Season 2018/19:
Before the reporting season, Kirill Slepets won his second World Youth Cup club teams together with Loko, now gaining 5 (4+1) points in five matches. His debut in the KHL was also not long in coming and he played his first match for Lokomotiv on September 15 against Severstal, and over the next half month Kirill played four more games in the main team. Russian league. After that, there were small business trips to the VHL and MHL, and in November, as part of the Russian youth team, the forward went to Canada to take part in the next Super Series. In six matches, Slepets scored two goals, showing great performance in the power play and significantly increasing his own chances of getting into the final lineup for main tournament year, if we talk about youth hockey. After returning from Canada, Kirill played two more matches in the KHL, but his appearances on the ice in matches against Barys and Ak Bars were rather sporadic. Almost the entire month of December, Slepets, together with the youth team, prepared for the World Championship and eventually made it to the final entry for the tournament itself. In seven games, the striker scored 7 (5+2) points, including scoring a hat-trick in the match for third place, becoming the best sniper of the Russians and the owner bronze award. It is symbolic that already in the second match after returning from the World Championship, Kirill Slepets scored his first goal in the KHL, distinguishing himself in the game against Admiral. He finished the regular season at Loko, where he was one of the leaders, wearing the captain's patch in some matches, and scored 19 points (12+7) in 17 regular season matches. It was while in the status of a Loko player that Slepets made his debut in the adult national team, playing two matches as part of Swedish games. In the MHL playoffs, Kirill scored 10 (4+6) points in 17 games, scored the most important goal in the sixth match of the final series and won the main MHL trophy for the second time in a row.
Career:
Kirill Slepets was born in Khabarovsk on April 6, 1999. He started playing hockey at the local Amur school, and at the age of 13 he moved to Yaroslavl. Kirill played as a striker in the Lokomotiv-2004 SDYUSHOR team, gradually becoming one of the team leaders.
Already in the 2013/2014 season. As part of a joint team of two Yaroslavl schools, Slepets became the Champion of Russia among juniors, scoring 4 (3+1) points in 6 matches. With his play that season, Kirill, among other things, earned a call to the Russian junior national team due to his age, which met for the first time in the summer of 2014. During the regular season, Slepets reached a new level of performance, scored in almost every game for the school team, and also became one of the most notable players national team, scored points in each of its tournaments. Season 2014/2015 For the forward, the game again ended with participation in the final competitions of the Russian Championship; in six games, Kirill Slepets scored 10 (2+8) points, now becoming the silver medalist of the tournament.
For the 2015/2016 season. Kirill Slepets trained with the Russian U18 national team, where the vast majority of players were a year older than the Yaroslavl forward. However, already in his fifth game, Kirill scored his first goal in the MHL - this happened on September 20 in a match against the SKA-Silver Lions team. Five days later, Slepets scored a hat-trick and scored 4 points in a game against the Dynamo-Raubichi team, and in the next match he scored a double against HC Riga. At the end of the regular season, Kirill Slepets scored 12 goals, becoming one of the team’s best snipers, and in just 26 games he had 16 points, with a utility score of “+17.” Unfortunately, in the spring of 2016, Kirill did not play at the World Junior Championships, competing for the third time at the final competitions of the Russian Championship and again becoming a silver medalist.
In the summer of 2016, Slepets was preparing for the season with Loko, and in August, as part of the Yaroslavl youth team, he won the World Cup among youth club teams, and Kirill was also one of the best scorers of the railroad workers, scoring 7 ( 2+5) points in six matches. The season at Loko was not easy for him, including due to constant departures to the location of the junior team, with which he was already undergoing the second cycle of preparation for the World Championship. As a result, in the MHL regular season, Kirill played 41 matches, scored 18 (8+10) points, with a usefulness indicator of “+10”. In the playoffs, over four games, the forward scored three more assists. Of course, now the main event for him was participation in the World Junior Championships, held in Slovakia. The blind man became one of the main characters in the Russian team - in seven matches he scored 6 (4+2) points, including the winning goal in overtime of the quarterfinals against the Slovaks. Together with his teammates, Kirill won bronze medals at the world championship.
The 2017/2018 season, which Kirill Slepets spent almost entirely at Loko, started off difficult for the striker. Suffice it to say that he scored his first goal only at the end of September, but then his scoring streak reached three meetings. After this, Slepets began to upset the opposing goalkeepers with more enviable consistency and, for example, on November 27 he scored a hat-trick against the “Captain”. In early February, Kirill scored points in seven games in a row, scoring six goals in this part of the season. In just 54 games, the striker scored 33 (19+14) points, with a utility indicator of “+22”. In the playoffs, he scored 8 points (2+6) over 16 meetings, becoming the Kharlamov Cup winner with Loko.
Achievements:
MHL Champion (2018, 2019), Bronze medalist of the World Youth Championship (2019), Winner of the World Cup among youth club teams (2016, 2018), Bronze medalist of the World Junior Championship (2017), Silver medalist Russian Junior Championship (2015, 2016), Russian Junior Champion (2014)
Yesterday in Canada, the Russian youth hockey team played the first match in a series of games against local teams of their age. Among others head coach Our national team Valery Bragin called up Yaroslavl Lokomotiv striker Kirill Slepts. In the spring, a 19-year-old hockey player as part of the railroad farm club Loko won the main prize of the Youth hockey league(MHL) Kharlamov Cup. This fall, the Yaroslavl team began en masse to recruit young hockey players at the level of the Continental Hockey League (KHL).
Lokomotiv head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov has made a dozen of yesterday's juniors key players in his team. The blind man has played in only four matches so far, he has a chance to gain a foothold in top level, but in the meantime he is trying to prove his right to travel to youth championship Peace, which will take place on New Year's holidays in Montreal.
On the eve of his flight to Canada, Kirill Slepets gave an interview to Izvestia and talked about trust in the youth at Lokomotiv and the move to Yaroslavl from Khabarovsk.
The way Lokomotiv is now en masse introducing young players into the main team makes this year special for you and your peers?
This is a special year. Almost everyone in the club is given a chance to somehow gain a foothold in the first team. The coach trusts the young middle age Lokomotiv is now very small, but very ambitious players have gathered in Yaroslavl who want to achieve victories at the highest level.
Do Dmitry Kvartalnov and his staff spend a lot of time on young guys or give them general instructions, like more experienced hockey players?
The team has a tactic - the coaches explain it to newcomers. They tell us how the team plays and demand that we stick to this scheme and not fall out of it. Otherwise, nothing special - they just make it clear that chances to play in the KHL don’t come along every day, so you have to cling to them.
- KHL level Is it very different from the MHL?
The KHL and MHL are two opposites. In the MHL, sometimes something will work out without tactics. But in the KHL you need to stick to a clear plan, then it will be easier to play.
It is believed that Dmitry Kvartalnov’s hockey does not involve overly combinational play. What did the coach require from you on the ice in those matches where you received playing time?
They demand from us that there be a constant threat to other people's goals. There's no point in just skating around the site. We must constantly aggravate the situation in someone else's zone, stress the opponent so that he does not feel that his goal is safe.
- Are the requirements of Dmitry Krasotkin’s headquarters different at Loko?
In the youth team you have more freedom. And more time. Because it's still youth hockey- you can hold the puck and not notice it, there will still be time to make a decision: shoot, dribble or pass. Therefore, you can manage the situation more freely.
- Is there a lot of freedom even in the MHL playoffs?
The playoffs are a different game and different speeds. Each player has more responsibility. But even in comparison with the Kharlamov Cup, it is felt that the level in the KHL is higher.
Did Denisenko’s successful power moves help Loko in the decisive Kharlamov Cup series against St. Petersburg’s Dynamo and SKA-1946?
We have to fight in the playoffs. Moments like with Denisenko are sometimes even necessary. Anyone could have been in his place. And it’s good that Gregory got the team going with this. There are situations when the game is not going well, and Denisenko collides with an opponent, the team manages to perk up, and the match turns in our favor.
After Denisenko made some noise in the Gagarin Cup with his clashes with Nikolai Prokhorkin and Viktor Tikhonov and returned to the favor youth team“Loko”, accepted him as a celestial being?
Not really (laughs). He is our player. How can we take it badly? Yes, and too good would also be wrong to take. Denisenko is our player, and we are ready to fight for him just as he is for us.
- Is hockey different in the youth team compared to club teams?
I wouldn’t say that the team has a different hockey game. It’s just that there is a lot of responsibility here - you represent the country. And you have to prove that it was not in vain that you were entrusted with this mission.
You constantly have to shuttle between different leagues and games for the youth team. Is it difficult to adapt?
Not that much. It just takes a little more time to get used to when moving from league to league.
- It was hard to play KHL matches, when the team is mostly young?
I can’t say that the abundance of young people affects Lokomotiv. Everyone wants to go on the ice and help the team and contribute to the game. It is clear that this is now producing results.
- Is there a general trend of youth confidence in the KHL now? Or is this the personal story of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl?
I think that at our club the coach and management agreed that we need to trust the young people and teach them. And that we deserve chances at the KHL level.
- Does Kvartalnov teach you to play? Gives advice on technique?
The most important thing is that he trusts young people. After all, this is already a great experience. And our job is to prepare ourselves for the game, listen to the coach and justify his trust.
- In those four KHL matches where you took to the ice, which of your opponents made the greatest impression?
I can't say I played with strong teams. Perhaps with Magnitogorsk, but I didn’t notice anything in it against the general background for myself. Usually, very few people make a personal impression on me. I go out on the ice and fight against any opponent - no matter what his name is.
- You are originally from Khabarovsk. How did the move to Yaroslavl happen?
It’s been five years since I moved to Yaroslavl from Khabarovsk. First I wanted to go there myself when I was little. I was not yet 10 years old, I went to tryout training. But according to their results, “Amur” did not let me go. A few years later, Lokomotiv itself invited me to their system - then I did not want to switch. And the third time I went there was a year or two after the tragedy, when their main team died in a plane crash. Then I was already ready to move, I wanted to try something new, and at the age of 13 I moved from Khabarovsk. And he ended up in the group of Timashev Eduard Finatovich, thanks to whom he began to grow in the club system.
Did your parents play a big role in the move?
When I finally moved, it was rather my decision. And when I first tried to get to Yaroslavl, they rather advised me. Then about seven of us from Khabarovsk went to watch it - I was among them. And the second time they called my parents from Yaroslavl, they gave me an invitation, but I said that I didn’t want to leave Khabarovsk.
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The team born in 1999 replaced Prokhorov’s team at the last Junior World Championships. This story is incomprehensible, but it is impossible to draw any conclusions, much less predictions, regarding the level of the players who played in this tournament.
The best team in Russia at this age is called Dynamo Moscow. It brings together talents from all over the country. The blue and white coach also heads the team born in 1999.
Of course, the generation of hockey players born in 1998 looks more powerful and promising. But those whom we will consider are in no way inferior to the star kids a year older.
10. His Owl ("Dieselist" Penza)
4th pick of the 2016 KHL Draft (CSKA). Penza forward, not the first year top scorer in the Volga region zone. Egor does not have a single international performance in a national team jersey behind him, although he was called up. Upcoming season should draw a line under his youthful career. Will the army system reveal Filin's full potential? Time will tell. A call to the 2017 Junior World Championships will justify the advances given to him.
9. Daniil Tarasov (Tolpar Ufa)
The Russian goalie school is one of the few bright spots of our hockey. Tarasov, along with many goalkeepers of this age, demonstrates confident play. He came to our list after the Junior World Championship, where he showed his skills against older players. Yes, he is not Sukhachev or Kalyaev (both 1998) in terms of talent, but he must grow into a good goalkeeper and finally free Salavat-Yulaev from searching for the main goalkeeper abroad.
8. Mark Pavlikov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
photo: vk.com
"Russia lacks defenders"- how often do we hear this? Mark inspires optimism in hockey minds. Cold-blooded, beyond his years, the defender is ready to join the team in the coming season. KHL team. He is distinguished by his choice of position, which does not allow the enemy to easily beat him; the attacker needs to come up with something extraordinary in order to get past him.
7. Nikita Anokhovsky (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
Nikita is somewhat reminiscent of another Lokomotiv student who recently won silver at the MFM - Pavel Kraskovsky. He centered the child prodigy born in 2000. Grigory Denisenko in Lokomotiv-99. If there had been someone else instead of Nikita, it is unknown how they would talk about Denisenko. This, first of all, characterizes him as a thinking center forward. Anokhovsky does not shy away from playing on defense. Although not pure, he is a kind of Box-to-Box striker.
6. Mark Rubinchik (Dynamo Moscow)
photo:ask.fm
The only player on the list with North American club experience. Returning to Dynamo, he firmly took his place in the first pair of defenders. He cannot be classified as any type of defender. Useful in both the attacking and defensive zones. Mark knows how and loves to go on the attack, but he doesn’t always succeed. He feels much more confident on the blue line, in the majority. And he won’t let anyone down at his gates. Hit a solid four.
5. Pavel Koltygin (Dynamo Moscow)
photo: u18rus.ru
Pavel has long been considered the main talent of his age. At the age of 14-15, he had no equal on the field. But as everyone improved in their skills, Koltygin grew more slowly in this regard. And the fact that his level was already very high, he is still in the top 5. Hockey intelligence and an incredible shot are the forward’s main trump cards.
4. Kirill Slepets (Russia U18)
One of the few hockey players born in 1999 whom Vitaly Prokhorov attracted to his experimental team. Kirill stands out for his scoring instincts, where he is, the puck will definitely come there. Leader of "Lkomotiv-2004" Open Championship Moscow. There are “non-scoring” players, Kirill, just one of the “scoring” ones, who will definitely score their only chance in the match.
3. Dmitry Samorukov (CSKA Moscow)
Leader of CSKA-99. Skillful all-around defender. Dmitry is useful in the majority, and, in turn, does not allow mistakes in his zone. He starts his team's attacks well and destroys the enemy's attacks. Should become the leader of the Russian national team’s defense at the Junior World Cup-17.
2. Yaroslav Alekseev (Dynamo Moscow)
In narrow hockey circles he has a nickname: Pavel Bure version 2.0. A fast native of Tyumen, another leader of Dynamo-99. The Blue and Whites have to worry about how not to lose all their talents. Yes, Yaroslav lacks size, but there is time to acquire meat, especially since at such a speed he will not get lost. All the main qualities that a top winger should have are fully represented in the hockey player Alekseev.
1. Klim Kostin (Dynamo Moscow)
Captain, leader and can already be called a good hockey player. Klim is predicted to have a wonderful future. A big-sized striker who knows how to shoot well and give cool, intensifying passes. His bright head always chooses the right decision: when to push through the dimensions, and when to go for the stroke. It is rightfully considered Top prospect of the 2017 NHL Draft.
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Khabarovsk resident Kirill Slepets, now living in Yaroslavl, became a bronze medalist at the Junior World Championships. The striker scored four goals, one of which brought the Russian team to the semi-finals. The hockey player has earned praise from experts and has every chance of becoming a new star from the regional capital.
Today, Khabarovsk hockey is experiencing some of the best times in the last ten years. Sergei Plotnikov and Artem Zub won the Gagarin Cup, Alexey Murygin and Dmitry Lugin play in the second strongest team of the West, a whole galaxy of Khabarovsk residents spent a productive season in the MHL for the Amur Tigers, albeit without getting into the playoffs, and the Khabarovsk goalkeeper Daniil Chechelev became the main player in the Russian national team under 16 years old. But another success of the Far Eastern capital in hockey happened last weekend. Kirill Slepets won bronze medal as part of the Russian U18 team at the World Championships. IN last time national team stood on the podium in 2011 (third place), and in 19 tournaments Russian hockey players They won medals only nine times, three of which were gold.
And Khabarovsk resident Kirill Slepets played a big role in this tournament. In the quarterfinals, he scored the winning goal in overtime for the Slovak team. In the semi-finals I tied the score with the Finns, but this did not save me from a disappointing 1:2 defeat in the same overtime. In total, the Khabarovsk junior has four goals and two assists.
There could have been more emotions from the World Cup if it had not been for the defeat to the Finns in the semi-finals. And so, I’m glad that our team managed to take medals; our team hasn’t had them for a long time. I consider this success to be a team success. This is a national team, and the best players are recruited here. “Everyone is a leader here, even though I managed to score the goals I needed,” said Kirill Slepets, a hockey player.
Kirill has been living and performing in Yaroslavl for four years. In 2012, the Lokomotiv selector noticed him and persistently invited him to the club.
We went to the games in Novosibirsk, where a selector from Yaroslavl was present. As far as I know, he came to watch the hockey players of another team, but accidentally noticed me. After that there were calls to my parents, but I didn’t want to move at that time and refused. But Lokomotiv was persistent, and about six months later they called again, and then I agreed. After the New Year, in the 2012-2013 season, he moved to Yaroslavl, Kirill shared his memories.
The Khabarovsk resident ended up in hockey on the same principle as the Lokomotiv coaches. IN kindergarten Kirill saw a photo of his peer in hockey uniform and began to beg his parents to send him to sports. And on her birthday, April 6, my mother took her son to the hockey section.
I believe that this is the best hockey player of his age not only in the Far East, but also in Siberia. Repeatedly helped the team, scored on last minutes and seconds the most important goals at all-Russian tournaments and has been repeatedly recognized best player. He has real leadership qualities, extraordinary technique and unconventional thinking to play. There were cases when, at competitions in Chita, a full arena gathered to watch him. Unfortunately, after his departure our results dropped, many followed him to other cities. But in the west of the country there are better conditions and more chances, said Viktor Bratukhin, one of Kirill Slepts’ coaches.
The mentor notes that Kirill always wanted to play for Amur. But the club was not interested in him.
We constantly came to the management and persuaded them to sign an additional agreement with him so that he would stay in Khabarovsk. But in response they heard: “What can we take from this guy? He’s 13 years old, he’ll get injured later and end up playing hockey.” Unfortunately, the Amur club and the Amur hockey school are two different systems, and the first ones don’t really need their students on the team, explained Viktor Bratukhin.
After a season in the Russian U18 team in the MHL, the Khabarovsk resident played for Loko. In 41 games he scored 28 points (18+10). And only at the end of the championship he played for the first time against the Amur Tigers in Khabarovsk. In the first of two meetings, he provided an assist in overtime.
