Russian hockey player Denis Khlystov

Denis Khlystov is a famous Russian hockey player. Plays as a striker. Kontinental Hockey League Championship Medalist. Currently stands for Kazan Ak Bars.

Hockey biography

Denis Khlystov was born in Ufa in 1979. Hockey was carried away in his youth. In the capital of Bashkiria, he began to play in youth teams.

He made his debut in a professional club in 1997, when he was 18 years old. The first team was the Ufa “Novoil”, which at that time played in the First League. Denis Khlystov scored 26 points for the season - scored 13 goals and gave 13 assists.

The young striker showed himself very well and the next year he was in the main team of Ufa, “Salavat Yulaev”. First he spent the season in the First League in a double, then he moved to the main team.

Super League debut

In his debut season in the Premier League, Denis Khlystov regularly appeared on the site. His team took 9th place in the regular season and received a ticket to the playoffs. True, in the first round, “Salavat Yulaev” lost to Perm “Hammer-Prikamye” with a score of 1: 3.

In the 1999/00 season, the Ufa team extremely unsuccessfully held the regular season, having ended up in the playoffs. By the way, in that year, only 4 teams did not get a series of elimination games. Therefore, “Salavat” had to defend his right to play in the Super League in the transition tournament. Having won 10 matches out of 14, Ufa residents kept their residence in the elite division.

Denis Khlystov played in Salavat until 2006. The hockey player spent 267 matches on the site, in which he scored 56 points. He scored 23 goals. His team several times went into the playoffs, but invariably dropped out in the first round.

New clubs

In 2006, Khlystov signed a contract with Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik. Over two seasons he played more than 100 matches, in which he scored 16 goals. The highest place of his team during this time in the Super League was 12th.

In 2008, Denis Khlystov moved to Magnitogorsk Metallurg. The hockey player first appeared in a club that is really fighting for championship medals. With this team, he made his debut in the newly formed Continental Hockey League.

The first season was successful. “Metallurg” became the sixth in the regular season. In the 1/8 finals in three matches he knocked out the Nizhny Novgorod “Torpedo” from the draw, in 1/4 he won the “Atlant” from Mytishchi 3: 1. Only in the semifinals he lost 4 of 5 games to Yaroslavl “Locomotive”.

More such serious successes in “Metallurg” Khlystov did not achieve. He played in the team until 2012. Total spent on the site 137 matches. He scored 23 goals, scored 58 points on the goal + pass system.

Return to Ufa

In 2012, Khlystov Denis, whose photo regularly appeared on the strip of sports newspapers, returned to Ufa's Salavat Yulaev. The team was much more confident. In the 2012/13 season, Ufa residents were fifth in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs in 7 matches, Magnitogorsk Metallurg won. In the semifinals of the conference, they played with the more recent Kazan “Ak Bars”, which went through the previous stage without defeat. Kazan won 4: 3.

In the season of 2031/14, Khlystov was again able to win bronze medals. In the regular season, Ufa residents shared 3-5 place in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, Nizhny Novgorod “Torpedo” 4: 3, and then Kazakhstan “Barys” 4: 2 won in a bitter struggle. Only in the final of the conference, “Salavat” lost in five games to Magnitogorsk “Metallurg”.

In the 2015/16 season, Khlystov became a three-time bronze medalist of the Russian championship. That season he was a key player, spent 48 matches on the site.

The regular season, “Salavat Yulaev” finished in 4th place in the Eastern Conference, skipping ahead of the Omsk “Vanguard”, Magnitogorsk “Metallurg” and “Siberia” from Novosibirsk.

In the quarter finals of the conference, the Ufa team led 3-1 against Kazan “Ak Bars”. However, then they lost 3: 4 at home, and then 0: 8 in the capital of Tatarstan. In the decisive match, the Khlystov team was able to defeat 3-2.

In the semifinals of the conference, “Salavat” met with Omsk “Vanguard”. Again, the Ufa team led 3: 1 in the series to 4 victories and again brought the confrontation to the seventh decisive match. This time they played away, but won again. This time 2: 1.

In the conference finals, for the right to play in the Gagarin Cup finals, the Ufa team played with Magnitogorsk Metallurg. We started with two defeats (2: 3 in overtime and 1: 6). Then they won at home 3: 2, but in the second match they lost again. So the score in the series was 1: 3. Correct errors “Salavat” had to be on the opponent’s field. Khlystov's team transferred the game to overtime, but could not win and again was content only with bronze medals.

In 2016, Khlystov became a free agent. The contract with him was signed by Yekaterinburg Avtomobilist. In the regular season, the team took only 11th place in the Eastern Conference and did not reach the playoffs.

Personal tragedy

In 2013, a tragedy occurred in the hockey player's family. Denis Khlystov could not recover after it for a long time. The wife, whose photo adorned the family albums, committed suicide. It is known that she was in a long depression.

The spouse's family blamed the athlete for everything. According to them, he regularly and brutally beat her. This led to depression and subsequent death. However, no criminal case was brought into suicide.