Russian and Soviet hockey player Oleg Petrov began his career back in the late eighties, winning many trophies in twenty-plus years and playing in the strongest clubs on the planet. He won silver medals in the USSR Championship, participated in the conquest of the Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup, won the Gagarin Cup with Ak Bars. His professional attitude and love of hockey allowed him to play at the highest level for a very long time; he ended his professional career at the age of forty-two.
Soldier
Oleg Petrov, whose biography will be described below, was born in Moscow in 1971. Hockey at that time was wildly popular in the capital, in winter all the fields were occupied by boys, and Oleg became one of many who, since the age of seven, began to practice in the hockey section. The idol of the young athlete was the legendary Valery Kharlamov, whose matches Oleg Petrov tried never to miss.
He was brought up in the CSKA system and, having gradually passed all the youth and youth teams, he grew up to the main staff.
For the main team of the army, he made his debut in 1989 and spent three full seasons. In the last championship of the USSR, a hockey player already played in the second link of CSKA along with Igor Chibirev and Sergey Vostrikov. Oleg Petrov at the turn of the era managed to become the winner of the Soviet championship, winning silver medals from CSKA, after which he faced the question: what to do next?
Hockey at that time was rapidly losing popularity, there were many problems in people's lives, and the CSKA striker did not hesitate for a minute when he received an offer from overseas.
Difficult debut
In 1991, the NHL club Montreal Canadiens selected Oleg Petrov in the draft at number 127, and already in the summer of 1992, the former army soldier came to Canada. The newcomer played several matches for the main team, but spent most of his time at the Montreal Canadiens farm club, which played in the AHL.
In total, he played nine games in the regular season and one game in the playoffs. The Canadian club won the Stanley Cup that season, but Petrov’s name was not engraved on the trophy due to the small number of matches. Nevertheless, Oleg Petrov, whose photo was already adorned by Canadian newspapers, was included in the official list of the Cup owners club.
The second season, the striker also began at Fredericton, but during the season he was called up to the main team due to an injury to Brian Bellows. Petrov was identified in the second link of the attack, where he played along with Kirk Muller and Gilbert Dionne. For the remaining games of the season Oleg was able to score 27 points, scoring 15 goals and distributing 12 assists.
Swiss League Superstar
The beginning of the 1994/1995 season, the Russian forward frankly failed. Having played only twelve matches, he was again returned to the AHL, where he played out the rest of the season. However, the Montreal Canadiens coach continued to rely on a talented striker, he was offered a new one-year contract. However, the Stanley Cup 1995/1996 also went wrong for Oleg Petrov. He played a little, almost did not score and was invisible on the court.
In order to restart his career and once again feel confident in his abilities, the ex-soldier accepted the offer of the Swiss club Ambri Piotta and left the NHL. The former CSKA partner Igor Chibirev already played here, and Dmitry Kvartalnov supplemented the company of Russian hockey players . In addition, the club’s head coach was the reputable Alexander Yakushev, who created a very efficient team from the middle club, which fought for the main awards of the Swiss championship.
At the usual large venues, Oleg Petrov again played out and began to score in almost every match. In the first season, he scored 56 points, scoring 24 goals and distributing 32 assists. In the 1997/1998 season, the forward became the league's top scorer with an impressive 93 points.
From Switzerland to Canada and back
Impressed by Petrov’s game in Europe, the Montreal Canadiens bosses invited him to return, and in 1999, the rehabilitated striker again became an NHL player. By that time, he had already mastered in North America, played more confidently and was of great importance to the team.
His playing style was not particularly spectacular, he did not have a particularly powerful throw and scored little from long and medium distances. However, Oleg Petrov was a very sharp and fast hockey player, he kept himself cool on the ice, and he scored his pucks in the fight at the gates of others, scratching the rebounds and throws on the penny. Therefore, the lion's share of the hockey player’s goals was made up of work, work washers, scored due to the struggle and lightning reaction.
Oleg played for Montreal until 2003, then there was a season for Nashville Predators in his career, after which he returned to his beloved Switzerland.
Return to Russia
Oleg Petrov decided to spend the last years of his career at home and at the age of 36 he became a player of the Ak Bars Kazan. He was in the shadow of the star link of Zaripov, but he played very usefully and made a huge contribution to the victory of Ak Bars in the first Gagarin Cup.
Farewell to hockey for the veteran lasted a long time, he terrified the goalkeepers of his opponents until 2013, having managed to take the Western Conference Cup with Atlant, played for Spartak, Lokomotiv and ended his career in 2013 at the age of 42 .