ROC star Nikita Gusev: Top things to know
He was the top scorer at PyeongChang 2018 but did you know he started out in figure skating? Here's what else should you know about the SKA St. Petersburg hero and former New Jersey Devil.
Ice Hockey
Those familiar with recent Olympic ice hockey history will be well aware of ROC's Nikita Gusev.
The 29-year-old scored a tournament-high 12 points at PyeongChang 2018, including four (two goals, two assists) in the gold medal triumph against Germany.
In that most thrilling of encounters, Gusev scored in the last minute of regulation to send the game into overtime, before setting up Kirill Kaprizov's golden goal.
As the wing returns to help ROC defend their Olympic title, here’s what you should know about the man they call 'Goose'.
From figure skating to Beijing Olympics: Nikita Gusev’s unlikely start
To be dominant on the ice in hockey, you need to be able to skate hard.
It may be surprising to know that Moscow-born Gusev didn’t start out on the surface with a stick in one hand.
“My hockey journey started out a bit strangely,” confessed Gusev to the International Ice Hockey Federation. When I went to the rink, I saw some other guys playing hockey and immediately understood that this was what I wanted to do with my life.
"I kept up the figure skating for a couple of weeks, then I joined the Beliye Medvedi hockey team.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
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Nikita Gusev playing career: KHL to NHL back to KHL
In 2009, Gusev played his first year in Russia's Junior Hockey League (JHL) for Krasnaya Armiya and showed his talent straight away.
Averaging over a point per game, he was selected for the JHL All-Star Game and then moved up to Krasnaya's parent club, KHL giants CSKA Moscow.
The forward was unable to pin down a regular spot in his home town club and ended up being shipped out on loan several times before eventually joining rivals SKA St. Petersburg in 2015.
Before that move, he was selected in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning but elected to defer his arrival in North America.
The transfer to SKA proved a turning point in his career as regular game time yielded a hatful of points.
Either side of his Olympic exploits, he was among the league's most productive forwards before posting 82 points (17 goals, 65 assists) to top the 2018/19 season statistics.
The Vegas Golden Knights had bought his NHL rights from Tampa Bay in 2017, and followed that up by signing Gusev in April 2019 although he never actually dressed for the franchise.
Three months later, Gusev was traded to the New Jersey Devils where he signing a lucrative two-year deal worth US$ 9 million.
He made an immediate return on that investment with 44 points in 66 games in a promising rookie season, but things turned sour in the delayed 2020/21 season.
His Devils contract was terminated in April 2021 with the Florida Panthers picking him up on a one-year US$ 1 million contract.
He registered five points in 11 games in Florida, but was released in the summer and flew back to Russia after a try-out with the Toronto Maple Leafs failed to result in a permanent deal.
Gusev returned to SKA St. Petersburg where he has picked up where he left off in 2019.
With a tally of 35 points from 31 games, he has forced his way back onto the ROC roster.
ROC's Nikita Gusev: A player to watch
Gusev boasts a number of medals from international competition and will hope to earn more hardware in Beijing with the gold medal favourites.
As well as his Olympic title from PyeongChang, 'Goose' has two bronzes from World Championships (2017 and 2019) and a silver from the 2012 World Junior Championship.
He has already showed that he is a man for the big occasion, not least for that magical assist to Kaprizov which secured gold in Korea.
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