his talent, skill, and a dash of luck, Evgeny is having his best season in the NHL. At the end of the regular season, Evgeny is helping the Sharks to 33 Wins in 62 games and win second place in the Pacific Division. In the playoffs, San Jose could not get past the second round. Nabokov is the only CIS goaltender to win the award for best rookie of the season. The next season for Evgeny Nabokov was even better than the previous one. Moreover, on March 10 in the game against Vancouver, he managed to score in an empty net. 

Thereby he became the first European goalie to make a power play goal and the first in the league to do so. San Jose became the best in his division during the regular season and also made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, where they lost in a tough game to eventual champion Colorado.

Due to successful performances in North America Evgeny Nabokov was invited to take part in the 2002 Winter Olympics as a member of the Russian national team. The tournament was held in Salt Lake City. However, he never got to play in the tournament. The stumbling block was the 2014 World Championship, where Evgeny Nabokov defended the colors of the national team of Kazakhstan. According to the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation, after the age of 18, a player has no right to represent the national team. Subsequently, the Ice Hockey Federation changed its decision and allowed Evgeny Nabokov to play for the Russian national team.

He made his debut as a member of the Russian national team in 2006 at the Olympic Games in Turin. Evgeny took part in 7 matches of the tournament and helped the team to 5 wins, three of which he played on 0. Despite all the efforts our guys didn't manage to win medals at those Olympics. First, the Russian team lost in the semifinals to Finam 0:4, and then was defeated by the Czech Republic in the match for third place with a score of 0:3 in the Russian national team Evgeny Nabokov took part in two Olympics and two World Championships. Evgeny managed to win the only prize with the team at the World Championship in 2008. 

In the homeland of hockey in Canada, the Russian team managed the impossible. In the final match in overtime, Ilya Kovalchuk brings the victory to the Russian team with a score of 5-4. Nabokov also made a huge contribution to Russia's victory. In 5 games in the tournament, he did not lose a single game, registering 2 consecutive goals and allowing only 9 pucks. Before the start of the 2002-2003 season, Evgeny Nabokov had a conflict with the San Jose management. The reason for the conflict was the player's salary. Over the past two years, Evgeny received a total of one million dollars, which is quite modest for a hockey player of his level.

As a result of lengthy negotiations, due to which the goalie missed five matches, the club's management signed a two-year contract worth $8 million not with him. Nevertheless, despite the signing of a new agreement, the season for both the Sharks and Nabokov was quiet and bad. Evgeny Nabokov celebrated only 19 wins with his team in 55 regular season games. For the first time in several years, they failed to make the playoffs, finishing the season in last place in the division.

Surprisingly, the Sharks quickly recovered from their disappointing season and finished the regular season in third place. In the playoffs, the team managed to make it to the conference finals where they lost to the Calgary Flames 2-4 in a hard-fought series. Nabokov not only played well in the regular season but also made a significant contribution to the team's playoff performance. Evgeny Nabokov was on the ice in 17 Stanley Cup games, posting 10 wins, three shutouts, and a 93.5 percent save percentage.

During the NHL lockout in the 2004-05 season, Nabokov returned to Russia like many others. He signed a contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk where he played a few games in the regular season and also took part in the playoffs, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Vanguard of Omsk in a tough and entertaining contest.

In the mid-'0s, Evgeny Nabokov was considered one of the strongest goalies in the world. After his return from Russia, his reliability declined. His shooting percentage dropped below 90% for the 2005-2006 season. This caused some panic in the club management. Nabokov was immediately benched, and his backup took over in goal. Despite the decline in the Russian game the Sharks' management signed a new contract. The agreement was for 4 years for a total of $22.2 million. As in the last case, the failure of the season was a temporary phenomenon. The very next season, Eugene regained his conditioning and helped his team make the playoffs, finishing second in the playoffs at the end of the regular season.

Eugene played in 11 playoff games and with his team reached the second round, where he lost to Detroit. The next three seasons for Nabokov were quite productive. Despite his age, the goalie showed a high level of play. His best season in the NHL was 2007-08. Nabokov appeared on the road in 76 games, where he managed to get 46 wins with an average of 2.14 goals per game. The playoffs were also very colorful this season. Evgeny managed to make an incredible save in game 6 against Dallas, but it didn't prevent a loss to San Jose.

At the end of the 2009-2010 season, the club's management would not offer a new contract to the letter. The reason was the salary cap which limited the club's options. Not having received offers from other teams in the league, Nabokov returns to Russia and accepts an offer from the St. Petersburg SKA. The Army Men from the banks of Neva offered Nabokov a very generous contract despite his age. Russia was supposed to get 24 million for 4 years. With SKA, the famous goalie spent only one season instead of the planned 4.

In seasons 10-11 Nabokov participated in 22 regular season games and didn't live up to his expectations. The club management immediately terminated his contract with the wording "for family reasons". At the moment, Evgeny works as a goalie coach in his almost native San Jose where he is very popular and loved by the fans.