In the modern world, not many hockey players remain to play for the team in the school of which they were trained. Nevertheless, such cases occur in professional hockey, and one example is Pavel Kulikov.
Nizhnekamsk patriot
Kulikov Pavel Vladimirovich was born on January 14, 1992 in Nizhnekamsk, and so far only his native, Nizhnekamsk clubs plus a short-term rental to a neighboring region appear in his biography. It all started with the usual Nizhnekamsk school of hockey, where the young Paul brought his parents. The boy liked the men's game, and his ability to get away from the opponent and make aiming throws from any position quickly made him a promising striker.
Pavel Kulikov took his first professional steps in the adult league in 2009 by signing an agreement with the Reactor club, in which he played in the 31st meeting in the first season, scoring 9 points, and a year later showed almost three times the best result for almost the same amount meetings - 22 scoring points in 30 games. After such success, the young talent was noticed in the main team of the region (Neftekhimik) and invited him to sign a double agreement for the KHL and the MHL.
Conquest "Petrochemist"
In the debut match in the KHL, Pavel Kulikov was in a request for a meeting against Astana “Barys”, during the match went to the site for a total of almost 5 minutes, but failed to mark with effective actions. In the 2011/2012 season for the striker, this was the only match in the country's top division, the rest of the time he continued to play for Reactor, where he scored insane performance, completing the championship with a score of 44 points in 48 games.
Such results once again attracted the attention of the Neftekhimik coaching staff, and the next season was marked for Pavel not only by returning to the KHL team, but also the first goal in the tournament, while Magnitogorsk Metallurg himself became the rival, whose goal hit the forward. The goal of the young striker did not bring victory to the “oilmen”, “Magnitogorsk” won with a score of 7: 2, but the experience of this game played a role in the development of the player, although he failed to distinguish himself in the remaining 10 matches where he took part.
At the end of that season, Pavel Kulikov was sent to the neighboring region, to the Penza Diesel, where he was to gain the necessary experience. Having played there 9 matches, with an asset of 2 goals, the forward returned to Neftekhimik, who did not leave anymore. The following seasons, Pavel regularly appeared on the site, and although his performance did not even reach 20 points per season, the team’s coaching staff continues to believe in the player and puts him on the ice, waiting for another stunning result and important goals.
Steps to the national team
Over the course of his career, the striker has been repeatedly attracted to the games of the Russian national team of various ages. Pavel Kulikov, a hockey player who spent a season with an incredible 40 or more points, simply could not be unnoticed by the national team mentors. As a result, the Russian played in the youth team of Russia in 2010, taking 4th place, and two years later he became one of the co-authors of the “silver”, gaining two points in 7 meetings.
Now Pavel is only 25 years old, he is considered an excellent candidate for getting into the main national team of Russia, and given his zeal and talent, in the near future you can expect to see him in the main team of the country.