Vyacheslav Kozlov

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Vyacheslav Kozlov bigraphy, stories - Russian ice hockey player

Vyacheslav Kozlov : biography

May 3, 1972 –

Vyacheslav Anatolevich ‘Slava’ Kozlov ( born May 3, 1972) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger who plays for Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion (1997, 1998) from his years playing with the Detroit Red Wings. He has also played for the Buffalo Sabres, Atlanta Thrashers. In February 2011, he left HC CSKA Moscow, with whom he had signed a one-year deal, to join playoff-bound Salavat Yulaev Ufa. He joined Dynamo Moscow for the 2011-12 season.

Playing career

Detroit Red Wings

Kozlov was drafted 45th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Kozlov made his NHL debut on March 12, 1992, recording two assists in Detroit’s 5–4 win over the St. Louis Blues. He became a regular player with Detroit in the 1993–94 NHL season. After the Red Wings acquired Igor Larionov in 1995, coach Scotty Bowman created a 5–man Russian unit (the "Russian Five") consisting of forwards Kozlov, Sergei Fedorov and Igor Larionov, and defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov and Viacheslav Fetisov. This group helped Detroit to a Stanley Cup win in 1997. Kozlov was also a contributing member of the team during their second consecutive Stanley Cup run in 1998.

Buffalo Sabres

Kozlov played for Detroit until the summer of 2001, when he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in a trade that put Dominik Hašek in a Red Wings jersey. After one injury-shortened season in Buffalo, Kozlov was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers.

Atlanta Thrashers

Kozlov served some games as team captain due to captain rotation while spent his first season in Atlanta until Shawn McEachern was announced the only team captain for the rest of the 2002/03 season in February.

Since the inception of the shootout into NHL play in 2005, Kozlov has been known as the league’s best scorer in the shootouts as of the end of season 08-09.

Kozlov played his 1,000th NHL game on December 26, 2007, against the Columbus Blue Jackets and his former Russian Five teammate, Sergei Fedorov. After scoring only 41 points during the 2007–08 season, many thought his scoring touch had disappeared. However, he bounced back in 2008–09 with one of the best seasons of his career, scoring 26 goals and 76 points.

Kozlov re-signed with the Atlanta Thrashers on July 4, 2007, with a three-year, $11–million contract with no trade clause. Rick Dudley announce that they would not re-sign Kozlov for the 2010-11 NHL season.

KHL

In 2010, Kozlov signed a 1-year deal with HC CSKA Moscow. In February 2011 Kozlov left CSKA to join playoff-bound Salavat Yulaev Ufa. He participated in the team’s final four regular season games and all of its playoff contests. Ufa’s star-studded team advanced to the KHL finals and captured Gagarin Cup, beating Atlant Moscow Oblast 4 games to 1.

On May 19, 2011, he signed a one-year contract with HC Dynamo Moscow, with whom he won his second Gagarin Cup.

Kozlov joined HC Spartak Moscow late in the 2012-13 season, playing in just 13 games. On March 19, 2013, he signed a one-year extension with the team.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1987–88 Khimik Voskresensk USSR 2 0 0 0 0
1988–89 Khimik Voskresensk USSR 14 0 1 1 2
1989–90 Khimik Voskresensk USSR 45 14 12 26 38
1990–91 Khimik Voskresensk USSR 45 11 13 24 46
1991–92 CSKA Moscow CIS 11 6 5 11 12
1991–92 Detroit Red Wings NHL 7 0 2 2 2
1992–93 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 45 23 36 59 54 4 1 1 2 4
1992–93 Detroit Red Wings NHL 17 4 1 5 14 4 0 2 2 2
1993–94 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 3 0 1 1 15
1993–94 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 34 39 73 50 7 2 5 7 12
1994–95 CSKA Moscow IHL 10 3 4 7 14
1994–95 Detroit Red Wings NHL 46 13 20 33 45 18 9 7 16 10
1995–96 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 36 37 73 70 19 5 7 12 10
1996–97 Detroit Red Wings NHL 75 23 22 45 46 20 8 5 13 14
1997–98 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 25 27 52 46 22 6 8 14 10
1998–99 Detroit Red Wings NHL 79 29 29 58 45 10 6 1 7 4
1999–00 Detroit Red Wings NHL 72 18 18 36 28 8 2 1 3 12
2000–01 Detroit Red Wings NHL 72 20 18 38 30 6 4 1 5 2
2001–02 Buffalo Sabres NHL 38 9 13 22 16
2002–03 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 79 21 49 70 66
2003–04 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 76 20 32 52 74
2004–05 Khimik Moscow Oblast RSL 38 12 18 30 69
2004–05 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 8 2 4 6 0 4 1 0 1 8
2005–06 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 82 25 46 71 33
2006–07 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 81 28 52 80 36 4 0 0 0 6
2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 82 17 24 41 26
2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 82 26 50 76 44
2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 55 8 18 26 33
2010–11 CSKA Moscow KHL 40 11 14 25 20
2010–11 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 4 1 1 2 0 21 2 7 9 14
2011–12 Dynamo Moscow KHL 44 8 15 23 22 6 0 0 0 2
2012–13 Spartak Moscow KHL 13 4 4 8 10
NHL totals 1182 356 497 853 704 139 44 44 88 96
KHL totals 101 24 34 58 52 27 2 7 9 16