Vitaly Atyushov: a medals collector
KHL.ru continues telling the stories of those who became league’s legends. Today, the talk is about Vitaly Atyushov, whose pro career lasted more than 20 years.
Penza-Moscow-Penza-Moscow
In 1998, Krylya Sovetov loaned Vitaly Atyushov to his hometown club Dizelist. The young blueliner, a product of Penza hockey, had moved to Moscow in the mid-1990s but had little playing experience within Krylya Sovetov’s main lineup. Atyushov was recalled from the Higher League by the Moscow-based team in December.
Shortly before this, unprecedented events occurred. At the end of November, a shareholders’ meeting of the joint-stock company Krylya Sovetov took place, during which Igor Yesmantovich was elected as the club’s general director instead of Andrei Rumyantsev. Soon, the former leader transitioned to work at HC CSKA under Viktor Tikhonov. Following him, the head coach Fyodor Kanareikin and the entire team also moved there.
“I took over the team when not a single person stepped onto the ice. I had never suspected that such a thing could happen in Russian hockey. There are no parallels to this. When a coach leaves, the team should remain. After all, players obey the club! This was pure sabotage, something that is pursued by law in any civilized country,” said the new coach of the team, Vasily Spiridonov, in an interview.
A few days later, several veterans returned to Krylya. However, many preferred to stay at HC CSKA or join other clubs. The management and coaches had to significantly rejuvenate the roster. This is when Atyushov returned to the team, and he became part of the first defensive pair alongside Ilya Stashenkov.
Krylya Sovetov failed to make it among the top 16 teams at the end of the first stage to qualify for the playoffs. According to the regulations at that time, they had to play in a transitional tournament, where the worst teams from the Super League faced off against the best from the Higher League. However, the club had no resources to compete in this tournament, which lasted until the end of May. At the beginning of the transitional stage, players like Stashenkov, as well as the top line of Alexander Savchenkov, Pavel Boychenko, and Alexander Boykov, left Krylya. According to Spiridonov’s recollection, heating was turned off at the training facility, and there were issues with food supply. Krylya didn’t even participate in the final match of the transitional tournament against Khimik. The official reason was the lack of funds to pay the referees. As a result, the team finished last, earning only eight points in 22 matches.
Vitaly Atyushov
648 games, 197 (38+159) points.
2006 Spengler Cup champion.
2007 Russian champion.
2007 bronze medal, 2009 gold medal, 2010 silver medal at the IIHF World Championship.
2008 European Champions Cup winner, MVP of the European Champions Cup, Top plus-and-minus and top scorer among defensemen in the Russian championship.
2010 KHL All-Star Game.
13.05.2007 Bronze medal at the IIHF WC in Russia.
13.04.2007 Wins the Russian championship with Metallurg, scoring a goal in the fifth game of the final series.
First hardware
In the spring and summer of 1999, all the players left Krylya Sovetov, except for a few young ones. Atyushov, who had shown a good level of play in the second half of the season, was invited to join the solid middle-tier team Molot-Prikamye. In Perm, the young d-man received a lot of playing time and significantly improved his skills. However, the team gradually found itself among the underdogs and was relegated from the Super League in 2003. By that time, Atyushov was already playing for Ak Bars.
Atyushov’s rise was however accompanied by a scandal, but that wasn’t just about him. In 2001, seven players with valid contracts left Molot-Prikamye. They claimed that the club had not fulfilled the terms of their agreements, with salary delays of up to five months. Perm wanted to bring the players back or receive compensation. Molot-Prikamye’s management turned to arbitration. Eventually, Kazan and Perm reached an agreement that Atyushov would spend the season with his old team on loan and would permanently transfer to Ak Bars in 2002.
In the end, Atyushov didn’t stay in Kazan for long, playing only one season there Along with his former teammate from Krylya Sovetov, Evgeny Varlamov, he moved to Metallurg. Finding those players was a fantastic discovery for Magnitka. They played as a pair, took on leading roles in the very first year, and spent a total of eight seasons in Magnitogorsk.
For a time in the Russian championship, there was no stronger defensive duo than Atyushov and Varlamov. For instance, during the lockout season of 2004-2005, they collectively scored 49 points with a remarkable plus-58 rating. In the 2007-2008 season, they produced 69 points in total with a plus-52 differential.
Atyushov won his first medal with Metallurg in his debut season. In the spring of 2004, the team eliminated Ak Bars in the semifinals and got a 2-0 lead against Avangard in the decisive series. However, they ultimately lost 2-3 to the Hawks, losing the decisive battle 0:1 SO.
In 2005, Dave King took the lead in Magnitogorsk. He molded a team that dominated the regular season, outperforming their closest competitor by 29 points. However, it was evident after the new year that the team had lost some of its former ease in play. After the WJC, the team’s leader, Evgeny Malkin, appeared fatigued. Consequently, Metallurg lost in the semifinals to Avangard again during the playoffs but secured the bronze. This marked Atyushov’s second accolade.
The missing piece to complete his set of Russian championship medals came in the following season. That time, Magnitka wasn’t considered a contender, unlike the previous year, which favored Ak Bars, who had displayed formidable performance in the prior season and took first place. The two teams met in the finals, and it was in the decisive fifth game that Atyushov scored the opening goal on the road with a powerplay shot from the blue line. Opening the score in such games is of utmost importance, and Metallurg celebrated a well-deserved, 2:1 win.
13.01.2008 Becomes European Champions Cup holder and tournament’s MVP.
03.09.2008 First game in the KHL.
01.10.2008 Plays with Metallurg in the Victoria Cup match against New York Rangers.
10.05.2009 First IIHF WC gold medal with Team Russia.
23.05.2010 Silver medal at the IIHF WC in Germany.
27.02.2021 Introduced in Metallurg’s Hall of Fame.
19.04.2021 Appointed as Sibir’s assistant coach.
27.06.2023 Appointed as Amur’s defensemen coach.
Atyushov regularly played for the Russian national team from 2006 to 2011, missing only one World Championship during that time – in 2008. Like in the case of the Russian Championship, the defender has earned accolades from the World Championship of all calibers.
In 2007, Atyushov won the bronze medal in Moscow. Any medal is considered a success, but that time, the third-place finish was a disappointment. Russia had assembled a very strong team for the tournament on home soil, featuring players like Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Frolov, Alexander Radulov, Andrei Markov, Sergei Gonchar, and the renowned line of Alexei Morozov, Sergei Zinovyev, and Danis Zaripov. The team was considered the number one favorite but lost to the Finns in OT during the semifinals.
Atyushov claimed the gold medal in 2009. Russia came to Switzerland to defend the title of World Champion, which they had won the previous year in Canada for the first time since 1993. The tournament proved to be a challenge for the team. While Russia ultimately secured 10 victories in 10 matches, they could have been defeated at any stage of the playoffs, including the quarterfinals against Belarus. In that game, Atyushov scored an important goal, making it a 2:2 game.
In 2010, Russia had practically an Olympic roster. NHL-based players arrived in Germany to “make amends” for their 3:7 loss to Canada in the quarterfinals of the Vancouver Olympics. Canada, in turn, brought mostly talented young players to Cologne. Russia and Canada met again in the quarterfinals, and this time the Russians prevailed, winning 5:2 with two goals assisted by Atyushov. Russia could have won the gold for the third consecutive time. However, Czechia’s goalie Tomas Vokoun played brilliantly in the final and had different plans.
An endorsement from Chernyshenko
Atyushov continued to win medals in Russia. Together with Metallurg, he secured bronze in 2008 and 2009 during the first seasons of the KHL. The creation of the new league coincided with the peak of Atyushov’s career. He spent 12 seasons in the league, establishing himself as one of the most respected players.
It’s no coincidence that in August 2016, the then-president of the KHL, Dmitry Chernyshenko, responding to a question about the Amur team, said, “It’s an excellent team. There’s Vitaly Atyushov, a magnificent player who has accomplished many sporting feats.”
The greatest of these feats was his career longevity, playing until almost 41 years of age.
Dossier
Vitaly Georgievich Atyushov
Born: Jul 04, 1979, in Penza.
Playing career: 1996-1999 – Krylya Sovetov, 1998-1999 – Dizelist, 1999-2002 – Molot, 2002-2003 – Ak Bars, 2003-2011 – Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 2011-2013 – Salavat Yulaev, 2013-2014 – Atlant, 2014-2015 – Traktor, 2015-2019 – Amur, 2019-2020 – Neftekhimik.
Honors: gold (2009), silver (2010), and bronze (2007) medal at the IIHF World Championship, gold (2007), silver (2004), and bronze (2006, 2008, 2009) medal in the Russian Championship, winner of the European Champions Cup (2008).
Coaching career: 2021-2023 – Sibir (assistant), 2023-today – Amur (assistant).
