Vasily Koshechkin: a Giant Record-Breaker
KHL.ru continues to publish stories about coaches and players who became legends in our League. The new material is dedicated to the Olympic champion, world champion, two-time Gagarin Cup winner goalie Vasily Koshechkin, who announced his retirement last Monday on his 40th birthday.
Coming out from behind imports
If Lada hadn’t had money problems in 2005, maybe Vasily Koshechkin would have been on the sidelines for a long time. Because at that time, the Togliatti side, led by Pyotr Vorobyov, counted on foreign goalies. Canadian Jean-François Labbé, Czech Jiri Trvaj, Finn Jussi Markkanen. So the 2005-2006 season was opened by another Czech goalie – Adam Svoboda.
But by the end of October, it became known that the main Lada sponsor would cut its financing. Many top players left the club – more than 10 people, including Svoboda. Their place was taken by youngsters, and Koshechkin, who previously made do with very little playing time in unimportant games, was trusted with the starting goalie position. For example, in the last game of the 2004-2005 regular season against Spartak, in the third period he allowed Vladimir Korsunov the same kind of goal from as Tommy Salo did from Vladimir Kopat in the quarterfinal of the 2002 Olympics.
In November 2005, Koshechkin proved his mettle when he helped Lada to an impressive ninth place in the regular season, defying expectations. The team went on to defeat defending champions Dynamo Moscow in the first round of playoffs, despite three of their members having been on the Russian team at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy: head coach Vladimir Krikunov, as well as forwards Maxim Sushinsky and Alexander Kharitonov. In the second round, Lada faced Dave King’s formidable Metallurg Magnitogorsk, who had won the regular season with an impressive 29-point lead over second place. Despite losing 7:0 in the second game, Togliatti's youthful team caused an upset in the first game, winning 2:1. They continued to perform admirably in the remaining two games, losing by only a single goal. Throughout this period, Koshechkin played a key role in bolstering Lada’s performance and demonstrating his capabilities as a talented and reliable goalie.
Koshechkin played a key role in that Lada lineup. That’s when experts started talking about a two-meter tall goalie weighing over 100 kg, that he would grow up to be a national team player and would move to a contending club. Those predictions came true. In spring 2007, Koshechkin played in Moscow and Mytishchi at the IIHF World Championship, and then moved to Ak Bars.
Olympics gold medal
Koshechkin was in the roster that secured a bronze medal for Team Russia at the 2007 IIHF World Championship, marking his first major international tournament as a senior national team member. Despite high hopes for a gold medal, Russia’s chances were dashed in the OT of the semifinal game against Finland, confirming the old adage that the home team never wins the World Cup, a trend that had persisted for almost 25 years, from 1986 to 2013. However, Koshechkin’s greatest triumphs with the national team were yet to come. He went on to win the world championship in 2009 and a silver medal in the following year, despite not serving as the starting goalie in any of these tournaments. These achievements highlight Koshechkin’s impressive talent and skill, as evidenced by his full set of world championship awards.
Koshechkin played the main tournament of his career in 2018. It was in PyeongChang that he became the national team’s number one goalie at a major tournament for the first time. He achieved excellent statistical results, posting a goals-against average of 1.83 and a saves percentage of 93.7%.
In fact, Koshechkin might not have played at all at those Olympics. He hasn’t played for the national team in major competitions since 2013.
“He wasn’t even on our roster before the Olympics,” said Roman Rotenberg, then head of the Russian national team’s staff.
But Koshechkin’s confident performance in the 2017 Gagarin Cup final and the young age of both Igor Shestyorkin and Ilya Sorokin forced the national team staff to pay attention to the large-framed Metallurg goalie.
“Olympic gold is a memory for a lifetime. It has been my dream since childhood to play in such a tournament. And I was very lucky that it came true. It wasn’t easy for me to become the number one goalie for the national team – I earned this right by my hard work and persistence for several years. And now I am ready to say thanks to the team management and the coaching staff led by Oleg Znarok who believed in me and gave me a chance again,” Koshechkin told Sport-Express after the tournament.
Three finals in four years
Not everything went smoothly for Koshechkin at the club level after his departure from Lada. He again found himself behind an import in Ak Bars. Vasily returned to Togliatti in the offseason, almost never getting playing time after American Robert Esche was signed to guard the club’s crease. Then the KHL was born and in its first season, Koshechkin played brilliantly. A sub-two goals-against average and more than 93% of shots saved per game in both regular season and playoffs. He started the next season in his hometown team, but then moved to Metallurg for the first time. But in Magnitogorsk, after a second-round exit, the boards decided to bet on Georgy Gelashvili, who in the two previous seasons with Lokomotiv reached the finals and the semifinals stage.
So Koshechkin ended up at Severstal, where he spent three wonderful seasons. That’s how the goalie himself assessed his game in Cherepovets. Severstal was a serious force in the 2012-2013 season, with its fifth place in the West in the regular season, and a win over Lokomotiv in the playoffs’ first round. Even back then it was clear that several players would have left the team, and that is exactly what happened. Vadim Shipachyov and Evgeny Ketov moved to SKA, to whom the Cherepovets side lost in the second round. And Koshechkin was again called to Magnitka, which in the three seasons after parting with the giant goalie never reached the medals places.
Metallurg celebrated their first season victory after the return of Koshechkin, their star goalie whose contribution to a team’s triumph is always significant. As they say, a goalie can make or break a game, and this becomes even more crucial during playoffs. However, it’s worth noting that the spring of 2013 brought some other changes to Magnitka that influenced the team’s performance, with new arrivals playing a defining role in subsequent championships. Among these were Canadian Mike Keenan, who took over as head coach, and productive Canadian defender Chris Lee, as well as forwards Danis Zaripov and Jan Kovar from Czechia, who joined the roster. The trio of Kovar, Zaripov, and Sergei Mozyakin went on to become one of the most famous and accomplished lines in the history of Russian hockey.
That Metallurg is rightly considered one of the strongest teams in KHL history. The results speak for themselves. In 2016, Magnitka again won the Gagarin Cup and became the Russian champion. The following year it played in the finals. Three finals in four years is a fantastic result, which is impossible to show without a great goalkeeper.
Koshechkin has always stood out for his physical strength and great conditioning. So it’s not surprising that he played until he turned 40. At the age of 39, Vasily played in another Gagarin Cup final, in which Metallurg met with CSKA. The Magnitogorsk players were one step away from victory. In game five, with the score 3-1 in the series, they led 2:1 in the middle of the third period, but then lost in OT. Most likely, that was the turning point in the series – CSKA won the next two games and the Cup as well.
Koshechkin holds several significant records. He had the most games played among goaltenders in KHL history in regular season (611) and playoffs (154) and ranks first in wins (292 and 86). Koshechkin also has the most shutouts for regular-season KHL goaltending with 75. Those numbers won’t be beaten anytime soon. One of his closest pursuers – Alexander Yeryomenko – has already retired, while another – Konstantin Barulin – hasn’t played in the KHL for a long time.
KHL.ru dossier
Born on Mar 27, 1983, in Togliatti.
Playing career: 2002-2003, Olimpia Kirovo-Chepetsk, Neftyanik Almetievsk; 2003-2007, 2008-2010, Lada; 2007-2008, Ak Bars; 2010-2013, Severstal; 2009-2010, 2013-2023, Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
Achievements: Olympic champion (2018), gold (2009), silver (2010), and bronze medal (2007) at the IIHF World Championships, Gagarin Cup and Russian champion (2014, 2016), silver (2005, 2017, 2022), and bronze (2004) medal in the Russian championship.
