Russian hockey player Ilya Krikunov, whose biography, sports career and personal life are described in this article, is the striker of the Avangard club from Yekaterinburg. He managed to play for many KHL teams, and as part of the junior team of Russia he became the silver medalist of the World Cup.
Biography and sports career
In February 1984, the future prize-winner of the junior world championship was born - hockey player Ilya Krikunov, whose family at that time lived in the city of Elektrostal near Moscow. Here he began to play sports.
At the age of 15, the attacker began to be allowed to play for the double of the local Crystal team. In the 1999/2000 season, he played just 4 fights, but for the young man they became an invaluable experience.
In 2000, the hockey player Ilya Krikunov moved to Voronezh, where he plays for Voronezh-2, but after the end of the season he returns to his native Elektrostal. Here he signs a contract with Elemash and in two years becomes a real leader and one of the team's top scorers.
In 2002, at the NHL draft, Krikunova chose the Vancouver Canucks club , but the 18-year-old striker did not want to go overseas. He signed a contract with the Super League team “Chemist” from Voskresensk. For two seasons, he spent 110 games, scored 20 goals and gave 22 assists.
In 2004, the hockey player Ilya Krikunov became a player in another “Chemist” - from Mytishchi, which was later renamed “Atlant”. After four seasons, the attacker again changed the team. In exchange, he ended up in the Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo, in which he managed to gain a foothold in the main team.
The season 2011/2012 was especially memorable. First, the club from Nizhny Novgorod became the first in the Tarasov Division, then confidently beat Cherepovets Severstal with a score of 4: 2, but in the semi-finals of the conferences lost to the capital Dynamo with a similar final score. In this playoff series, the striker spent 12 fights, scored 3 goals and gave 6 assists.
Returning to Atlant in 2012, Krikunov could not regain his place at the base. He ended up first in Avtomobilist (Yekaterinburg), then in Sputnik from Nizhny Tagil, and spent the end of the season in Khabarovsk Amur.
In 2014, the hockey player Ilya Krikunov became a player in the KHL Sochi team. Here, over three seasons, he spent 169 fights, scored 41 goals and assisted teammates 71 times. Twice the Sochi team reached the KHL playoffs, but both times lost in the first round.
In 2017, the striker returned to Yekaterinburg, in the familiar “Motorist” for him. At the start of the KHL regular season, he showed good results - 14 (2 + 12) points in 16 fights.
International performances
The hockey player Ilya Krikunov was first called up to the junior team in 2002. At the World Cup, the Russian team won a set of silver medals. Krikunov in 8 matches at the tournament scored 11 (3 + 8) points.
Two years later, Ilya goes to the youth world championship. Unfortunately, two of his assists in six games played did not help the Russian team win medals.
Personal life
With his future wife Catherine striker “Motorist” met a very long time. Both are from Elektrostal. Hockey player Ilya Krikunov, whose wife gave birth to daughter Carolina in 2010, is a real example of a good husband and loving father.