Russian hockey schools are able to raise goalkeepers, who then play at a high level in the best leagues in the world, while not inferior to their foreign colleagues in equipment. But for some reason, not all clubs rely on their students. To our guys, in order to gain a foothold in the team from the KHL, we must first gain skill and game experience. An example is Ivan Kasutin, a goalkeeper who made a name for himself with his work.
First steps in sports
Kasutin Ivan was born in Vologda on October 17, 1986. I went to hockey for the first time there. But later he was invited to Yaroslavl. There he graduated from the training school for young hockey players. After completing the training, the guy got into the second team of Yaroslavl “Locomotive”. Kasutin Ivan showed a good level of play, but he failed to break into the main team. It was because of this that he had to leave the team and move to Penza.
At first, this young goalkeeper had to go out for the second team. But this did not last long, since in 2005 he began his performance for the Diesel club, which plays in the big leagues. In his first season for the main team, Kasutin Ivan played 55 matches with a safety factor of 1.81 and became, at a fairly young age, the main goalkeeper of the professional team. It was thanks to a good game for the club “Diesel” that representatives of the strongest KHL teams began to be interested in Ivan.
KHL performance
For the high level of the game, Ivan was invited to the KHL hockey team - Moscow CSKA. In his first season, this goalkeeper managed to hold 26 games. But next year, Ivan was trusted less. For the whole year he spent only 12 games. The goalkeepers' coaching staff more trusted the foreigner Tom Lawson. Ivan was not satisfied with the lack of playing practice, so he decided to accept the offer to go to Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik. It was in this club that Kasutin managed to realize himself, becoming one of the best goalkeepers of the Russian league.
Over the 3 years spent in Nizhnekamsk, he played 125 games with a safety factor of 2.59. In addition, in 2010, in the playoffs of the Gagarin Cup, Ivan became the best among all goalkeepers in terms of reliability and reflected shots. But the very next year, Kasutin signed a two-year contract with Spartak. This team did not have a game, and it was at the bottom of the standings. But Kasutin was one of the few who showed decent results. At the end of the season, Ivan, due to the lack of victories, decided to change the club and go to Ak Bars. But he spent only 7 matches in this team, having missed 21 goals.
Return to Spartak and continued career
In Kazan, the coaching staff ceased to trust Ivan, and he did not receive playing time. After that, the goalkeeper decided to return back to Spartak. On August 24, 2012, it became known that Ivan Kasutin, a Russian hockey player, signed a three-year contract with Vityaz. Having shown a high level of play, he was invited to St. Petersburg “SKA” during the season. Vityaz received monetary compensation for this transition. But after six months, SKA decided to exchange with the Severstal club.
As a result, Kasutin received monetary compensation and the choice of the first draft number. In exchange for this, the composition of the SKA team was supplemented by Vadim Shipachev. At the moment, this wonderful goalkeeper plays in the Torpedo HC and is very popular among fans.
International career
Kasutin has little experience playing for an international team. He was once at the World Junior Championships. He was not allowed to play there. Nevertheless, he became the world champion with the team. More at official matches, he did not play for the national team. Teams from abroad are increasingly inviting teams to the Russian hockey championship. Fans of the teams can only hope that the number of our goalkeepers in world hockey will constantly grow.