Kirill Koltsov: Surpassing Vyacheslav Fetisov
KHL.ru continues telling the stories of the different league’s legend. Today, the talk is about the 2011 Gagarin Cup champion, Kirill Koltsov, a player with a unique style and character.
As it’s known, there are no halfbacks in hockey. But Kirill Koltsov’s role would best be characterized by this position. Even though he was technically a defenseman, he played in the offensive zone just as well as many forwards.
Offensive defensemen are a scarce but not rare commodity. Their typical traits include excellent passing, powerful shooting, orchestration of power plays, and offensive zone involvement – when the situation permits. However, Koltsov deviated from the conventional profile of an offensive blueliner. He dedicated significant attention to offense, confidently maneuvering even in even strength, frequently joining the attack, and at times becoming his team’s fourth forward. This uniqueness sets him apart. Only a few players displayed such a style. For instance, Bobby Orr or Vladimir Konstantinov, incidentally, both began as forwards.
Koltsov often went one-on-one with the goalie. He teamed up with a partner to face a single defenseman. He scored numerous goals from the crease. It’s no coincidence that Koltsov broke Vyacheslav Fetisov’s record for points scored by defensemen in the Russian championships. This occurred on Jan 21, 2015. On that day, Koltsov scored a goal against Avangard, the team where he started his professional career. Accumulating 376 points, he surpassed the two-time Olympic champion. However, it’s worth noting that Koltsov played over 300 more games than Fetisov.
Kirill Koltsov. 582 games, 322 points
06.05.2006 First appearance at the IIHF World Championships with Team Russia
11.04.2008 Becomes Russian champion with Salavat Yulaev
16.04.2011 Gagarin Cup triumph
20.05.2011 KHL First All-Star team for the 2010-2011 season
Later, Koltsov raised the record bar to 450 points. However, Ilya Nikulin ultimately surpassed him, concluding his career with a total of 476. Yet, few would argue that securing the second place among offensive defensemen doesn’t leave a noticeable mark on history.
However, his penchant for offense couldn’t help but affect Koltsov’s performance of his primary duties. It wasn’t just about occasionally “getting caught out” while his partner couldn’t provide cover. Koltsov wasn’t afraid to take the game upon himself, improvise, intensify, take risks, and act unconventionally. The flip side of this spectacular playstyle was the occasional errors that slipped through. Coaches occasionally had something to say about that. Nonetheless, he remained loyal to his style.
Character
A separate topic is Koltsov’s relationship with the national team. He participated in only one IIHF World Championship – in 2006. Back then, under the leadership of Vladimir Krikunov, Russia lost 3-4 to the Czech Republic in OT at the quarterfinals stage. It’s not merely a coincidence or a series of circumstances. Koltsov wasn’t selected for major tournaments by Vyacheslav Bykov, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, or Oleg Znarok. The level of responsibility at the Olympics and World Championships is extremely high. There’s no time to rectify mistakes made in short-term tournaments. There’s no room for risk and improvisation. Hence, when discussing Koltsov and the national team, it can be said that the defenseman became a hostage to his playing style.
Indeed, Koltsov was a part of the very strong Russian junior team in 2003, which won gold at the WJC. Moreover, they achieved this victory in Canada by defeating the hosts 3-2 in the final match. But spirited youth hockey is one thing; adult hockey focused on results is another. In Canada, Koltsov showcased his offensive potential, accumulating 5 (2+3) points. Among defensemen, only future NHL players Carlo Colaiacovo, Ian White, and Joni Pitkanen had better performances.
Returning to senior world championships, Koltsov could have participated in the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Moscow and Mytishchi. However, in the end, he wasn’t included in the final national team roster under the coaching of Vyacheslav Bykov.
“It was very hurtful when I was dropped from the team. I participated in all stages of the Euro Hockey Tour, sacrificed my rest and club interests. And then everything turned around... The coach kept changing my partners in the pair, and I had to fill the gaps. There were many grievances. Yes, I was in a poor functional and moral state after intense playoff games. In Novogorsk, we were immediately given a serious workload. And I couldn’t handle it. Now, I’ll think a hundred times whether it’s worth going to the national team for Euro Hockey Tour stages at the expense of the club that pays me,” Koltsov told Sovetsky Sport in a bitter interview following the events.
“It was during that time that conflicts between Koltsov and Bykov began, intensifying during Bykov’s work at Salavat Yulaev. The coach even wanted to expel Koltsov after several sharp statements from the defenseman, as he later revealed in an interview with RIA Novosti. “I can say now: when Kirill approaches his profession seriously, he’s a fantastic player, but when he starts shaking things up... I’m sorry, that’s simply not my way,” he clarified.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Koltsov, even under the veteran of Russian coaching, Sergey Mikhalyov. The latter even benched the defenseman during the victorious 2008 playoffs for Salavat Yulaev.
Koltsov could have also become a two-time world champion at the WJC level. However, in 2002, he wasn’t selected by Vladimir Plyushchev as Team Russia returned home with gold medal honors.
“Nothing special. Our personalities just didn’t click, as Plyushchev immediately indicated,” the defenseman mentioned in a 2002 interview.
Indeed, Koltsov’s personality is no secret. This, too, is a kind of phenomenon associated with this player. And undoubtedly, it’s one of the factors why Koltsov wasn’t picked for the national team, including by Bykov.
Koltsov joined the main Avangard lineup at the age of 17. In the same season, in April 2001, he performed successfully at the WJC. The team secured the first place, and Koltsov, with 7 points (1+6), became the tournament’s top-scoring d-man. He was recognized as the tournament’s best blueliner and made it into the post-season All-Star team.
During that same spring, Koltsov also earned his first medal at the senior level. His Avangard reached the finals of the Russian championship, where they were defeated by Magnitka. The defenseman was named the best rookie of the season, although he shared this honor with Ilya Kovalchuk. Koltsov could have won at least bronze medals in the next two championships, but his team finished fourth, losing in the third-place series to Metallurg and Lada, respectively.
During those years, an incident occurred that could have negatively impacted Koltsov’s career development. Back then, Avangard was reluctant to let young players leave for North America and labeled their departure as “serving in the army,” declaring the blueliner for the team Avangard-VDV. Upon learning of this, HC CSKA decided in the fall of 2001 to change the military service location for Koltsov, Alexander Svitov, and Stanislav Chistov, and transferred them to Moscow “to enhance their sporting skills.”
17.06.2011 Moves to SKA on a three-year deal
21-22.01.2012 First appearance at the KHL All-Star Game
28.05.2014 First Top-scoring defenseman award
21.01.2015 Breaks Fetisov’s record to become the all-time, top-scoring defenseman in the Russian hockey history
01.08.2020 Announces his retirement
Top passer and second all-time, top-scoring defenseman in Russian hockey history; third scorer and passer among defensemen in the KHL history (114+343 in 958 games)
Gagarin Cup champion (2011)
Russian champion (2008, 2011)
Top-scoring defenseman award (2014, 2015)
Golden Helmet award as a member of the First All-Star team (2011)
U18 WJC gold medal (2001)
WJC gold medal (2003)
Four-time KHL All-Star Game participant (2012, 2014, 2015, 2017)
“They took an oath and became military personnel just like everyone else. Based on the order, they were reassigned to a different place of service,” stated Mikhail Mamiashvili, then head of CSKA.
In Avangard, they insisted that Koltsov, Svitov, and Chistov could not play for Victor Tikhonov’s CSKA due to their active contracts with the team. It turned out that the players were sidelined from the game indefinitely. The story made headlines in all newspapers and was featured in news broadcasts. After a few days and the intervention of the Ministry of Defense, the players returned to Omsk.
Nevertheless, like many during those years, Koltsov tried his luck overseas in 2003. However, he didn’t make it into the main roster of the Vancouver Canucks. During the 2004-2005 season, he returned to Avangard and secured another fourth place, but in the following season, he won his second silver medal. However, the defender achieved his main successes at the club level after joining Salavat Yulaev. In Ufa, Koltsov won two Russian championships and the Gagarin Cup.
Dossier
Kirill Anatolievich Koltsov
Born Feb 1, 1983 in Chelyabinsk
Playing career: 1999-2003, 2005-2007 — Avangard, 2003-2005 — Manitoba (AHL), 2007-2011, 2012-2015 — Salavat Yulaev, 2011-2012 — СКА, 2015-2016 — Torpedo, 2016-2017 — Traktor, 2017-2018 — Spartak, 2018 — Buran (VHL), 2018-2019 — Avtomobilist.
Honors: Gold medal at the U18 (2001) and U20 (2003) World Juniors, gold (2008, 2011), silver (2001, 2006), and bronze medal (2007, 2010) in the Russian championship, Gagarin Cup winner (2011).
