KHL.RU starts naming the best 12 players in the history of the league for each role. Today, the talk is about goalies Georgy Gelashvili and Henrik Karlsson.
12. Georgy Gelashvili
GP: 291; W: 138, SO: 20, GAA: 2.27, S%: 92.3
Clubs: Lokomotiv, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Torpedo, Yugra
Country: Russia
Maybe not many remember Georgy Gelashvili as a top goalie, but in the first few seasons of the KHL, he was a force – especially so when he lined up for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. In the 2008-09 season, he was named the top goalie of the year as he helped the Railwaymen getting to the first Gagarin Cup finals of the league’s history. Despite leading the league with five shutouts in the postseason, Gelashvili didn’t manage to lead Lokomotiv to the final triumph as the team surrendered to Ak Bars in the seventh game. The next year, Gelashvili was fantastic again between the piping in Yaroslavl. Still, once again, the Railwaymen lost in game seven – this time against the eventual Western Conference champions, HC MVD.
After two seasons in Yaroslavl, Gelashvili moved east, signing with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, initially on a one-year deal. In his first year on the Urals, Gelashvili made it to the Conference finals, even if in the East, but once again, game seven proved fatal for the goalie, who surrendered to a third-period goal by Vladimir Antipov. Gelashvili wouldn’t reach those heights anymore. After signing a new two-year contract in Magnitogorsk, the Chelyabinsk native lined up with Torpedo and Yugra, before moving to the VHL in 2016 and retire in 2019. To date, Gelashvili is still in the top 10 goalies in the league for shutouts, and single-season wins. He’s also the second Lokomotiv goalie for games played and shutouts and leads the Railwaymen with 70 wins.
11. Henrik Karlsson
GP: 283; W: 145, SO: 26, GAA: 2.31, S%: 92.0
Clubs: Avangard, Jokerit, Barys
Country: Sweden and Kazakhstan
Henrik Karlsson signed his first contract in the KHL in the 2013-14 season, when he played six games for Avangard. After this experience, he moved closer to home, inking a one-year deal with Jokerit. Karlsson will then spend another season in Helsinki, always posting strong numbers, but the turning point of his career was when the goalie signed with Barys Nur-Sultan. One year in the Kazakh capital was enough to convince the local ice hockey federation to offer him the chance to play for the local national team, and he accepted. He played the next three seasons not only with Barys but also on the international scene with Kazakhstan, with mixed results.
The veteran goalie amassed a high number of games in his career and is currently the 15th top goalie in this ranking – having played just one more than former SKA and Sibir’s netminder Mikko Koskinen. He also leads all Barys goalies with 178 career games, 88 wins, and 18 shutouts. Karlsson has just five wins less than Jokerit’s record-holder, Janis Kalnins, 60 against 55. Karlsson started the 2020 playoffs on a positive note, and he’s ready to return stronger than ever next year.
