Vadim Shipachyov: chasing Sergei Mozyakin
KHL.ru continues telling the histories of the league’s legends. Today the talk is about the league’s second all-time scorer and Olympic champion Vadim Shipachyov.
Vadim Shipachyov is a bright example of a player who has gone through all stages of development, blossomed, and achieved great heights in his homeland. Today, it may seem like everything came easy for him, but that’s no more than an illusion.
Many experts note that before the creation of the JHL it was more difficult for prospects to break through to the highest level. Without a special league, they had to play for farm clubs in the First League after graduating from school. Players of various ages competed in these teams, including veterans from the senior roster who lacked practice or were recovering from injuries. There was little room for youth, and making it to the second team was already considered a success in itself.
Shipachyov began his career with Severstal-2. Then came the next step – the Higher League and HC Belgorod. He joined Severstal’s main lineup in his debut season in the KHL at the age of 21. So, his entire career is closely connected with the history of the league.
Shipachyov spent five seasons with his hometown’s team Severstal. During this time, he became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer in the KHL, accumulating 202 points in 258 games. In Shipachyov’s last term with Severstal, the side showed the best results of the five-year period. They finished fifth in the regular season and advanced to the playoffs, defeating Lokomotiv 4-2 in the first round. However, they were later defeated by SKA. In the four-game series, Shipachyov made four assists, and in the offseason, as a restricted free agent, he joined the St. Petersburg side. Only in the 2022-2023 season did Daniil Vovchenko broke Vadim’s record, becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer in the KHL.
03.09.2008 KHL debut in the game between Severstal and Traktor.
23.05.2013 Move to SKA St. Petersburg with Evgeny Ketov, inking a four-year deal.
25.05-2014 IIHF World Championship win with Team Russia.
Shipachyov left for SKA together with Evgeny Ketov. It was these former Severstal’s forwards who became Ilya Kovalchuk’s first partners after he terminated his contract with the New Jersey Devils and returned home to Russia.
“You come from Cherepovets, where you play the whole powerplay shifts, and you end up in SKA, where at best you get one minute on the power play, and at worst, they may even ice other players with the man advantage. Because the team is at a different level, and the competition is higher. So, you have to endure. Endure and prove yourself,” Shipachyov recalled in an interview with KHL.ru.
SKA was in the process of building a championship-winning team, but by the spring of 2014, it had not yet come together. In the second round, they lost to Lokomotiv in six games. However, during the off-season, a crucial change was made when Vyacheslav Bykov was appointed as the team’s head coach.
The roster remained mostly unchanged, with blueliner Kevin Dallman being the only departure, with Anton Belov, Jimmie Ericsson, and Evgeny Dadonov joining the team. Under Bykov’s guidance, SKA’s performance improved significantly and the team eventually lifted its first Gagarin Cup. The most significant discovery made by the former Team Russia head coach was the creation of the trio made up of Artemy Panarin, Shipachyov, and Dadonov. That SKA lineup included several high-level performers, including Kovalchuk, Viktor Tikhonov, and imports Patrick Thoresen, Roman Cervenka, and Tony Martensson, among others. However, the key attacking force was the combination of Panarin, Shipachyov, and Dadonov – the top three scorers for the team in the playoffs and among the top four in points during the regular season.
During the off-season, Panarin moved to the NHL, and his place was filled by Nikita Gusev, who transferred from Yugra during the season. Thus, another supertroika was born. In 2017, they would make a significant contribution to SKA’s first national title and its second Gagarin Cup victory. Shipachyov, Dadonov, and Gusev were the most productive players for the team in the elimination stage and once again ranked among the top four in the regular season.
From reserve to flag bearer
In the 2016-2017 season, Shipachyov had a brilliant performance, with 76 points in the regular season and another 19 in the playoffs. He had many options for continuing his career, including in the NHL. Shipachyov received a good offer of $9 million for two seasons from Vegas, and he decided to move there. However, after three games and one goal in the NHL, he returned to SKA in the fall.
Shipachyov himself doesn’t consider the move to Vegas a mistake. He believes he gained valuable experience. Thanks to his timely return, he was still able to make it to the Olympics in PyeongChang. However, after the first game against Slovakia, he failed to make the team again. Nevertheless, he still has the Olympic champion title.
For the following four seasons, Shipachyov demonstrated the highest level of play in the KHL. And in the next Olympics, not only did he captained Russia’s hockey team but also carried the flag for the entire Russian delegation. Before Shipachyov, only Nikolai Sologubov (1960), Vladislav Tretiak (1976, 1984), Vyacheslav Fetisov (1988), and Alexei Morozov (2010) had the honor of being flag bearers among hockey players in the history of Russian sports. In Beijing, Shipachyov played all six games and won his second Olympic medal – this time a silver one.
19.04.2015 First Gagarin Cup triumph with SKA.
16.04.2017 Second Gagarin Cup triumph, with the line of Gusev, Shipachyov, and Dadonov being the league’s leading scorer.
25.02.2018 Olympic games gold medal.
Before moving to the NHL, Shipachyov regularly competed in World Championships. He won a gold medal in his debut tournament in 2014. There, Team Russia won all 10 matches, and Shipachyov scored 7 points in 7 games, including an assist in both the semifinals and finals. The forward, however, missed three matches due to suspension.
Shipachyov has earned medals of all kinds in the IIHF World Championships – in 2015, he won silver, and in the two following tournaments, he earned bronze. His performance in the 2016 World Championship, held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, was particularly outstanding. Playing again alongside Dadonov and Panarin, he scored 18 (6+12) points in 10 matches, becoming the top scorer of the tournament and making it into the All-Star Team. Shipachyov contributed points in every game except for three – in the group stage against Czechia and Switzerland, and in the semifinals against Finland. Team Russia, however, lost to the Czechs and Team Finland, ultimately securing the third-place finish.
In total, Shipachyov represented the national team at two Olympics and four world championships, and in each competition he took part in, the team won medals.
Top passer in the KHL and records for Dynamo
A new chapter in Shipachyov’s club career began in 2018, when he transferred from SKA to Dynamo Moscow. In all four seasons with the Blue-and-Whites, the forward scored no less than 65 points in the regular season, becoming the top scorer for three regular seasons in a row (2020, 2021, 2022). This feat even surpassed Sergei Mozyakin’s achievements. Shipachyov’s relatively short spell with Dynamo placed him at the top of the list of the team’s all-time scorers in KHL history with 300 points in 265 matches.
Playing alongside Shipachyov, his teammates also achieved notable success. In 2019, Dmitry Kagarlitsky became the league’s fourth scorer with 24 goals. In 2020, Dmitrij Jaskin finished second in goals scored with 31. In 2021, Jaskin claimed the top spot with 38 goals. And in 2022, Stanislav Galiyev secured the second place with 25 tallies.
A prolific player like Shipachyov, who has played in the KHL for all 15 seasons, naturally holds several statistical achievements. For example, he is by far the league’s all-time assists leader.
17.05.2018 Signs a two-year deal with Dynamo Moscow.
27.12.2019 Conquers the second place in KHL all-time scoring list.
14.09.2021 Becomes the top passer in the KHL history – he now establishes a record with each single assist.
11.01.2022 First and only player to become the regular season’s top scorer three times in a row in the KHL history.
04.02.2022 Flag bearer at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
04.05.2022 Shipachyov and Voynov are traded from Dynamo Moscow to Ak Bars.
At the start last year’s playoffs on Mar 7th, Shipachyov became the first forward to reach 900 games played in the KHL. Only Salavat Yulaev’s defenseman Evgeny Biryukov has played more matches than him. However, the difference of just over 60 games doesn’t seem insurmountable. It’s possible that Shipachyov will eventually take the leadership also here.
With 99.9% certainty, it can be said that Shipachyov will soon also become the all-time leading scorer in KHL history. Currently, that title belongs to Mozyakin, who has accumulated 928 points. Shipachyov has 868 points to his name. Sooner or later, as Shipachyov continues his career, he should surpass the two-time Gagarin Cup champion. This may well happen as soon as next season.
Dossier
Vadim Alexandrovich Shipachyov
Born Mar 12, 1987, in Cherepovets.
Playing career: 2005-2013, Severstal; 2006-2008, HC Belgorod; 2013-2018, SKA; 2017, Vegas; 2018-2022, Dynamo Moscow; 2022-today Ak Bars.
Honors: Gold (2018) and silver (2022) medal at the Olympic Games; gold (2014), silver (2015), and bronze (2016, 2017) medal at the IIHF World Championship; Gagarin Cup champion (2015, 2017), Russian champion (2017).
