Many hockey players have a successful career. Gold medals, cups, awards - all this is available to the best players on the planet. Forward SKA St. Petersburg has almost all the possible trophies, but modesty and decency do not allow him to brag about it. The biography of Nikita Gusev is very rich, and I would like to tell about her in all possible details.
The first steps
Nikita Gusev was born in Moscow on July 8, 1992. From childhood, the boy stood out among his peers. After the opening of the new Ice Palace in the area where the Gusev family lived, Nikita was immediately sent to the figure skating section. He perfectly mastered all the elements of this sport, but, looking at the familiar boys, after a while he was tired of doing skating. Nikita asked his parents to transfer him to hockey, a section of which was held in the same Ice Palace.
Nikita was a little late for the selection of young hockey players, he came six months after recruiting a local team. This did not stop him from immediately showing his talent and joining the team of his partners. Little Nikita lacked speed and physical condition, but most importantly, he had non-standard thinking on the site, which distinguished him from other peers.
Important trainer
The first coach of the hockey player Nikita Gusev was the competent Gennady Kurdin, who clearly controlled the training process of little hockey players. For Kurdin, in the first place was not strength and power, but mutual understanding and a peculiar representation of all situations on ice. Thanks to Kurdin, the hockey player Nikita Gusev got that base, which allowed him to become an excellent hockey player. A photo of Nikita Gusev and his first coach is still kept in the Ice Palace.
Talent of Gusev
At the age of 15, Nikita was still on the way to becoming a strong technical hockey player, but, looking at his game, it could be said that this guy was doing himself all day. Gusev had a wonderful vision of the site. He still uses all the qualities obtained in children's hockey. Gusev is not a high-speed player, but he compensates for this shortcoming with excellent dribbling, swinging the opponent and a sharp jerk in the direction he needs in a certain situation.
In addition to the excellent qualities of a hockey player, Nikita also possessed sincere human features. He never recognized himself as a star, which helped him gain a reputation that distinguishes him from many athletes, in which pathos and arrogance in relation to many things are in the first place.
Career
As mentioned earlier, Nikita came across a very competent mentor who put his heart and soul into children's hockey. He always sought to comply with the regime and appreciated every minute in training. The first club of Nikita was the team "Polar Bears" under the leadership of Kurdin. After it became clear that Gusev had outgrown the level given to him, he tried his hand at the farm club of the Moscow CSKA. Having played there for two seasons, in the middle of the championship, he began to play with the main team. In the same year, Gusev won the first trophy in his professional career, winning the Kharlamov Cup with farming. The next season, Gusev alternated games with the youth and the foundation, but he could not gain a foothold in the main team.
In 2012, he went to the VHL club - MHK Tver, and then moved to a more status team from Khabarovsk - Amur. In the 2012 draft, he was selected in the seventh round under the 202nd number by the NHL team Tampa Bay Lightning, but the rights to the player after some time were given to “Vegas”. Having decided to stay at home and having played for some time for Amur, Gusev again changed his club registration and ended up in the Khanty-Mansiysk Ugra.
The game of Nikita Gusev was so impressive that in the 14/15 season he was first invited to participate in the match of all KHL stars. In the competition for the best bullet, he was marked by the most graceful blow, thereby becoming the winner in this nomination. At the end of the season, Nikita's career reached a new high level when he received an offer that cannot be refused. For monetary compensation for “Ugra” he bought the St. Petersburg “SKA”.
International career
Nikita Gusev began his international career in the youth team until the age of 20, where in 2012 he won silver at the World Youth Championship, marking 9 points in the tournament. In 2017, he took the first medal with the national team, when Russia took bronze medals at the World Cup.
2018 Olympics
But the most famous for Gusev was the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, in which Nikita was surprised from the first match. Three of the four goals scored in the opponent’s goal, decided the fate of a match. But the phenomenal actions of Gusev and the puck, abandoned by him in the final match against the German national team, forever entered his name in the history of Russian hockey. A minute before the end of the game, when Russia in the minority lost to the Germans, Nikita Gusev was not afraid to take on the game and with a sharp blow pounded the puck into the net. This rescue gave hope to millions of Russian fans that Olympic gold is still possible. In the middle of overtime, with a heavy siege of the German national team’s goal, Nikita Gusev tricked the puck onto his partner Kirill Kaprizov, where the latter sent her into the net with a powerful blow, bringing the first Olympic gold of the Russian team.
In late February, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Nikita Gusev the Order of Friendship for the will to win and determination. In addition to Gusev, all the players who participated in the Olympic victory for Russia were gifted with such awards. In the general photo, hockey player Nikita Gusev stood next to his childhood idol, Pavel Datsyuk, who was an example in achieving Nikita's hockey successes.
Personal life
Friends and team partners are called Nikita - Goose. It is almost impossible to find out about Gusev’s personal life, because he doesn’t sit on any social network. He does not correspond with Vkontakte, does not post on Twitter, and does not post photos on the popular Instagram network. Nikita prefers to chat with people live, and not spend time looking at the phone screen.
One of the known facts is that Gusev has a wife, whose name is Marina. An interesting fact occurred in 2017: when the SKA beat Magnitogorsk Metallurg in the victory match of the Gagarin Cup, then all the army men were supported by girls or wives. Everyone except Nikita Gusev’s wife. This is due to the fact that at this time Marina was pregnant, and the couple was expecting a baby who was born after a couple of months in the USA. The daughter was called Veronica, and that's all that is known about the personal life of Nikita Gusev. Even in the interview, Nikita is reluctant to answer questions related to the family.
About future plans
Journalists and correspondents constantly ask Nikita why such a promising player is not going to go overseas and try his hand at the NHL. To this question, Gusev replies that with all the desire to leave the ocean, he is hindered by a contract with the St. Petersburg group, whose rupture entails some problems. And in St. Petersburg everything suits him, and Nikita still does not see the point of moving. Once he already refused the leading NHL clubs because of the risk of getting lost in the youth league, given the small age at that time.
The sport has its own laws and regulations, the violation of which does not comply with the principles of Nikita Gusev. I would like to wish him good luck and great achievements not only on the ice rink, but also in a life that goes beyond the hockey arena.