Ilya Sorokin: Rapid Flight
Ilya Sorokin’s journey took him from the Junior Hockey League to Olympic glory.
Take-off
Many experts say that Ilya Sorokin’s career is a textbook example of how to make it in hockey. Instead of jumping into the unknown at an early age and taking his cahnces in the minors in North America, he stayed at home and progressed step-by-step through Russian hockey. The journey saw him lift the Gagarin Cup, win Olympic gold and develop completely as a player and a person. By the time he decided to play in the NHL, he was already a mature, confident individual, able to join a club where he would have a clear role rather than a big risk of being shunted off to the AHL.
Sorokin began life as a skater. But at age seven he asked to go in goal. His coaches tried to dissuade him, since he was doing well on the ice. But young Ilya insisted.
Sorokin’s pro career began in Russian’s Junior Hockey League. Over the years we’ve seen more and more players graduate to the KHL from the juniors. In 2022-2023, almost 90% of KHLers graduated from junior academies and Sorokin is one of the most spectacular examples of how the pathway can work.
Sorokin enjoyed some fortune in that he started at Metallurg Novokuznetsk, a KHL outsider at the time. Teams like this give young players more opportunities than clubs expecting to win trophies. Novokuznetsk was the starting point for Sergei Bobrovsky, Dmitry Orlov, Kirill Kaprizov, Anton Slepyshev and others. In early 2013, it was Sorokin’s turn.
The following season, the form of Ilya and Nikita Lozhkin persuaded Metallurg’s management to dispense with Niko Hovinen. The Finn moved to Admiral in November, and thereafter Sorokin and Lozhkin shared goaltending duties, starting 27 games each. Things picked up pace in the fall of 2014. A bright start to the KHL season saw Sorokin join Team Russia at the Karjala Cup in October. His international debut brought a 4-2 win over the Czechs. In December he went to the World Juniors, and returned to join CSKA.
24.12.2014 Traded to CSKA
05.01.2015 Won World Junior Silver
13.02.2016 Played his first KHL All-Star Game
24.05.2016 KHL Goalie of the Year
25.02.2018 Won Olympic Gold
19.04.2019 Won his first Gagarin Cup
19.04.2019 Named KHL playoff MVP
The Road to the Cup
At the time, the Muscovites were still building a team that would go on to play six Gagarin Cup finals in seven seasons. Sorokin became a key component in that future success. However, he didn’t feature in the 2015 playoffs, with the more experienced Stanislav Galimov and Kevin Lalande sharing the goalie duties. In 2015-2016, Sorokin established himself as first-choice goalie ahead of Galimov and Viktor Fasth. He went on to play the whole playoff and backstopped CSKA to its first final since 1992. The Red-and-Blues came up just short, losing in game seven to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The following season brought a second-round loss to Lokomotiv, which saw head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov replaced by Igor Nikitin. But he could not immediately secure that long-awaited cup.
In 2017, Ilya signed a new three-year contract with CSKA.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, I didn’t do it on a whim. I thought a lot, discussed with my parents, with my coaches. And I decided that it would be better to spend these three years with CSKA, in the KHL. In three years, I’ll still only be 25. For a goalie, that’s no age. I’ll only be approaching my peak.”
Ilya Sorokin
In 2019, CSKA finally won the Gagarin Cup. In the process, Sorokin produced some phenomenal stats. In the regular season, his GAA was just 1.16 and he stopped 94% of shots. In the playoffs, those numbers were 1.19 and 94.7%. Although the final against Avangard was a 4-0 sweep, only the first game was a comfortable win. In the other three games, the outcome was settled in the closing moments or in overtime. Sorokin’s contribution to the championship win was enormous.
The following season, the Muscovites were well placed for a repeat success. Sorokin was every bit as impressive again. However, due to the pandemic, the playoffs were cut short. Soon after that, Ilya decided to cross the Atlantic.
Ilya Sorokin
313 games, 184 wins
Third in all-time KHL shut-outs (60)
Second all-time in shut-outs in a single KHL season (11, 2018-2019)
World Junior silver 2015
KHL Goalie of the Year 2016
Olympic champion 2018
World Championship bronze 2016, 2017, 2019
Gagarin Cup winner 2019
Playoff MVP 2019
KHL All-Star 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
07.01.2013 KHL debut for Metallurg Novokuznetsk against Barys
15.02.2013 First KHL win for Metallurg Novokuznetsk over Lokomotiv
Behind experienced colleagues
Sorokin’s international career began at the World Juniors in 2014-2015. At the time, Russia had two promising young goalies, Sorokin and Igor Shestyorkin. In the future, they would be competing for top spot on the national team and currently both play in the NHL. Back then, in Canada, they rotated through the tournament. In the end, Shestyorkin started the playoffs. In the group stage, Russia lost to Sweden and the Czech Republic, and ahead of the knock-out stage few regarded them as contenders. But Russia beat the USA in the QF, then knocked out the Swedes. In the final, Shestyorkin allowed two goals in the first three minutes and was replaced by Sorokin. By the middle of the second period, Russia began to fight back but its efforts to overturn a 1-5 deficit fell just short and Canada took gold with a 5-4 verdict.
For the national team, Sorokin played five major tournaments – World Championships from 2016-2019, and the PyeongChang Olympics. Each time, there was a more experienced goalie on the team: Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevsky, Vasily Koshechkin. But Sorokin still got game time. In Korea, he played the third period of the game against Slovenia. In 2016, he featured in three games at the World Championship in Moscow, including a shut-out against Norway. In 2017, he came off the bench against Italy and played the whole game against Latvia, again recording a shut-out. Sorokin is an Olympic Champion and three-time World Championship bronze medallist.
“The World Championship is a big tournament, where the focus is on one goalie. The other two have to ready to jump in at any moment, to help and support. There’s nothing wrong with being the second or third goalie. You should be happy to be involved and have a chance to play.”
Ilya Sorokin
Factfile
Ilya Igorevich Sorokin
Born Aug. 4 1995 in Mezhdurechensk (Kemerovo Region)
Career: 2012-14 — Metallurg Novokuznetsk, 2014-20 — CSKA, с 2020 — Islanders (NHL)
Honors: Olympic champion (2018), World Championship bronze (2016, 2017, 2019), World Junior silver (2015), Gagarin Cup (2019), gold (2019) and silver (2016, 2018) medallist in the Russian Championship.
