The Russian hockey school is rightfully considered one of the most powerful in the world. Such a reputation was won back in the days of the Soviet Union, when the powerful “Red Machine” smashed the founders of hockey, professional hockey players from the NHL. But the political situation that existed in the world did not allow our hockey players to play for foreign clubs. A kind of self-isolation collapsed in the late 80s, when the first hockey players from the Soviet Union began to sign contracts with foreign clubs. And already in the nineties, the weak trickle of those departing became massive, the difficult situation inside the country encouraged young hockey players to look for opportunities to pursue a career in foreign clubs. A similar fate awaited our hero, the Siberian hockey player Dmitry Nabokov, who managed to play both in his homeland, overseas, and in European clubs over the years of his hockey career.
Childhood
Dmitry Viktorovich Nabokov was born on January 4, 1977 in the large Siberian city of Novosibirsk. Ordinary working family, ordinary childhood of a Soviet teenager. Studying well enough at school, Dmitry spent all his free time doing sports. And initially, priority was given to football. For a while, Dmitry Nabokov attended classes in the school football section. In winter, a teenager, along with friends, disappeared on a hockey box. Fortunately, the Siberian hockey school Sibir announced the enrollment of boys born in 1977, and Dmitry successfully passing the entrance tests, fell into the general group of students. These were the first hockey steps that Dmitry Nabokov took. Hockey has since become a part of life for him. And not in vain ...
First successes
In the 80s, Novosibirsk hockey was considered one of the strongest in the eastern part of our country. In regional competitions, hockey players of the Novosibirsk team were invariably among the winners, and almost all promising juniors from the Novosibirsk club were on a pencil with the breeders of leading Russian clubs. Nabokov Dmitry is a hockey player who, speaking as a striker, showed good results at his age level. Even then, it was clear that a talented young man would not stay in his native Novosibirsk for a long time. There were several invitations from major league clubs, and now, in 1992, Dmitry moved to the capital of our country, the city of Moscow.
Wings of Soviets
After moving to Moscow, Dmitry first lived in a sports boarding school "Wings of the Soviets." The first season in the Moscow club turned out to be crumpled, adaptation to the life of the capital, new partners, remoteness from parents affected. Having spent only 17 games in his 1993–94 season for his new club, Dmitry scored two goals and assisted his teammates twice.
Dmitry Nabokov began the next season at the Krylia Sovetov farm club, the Soviet Wings team. But already during the season he was returned to the main team, for which he finished the season. After the adaptation period, Dmitry at the age of 17 became the main player in one of the leading teams in the country. That season, “Wings of the Soviets” finished fifth in the regular season, and Nabokov scored 19 goals and 53 assists for 53 games.
Draft
As mentioned above, the mid-90s is the time of the mass departure of talented youth abroad. The successful season at the adult level did not go unnoticed by hockey specialists from the NHL. And in the summer of 1995, Dmitry Nabokov was drafted under a high number 19. Hockey club "Chicago Black Hawks" chose this talented junior. But before leaving for a foreign club, Dmitry spent another full season for Moscow's “Wings of the Soviets”. In the last season before leaving, Nabokov scored 26 points, scoring 12 goals and assisting partners 14 times.
North American Hockey
Dmitry Viktorovich Nabokov in the first season could not make his debut in the strongest hockey league in the world. Immediately upon arrival, he was sent to the Regina Pats subsidiary, who performed at WHL. The season was successful. Dmitry Nabokov immediately became the main player, having spent 55 games for his new club in his debut season. In these matches, the score of the Russian hockey player scored exactly a hundred points. Dmitry scored 41 goals and gave 59 assists. According to the results of the first season, it was clear that Nabokov’s level is much higher, and the debut in the NHL is just around the corner.
Nabokov Dmitry Viktorovich: statistics in the NHL
Pre-season training in the summer of 1997, Nabokov already held with the main staff of the Chicago Black Hawks. During the control games, Nabokov managed to convince the Chicago coaching staff of his solvency with his game. And by September 1997, Dmitry was already considered the main player in the NHL club.
How was the championship for the youth? Dmitry Nabokov is a hockey player for whom the start of the season was brilliant. He regularly went to the site, scored himself and assisted partners in the club. At some point, he was seriously considered as a contender for the title of the best rookie of the season. In the first part of the regular championship of the NHL Dmitry appeared 25 times in the first team of “Chicago”, having scored 7 goals and assisted partners 4 times. An excellent result for the 20-year-old debutant of the strongest hockey league in the world. But, as time has shown, not everything was so smooth. At some point, the coaching staff of the Chicago club began to show dissatisfaction with Dmitry Nabokov. According to the trainers, Dmitry lowered his requirements for himself, began to feel more cool about the training process. All this led to the fact that the club management decided to exchange the Russian striker for a player from another team.
New York Islanders
The next club of Dmitry Nabokov was the islanders from New York. Hockey experts expected a qualitative leap in the game of Nabokov. The islanders were not one of the leading league teams, so the competition for a place in the lineup was much lower than in Chicago. However, the reality was completely different. Dmitry could not show his best gaming qualities, alternating good games with frankly failing. Having played for New York in just 26 matches, Nabokov was once again sent to the farm club. Having played the remainder of the 1999-2000 season in the lower division, Dmitry Nabokov decides not to renew the contract on the terms proposed by the club. At this, Nabokov’s overseas career was over.
Return to Russia
On November 6, 2000, the forward unexpectedly for many signs a contract with a Russian club. Remembering the bright game of Dmitry at a youthful level, many clubs offered contracts. As a result, Dmitry Nabokov opts for one of the strongest hockey teams in Russia at that time, the Togliatti Lada. Fans were entitled to expect a restart in the career of a promising player. But the first season in Russia did not bring special dividends to the hockey player. Having not fixed himself in the main team of the Togliatti club, Dmitry appeared on the hockey platform from time to time. As a result, Dmitry spent only 29 games over the season, in which he scored 13 points. Not the best indicator for once one of the most promising strikers of our hockey.
To native penates
Having inexpressively spent a season in Tolyatti, Dmitry scared away many potential employers. The strongest Russian clubs did not invite the striker, and Nabokov had to sign a contract with the Novokuznetsk “Metallurg”, a typical average Russian hockey player. One and a half season Dmitry played for the Novokuznetsk club, becoming one of the team leaders. The forward began to gradually take shape, reminding specialists of that Nabokov, who was predicted world fame. This wave was followed by an invitation from a native team, Novosibirsk Siberia. The hockey player simply could not refuse the club, which opened the way for him to big hockey. And in the 2002/03 season, Nabokov became a player in Siberia. The season was not particularly successful for the hockey player, and at the end of it, Nabokov again had to change the club.
The next team was Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik. And again, Dmitry spends only one season in the team, gaining 17 points in it, which is a rather low indicator for the striker. In search of a better life, a new change of club follows, followed by another and another. New season - a new team, under this motto was the Russian part of Dmitry Nabokov’s career.
Lada, Metallurg Novokuznetsk, Sibir, Neftekhimik, Molot-Prikamye, HC MVD, Moscow Dynamo, again Sibir, and, finally, Chelyabinsk Tractor. Here is the list of clubs Dmitry Nabokov had to play for after returning from North America. Eight clubs in eight years, this is the track record of a hockey player at the Russian stage of his career.
At the end of his sports career, Nabokov once again tried his luck in a foreign club. He played one season for the Finnish club Saipa, where he became the best team assistant at the end of the season. But already traditionally for himself, the next season begins Nabokov in a new club, the Austrian “Dornbirn”. It was in this club that Nabokov ended his career as an acting player.
Here is such a sporting fate for one of the brightest representatives of hockey Russia in the mid-90s. Throughout his career, Nabokov was in demand as a hockey player, but was never able to fully realize his huge potential.