Alexander Nikulin: career and personal life

Alexander Sergeevich Nikulin for today is an active hockey player (striker) in the hockey club "Vityaz". Now he is 30 years old, but he already managed to win back both in a number of Russian teams and overseas, as part of two foreign HKs, such as Ottawa Senators and Phoenix Coyotis.

The pupil of the Permian hockey

He was born in the Urals, was born in Perm in 1985, on August 25. My father put him on skates when he was still 5-6 years old. He wanted his son to become an athlete. Later, his parents took him to the hockey section.

First there was a children's school of native Permian "Molot-Prikamye", followed by a business trip to Moscow. In the "CSKA" at first he acts in the youth team, and only then goes into adult hockey.

He is a pupil of Perm hockey. Now Alexander Nikulin lives in the capital and, in fact, he has already become a Muscovite. At the same time, he does not forget the city of Perm and, if possible, comes there.

His youthful years and becoming a hockey player is connected, of course, with "CSKA". After this club, he begins to play in foreign teams. Then he went overseas, to North America, to conquer the NHL.

CSKA Moscow

By and large his professional career began with the Moscow "CSKA" - it was in 2004. Prior to that, he had already played in the farm club "CSKA" (since 2002), as well as in the youth structure "Molot-Prikamye".

In 2004, he was selected in the NHL Draft in the 4th round, and only three years later he will be overseas as part of the Canadian club Ottawa Senators.

In 2007, he played for "army men" and spent for this time 119 matches.

"Ottawa"

Season 2007/2008, he started not in the first team, and in the farm club "Ottawa" - "Binghamton Senators."

Later, he is still in the first team, but, it can be said, by sheer chance. One of the players, "Ottawa" is injured and it was necessary to replace someone. Then the coaching staff decided to call Alexander Nikulin to play in the first team.

On the same day, when this decision was made, his debut in the NHL was held. Then he holds another match as part of this team, but soon he is again returned to the farm club.

"Phoenix Coyotes"

In the next season, the situation has not changed, then he puts an ultimatum to the leadership, which read: "Or I'm going back to Russia, or I'm being exchanged for another club".

Later, the chief manager of "Ottawa" said that none of the teams included in the NHL, showed no interest in the center forward Alexander Nikulin. They talked about the fact that after such a situation on the NHL draft, it is likely that in the future they will be less willing to choose Russian hockey players. Then, playing for the "senators", he failed to mark the transfer or the puck.

Thus, in November 2008 he enters another club. Now Alexander Nikulin is a hockey player, "Phoenix Coyotis", but in his line-up he holds only one game - it was his third match in the NHL. Then most of the season he played in the American Hockey League (AHL), which is the second most popular Hockey League after the NHL. He played for the farm club "San Antonio Ramage".

Return to "CSKA"

He decides to return to CSKA. In the season of 2009/2010, he was once again in the "army team". Then, the date of October 13, 2009 was marked by his first goal scored in the KHL. He entered at that time among the best players of the year, but already at the beginning of the next season, he is in the HC "Amur" and extends the contract with him for another two years.

In October 2012 he signed a contract with the Novosibirsk hockey club "Siberia" Alexander Nikulin. Photo, on which he is a hockey player of the club "CSKA".

In 2012, Nikulin is injured - a fractured arm. Injury was received by him during the match with St. Petersburg SKA. Then there was an unsuccessful encounter with SKA striker, and Nikulin at that time played for the team "Cupid". Due to the injury he was unable to play in the KHL playoffs.

May 2013 - Nikulin goes to Spartak. He spends 45 matches in Spartak.

List of hockey clubs in which he played after returning - "Siberia", "Cupid", "Spartacus", "Neftekhimik", "Hero".

Silver medalist

He took part in the World Championship in 2005 and took second place with the youth team. Later, he tried himself in the Euro Hockey Tour in 2006 and 2007.

In 2006, he was invited to Riga for the World Cup, but then he, along with two players had to leave. Among those players were Alexander Kharitonov and Konstantin Barulin.

Before the World Cup was involved in the training camp of the Russian team.

By the fall of 2015, there were 285 matches and 106 points in the KHL for Nikulin.

Going to the "Knight"

In the autumn of last year, we have already begun to talk about the fact that Alexander Nikulin will be exchanged for Vityaz, and he will leave Togliatti's Lada. Alexander Nikulin in the season 2015-2016 played for "Lada" and made two assists. In 2015, on October 2, he moved to the Moscow team "Vityaz". At the end of last year, he was injured and did not play for a while.

In January 2016, Alexander Nikulin returned to the Vityaz (Podolsk) after a break related to the injury. In mid-January, he participates in the regular KHL match against "Slovan".

On getting into the team "Knight" he speaks with joy. His first puck in the team he managed to throw in the match, "Vityaz" with "Server Steel."

Game Seasons

2004/2005 "CSKA" (Moscow).

2005/2006 "CSKA".

2006/2007 "CSKA".

2008/2009 "CSKA".

2010/2011 "Amur" (Khabarovsk).

2011/2012 "Cupid".

2012/2013 "Cupid".

2012/2013 "Siberia" (Novosibirsk).

2013/2014 "Spartacus" (Moscow).

2014/2015 "Neftekhimik" (Nizhnekamsk).

2015 - present time "Knight" (Podolsk).

About his return to "CSKA"

For him it has always been a huge desire to get into the National Hockey League, and now, finally, his dream comes true. Nikulin is leaving to play for the Canadian team in 2007. In his blog on his return to his homeland, he unsubscribed that the NHL he could not conquer.

But in spite of this, the years spent overseas do not consider Alexander Nikulin to be lost. Reviews about the time spent there, despite the fact that he did not begin to perform in the NHL's main lineup, warm - he is happy with the received professional experience that he gave that trip to North America.

Plus there were still more than minuses, because he partially realized his dream, even if only for a while became involved in it. He played three matches in the NHL in the "Ottawa Senators" and "Phoenix Coyotes." Most of the time, he played in the American Hockey League.

Upon his arrival in Russia, where his career began, he was eagerly awaited when he would start playing again with CSKA.

But in 2014, "CSKA" expose him to draft failures, so he becomes a hockey player of another club - "Neftekhimik." The line of attack in the club was then strengthened by the famous forward, Alexander Nikulin, who came to them.

Playing career

2002/07 - "CSKA".

2007/08 - Ottawa Senators - 2 games, Binghampton Senators (71).

2008/09 - "Binghampton Senators" (5), "Phoenix Coyotes" - 1, "San Antonio Ramage" (64).

2009/10 - "CSKA Moscow" (45).

2010/11 - "CSKA" (7) and "Cupid" (45).

2011/12 - "Cupid" (44, 26).

2012/13 - "Cupid" (14, 3), "Siberia" (43, 17).

2013/14 - "Spartacus" (45).

2014-15 / CSKA (5), "Buran" (7, 7), "Neftekhimik" (22, 5).

2015-16 / "Lada" (13, 1).

2015-16 / The Knight (10, 3).

Blog

At the time of his departure to North America, he begins to blog. He gave him a sonorous name - "Conquer the NHL". This title reflected his long-standing dream and his aspirations as a hockey player, but as a result he was never allowed to play in the NHL's main squad. After a while he moved back to Russia.

His thoughts on the events in professional life are covered in his blog.

Alexander Nikulin: personal life

About the private life of information is extremely small, but it is known that he is single.

His parents live in Perm as before. Most often he comes to them in the summer and for a long time there.

About HC "Vityaz"

On the situation in the "Vityaz" - a new hockey club in which he plays, he responds positively, and besides, the situation in the team is good-natured and good. As Nikulin says, In the "Vityaz" a good team, with many players, he already knew before he came to play this team. He is familiar with such players as Dima Shitikov, Slava Solodukhin, Denis Yezhov, Igor Golovkov.

He is glad that now he plays in the "Vityaz", although he does not forget those teams in which he spoke earlier. In "Vityaz" Shitikov and Makeev became new partners in the top three. In the company with them, he managed to score his first goal in the team.

An interesting fact: he is the namesake of a well-known Russian actor - they have exactly the same name and surname. There is another Alexander Nikulin, an actor.