We present a summary of the main events in the world of hockey for April 18, 2024.
Nikita Kucherov entered the history of the NHL
Nikita Kucherov achieved several historic achievements in Tampa’s final NHL regular season game against Toronto.
He became the first Russian hockey player to make 100 assists in an NHL season. He also became the third player in league history, after Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, to score at least 40 goals and have at least 100 assists in the same season.
Connor McDavid also reached 100 assists this season. This is the second time in NHL history that two players completed 100 or more passes in the same season. This happened for the first time in the 1988/1989 season, when Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux each had 114 assists.
This season, Kucherov participated in 81 regular season games, in which he scored 44 goals and 100 assists with an average efficiency coefficient of “+10”.
Related materials
Who is the MVP if not him? Kucherov gave his 100th assist and MacKinnon can forget about “Art Ross”
Malkin passed Jari Kurri for 34th in assists in NHL history.
Another National Hockey League (NHL) regular season game took place that night, as the New York Islanders hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. The meeting took place in Elmont at the UBS Arena and ended with a 5-4 victory for the hosts, and the match itself was the last for both teams in this regular season.
Visiting Russian forward Evgeniy Malkin scored a goal and an assist in this match. Thus, as a result of this game, Malkin, 37, had 798 assists in 1,145 games in his NHL career. According to this indicator, he ranked 34th in history, surpassing Jari Kurri. The Russian’s next target is Pierre Turgeon (812).
In total, Malkin scored 67 (27+40) points in 82 games of the current regular season, but his team failed to reach the playoffs, finishing the season in fifth place in the Capital Division with 88 points.
Torpedo wants to return Zhafyarov
Torpedo general director Maxim Gafurov said that the Nizhny Novgorod club made a contract offer to striker Damir Zhafyarov.
“We were in contact with Zhafyarov all this time, followed his career, perceived him to some extent as a resident of Nizhny Novgorod, remembering his record of 61 points. We made an offer to Damir, then it all depends on the career he chooses. There are points about his role in the team, it will be different, because the club itself has grown and there will no longer be hope only for Zhafyarov. Which is the best. At the same time, I am sure that with the current players and our current youth, Damir could return to the best version of himself if he moves to Torpedo,” championship correspondent Sergei Emelyanov reports on Gafurov’s words.
Related materials
Exclusive
Agent Zhafyarov: first of all, we are waiting for an offer from Avangard
Larionov: the governor asks to play the match between Torpedo and Detroit in Nizhny Novgorod
Torpedo coach Igor Larionov expressed his gratitude to the fans of the Nizhny Novgorod club and stated that the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin, asked to play the Torpedo-Detroit match in the club’s new stadium.
“A special thank you to our fans. The support is colossal, wherever it is: in Moscow, in Norilsk. A lot of guys ask about Torpedo. In Dubai they also know what Torpedo is, they ask them to come. The governor asks to play a game between Torpedo and Detroit. “Detroit” will turn 100 years old, “Torpedo” will turn 80 in two years. It would be great to play this game on a new stage, it’s in our hands,” Maxim Makarov, correspondent of “Championship”, reports on Larionov’s words.
Jaromir Jagr, 52, scored a goal in the Czech championship
Kladno forward Jaromir Jagr, 52, took to the ice in the play-off game for the right to remain in the Czech extraliga with HC Vsetin. In the second minute of the first half, Jagr opened the scoring of the game, scoring his first goal this season. In the second half, the Czech forward provided an assist. The match ended with a 7:2 victory for Kladno.
As journalist Zdenek Janda reports on his page on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Jagr has become the oldest active hockey player to play in a professional league. Jaromir is 52 years and 63 days old. He improved the performance of Gordie Howe, who played in the NHL at the age of 52 years and 11 days.
Let us remember that in the 2023/2024 regular season with Kladno Jagr played 15 games in which he gave four assists. This is Jaromir’s seventh season after returning from the NHL. Jagr started playing for Kladno in the middle of the 2017/2018 season. The legendary forward participated in 1,733 NHL regular season games and scored 1,921 (766+1,155) points. Jagr won the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins (1991, 1992). With the Czech team he became Olympic champion (1998) and twice world champion (2005, 2010).
Metallurg won the first match of the 2024 Gagarin Cup final with Lokomotiv
Metallurg defeated Lokomotiv in the first match of the 2024 Gagarin Cup final 2-1 and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
The teams did not score a goal in the first two periods. At the beginning of the third period, railway striker Maxim Berezkin, with assists from Arthur Kayumov and Georgy Ivanov, opened the scoring in the match and, consequently, became the author of the first goal of the Gagarin Cup final series. 2024. Two minutes and 15 seconds later, Nikita Mikhailis, with a pass from Alexander Petunin, restored equality in the score. A minute and a half before the end of time, Alexander Petunin, with assists from Robin Press and Igor Geraskin, gave the Ural club the victory in the match.
We remind you that the second match of the series will take place on April 20. The third and fourth matches will be played in Yaroslavl on April 22 and 24.
Related materials
Lokomotiv was finally in the minority! Metallurg took the lead in the KHL playoffs final
Vasily Podkolzin agrees to new contract with Vancouver
The Vancouver Canucks announced today, April 18, that the club has reached an agreement with Russian forward Vasily Podkolzin on a new two-year contract. The average annual salary will be 1 million dollars.
“We are pleased with how hard Vasily has worked on his game, trying to become a more consistent hockey player. While he still has room to grow, the start of the year demonstrates the type of commitment and dedication we want from all of our players. Our club hopes to help Vasily continue to improve and be better,” said Vancouver general manager Patrick Alvin.
Let us remember that the 22-year-old forward played 18 games this NHL season, in which he recorded two assists and six penalty minutes.
