Alexei Morozov

Full name: Alexei Alexeevich Morozov
Team: Ak Bars Kazan
Number: 95
Position: Right wing
Height: 6’2”/188 cm
Weight: 196 lbs/89 kg
Shoots: Left
Born: February 16, 1977 in Moscow, RUS
Drafted: Selected by Pittsburgh Penguins in 1st round (24th overall) of the 1995 Entry Draft

Strengths: Morozov has always had a great offensive upside, but only reached his full potential as a dynamic scorer and playmaker once he returned from the NHL to Russia. He is a natural leader on the ice, calm in any situation, and a role model for future generations.

Weaknesses: Morozov is not a physical or tough player, making his style of play less suitable for the NHL than Russia. In recent seasons, he is no longer as offensively dominant in the KHL.

Biography: Born and raised in Moscow, Alexei grew as a hockey player in the Krylja Sovetov (Soviet Wings) hockey school. At the age of seventeen, he made an instant impact on the organization’s senior team and earned himself two trips to represent Russia at the World Junior Championships, where he collected two bronze medals. At age twenty, Morozov made a smooth jump to the NHL, playing for the star-studded Pittsburgh Penguins and scoring in his very first NHL shift. That season, Morozov won a silver medal with Russia at the Nagano Olympics and was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team. It would take a couple of seasons for Morozov to earn top-line playing time on the Penguins. Morozov began the 2002-03 season at a point-per-game pace playing on a line with Mario Lemieux and Alexei Kovalev, but had to miss most of the season due to a fractured wrist. The NHL lockout of 2004-05 put Morozov’s NHL future permanently on hold. Instead, he began an illustrious career with Ak Bars Kazan of the Russian Superleague. In his first season, Morozov out-performed all of his teammates, including stars like Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Kovalev, Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, and Dany Heatley. Despite most stars returning to the NHL once it resumed, Alexei decided to stay with his team and helped lead Ak Bars to the Russian championship in 2006. Morozov was named the playoff MVP. Along with Danis Zaripov and Sergei Zinoviev, Morozov became part of one of the most dangerous hockey lines in the world. Ak Bars repeated its championship win in 2007 and Morozov recorded a Superleague record of 83 points in the regular season, earning him the league’s MVP title. His other accomplishments with Ak Bars include being the MVP of the 2007 European Champion’s Cup (which his team won), leading the league in scoring again in 2007-08, and being the playoff MVP of the Kontinental Hockey League’s first championship, the Gagarin Cup, which Ak Bars won in 2009 and again in 2010. In international competition, Morozov has become Russia’s go-to leader since 2007. He led Russia in scoring at the World Championship in Moscow, where Russia won the bronze medal. Then, he captained Russia to back-to-back gold medals at the 2008 and 2009 World Championships, in Quebec, Canada and Bern, Switzerland. It is telling that since 2007, Russia lost only one World Championship match – a game that Morozov had to sit out due to an injury. Unsurprisingly, he was the captain of Russia’s 2010 Olympic hockey team and Russia’s flag-carrier at the opening ceremony in Vancouver.

Club Stats:

Season	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
1993-94	Krylja Sovetov Moscow	7	0	0	0		0
1994-95	Krylja Sovetov Moscow	48	15	12	27		53
1995-96	Krylja Sovetov Moscow	47	13	9	22		26
1996-97	Krylja Sovetov Moscow	44	21	11	32		32
1997-98	Krylja Sovetov Moscow	6	2	1	3		4
1997-98	Pittsburgh	76	13	13	26	-4	8
1998-99	Pittsburgh	67	9	10	19	+5	14
1999-00	Pittsburgh	68	12	19	31	+12	14
2000-01	Pittsburgh	66	5	14	19	-8	6
2001-02	Pittsburgh	72	20	29	49	-7	16
2002-03	Pittsburgh	27	9	16	25	-3	16
2003-04	Pittsburgh	75	16	34	50	-24	24
2004-05	Ak Bars Kazan	58	20	27	47	+20	30
2005-06	Ak Bars Kazan	51	23	25	48	+30	69
2006-07	Ak Bars Kazan	53	34	49	83	+36	36
2007-08	Ak Bars Kazan	57	30	33	63	+26	34
2008-09	Ak Bars Kazan	49	33	39	72	+22	22
2009-10	Ak Bars Kazan	50	26	23	49	+1	24
2010-11	Ak Bars Kazan	53	21	35	56	+27	24
2011-12	Ak Bars Kazan	53	21	29	50	+10	24
2012-13	Ak Bars Kazan	51	12	26	38	+14	20
Totals	RHL/KHL Reg. Season	627	271	319	590		398
Totals	RHL/KHL Playoffs	121	49	73	122		58
Totals	NHL Reg. Season	451	84	135	219	-29	98
Totals	NHL Playoffs	39	4	5	9	-3	8

National Team Stats:

Year	Tournament	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
1996	World U20	7	5	3	8	2
1997	World U20	6	5	3	8	6
1997	World Championship	9	3	3	6	2
1998	Olympic Games	6	2	2	4	0
1998	World Championship	4	0	3	3	2
2004	World Championship	6	1	1	2	4
2007	World Championship	7	8	5	13	6
2008	World Championship	8	5	2	7	4
2009	World Championship	9	1	4	5	0
2010	Olympic Games	4	2	0	2	0
2011	World Championship	9	1	3	4	8
Totals	U20 Level	13	10	6	16	8
Totals	Senior Level	62	23	23	46	26

Photo Gallery:

Morozov battling for the puck in a Penguins game

Morozov scores against Philadelphia

Alexei and teammates celebrate goal at the 2007 Worlds in Moscow

Morozov and teammate Zaripov lift the KHL’s Gagarin Cup

Morozov and his friend Ilya Kovalchuk – two-time IIHF World Champions

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2006 Winter Olympic Games

Host City: Torino, Italy
February 15-16, 2006
RESULT: 4TH PLACE

Russia was not considered to be the favourite to win the gold medal, but new team manager Pavel Bure was very committed to creating the best possible team. After the roster was selected, injuries hit hard – Nikolai Khabibulin, Alexei Zhitnik, Dmitry Bykov, and Alexei Zhamnov had to be replaced by Maxim Sokolov, Vitali Vishnevsky, Sergei Zhukov, and Alexander Korolyuk. After losing to the Slovaks in the first match, coach Vladimir Krikunov benched goalie Ilya Bryzalov and went with Evgeni Nabokov, who made his long-awaited Team Russia debut with back-to-back shutouts. Unfortunately, Russia failed to win a medal in men’s hockey for just the second time in its Olympic history. In easily the most memorable hockey game of the Torino Olympics, Russia finally faced Canada for the first time since the NHL began to send its best players to the Olympics. Both teams played conservatively until the third period, when who else but Ovechkin finally broke the scoreless tie. Russia’s quarterfinal win over Canada was glorious, but it drained all the energy from the team, leading to very tired and sluggish performances in the last two matches. In the semifinal match against Finland, Russia was left with only eleven forwards due to Malkin’s suspension and injuries to Frolov and Korolyuk. The team also failed to realize any scoring chance in the bronze medal match against the Czechs. On the bright side, this was a younger team with fewer controversies than usual.

Game 1: Russia 3 – Slovakia 5
Goals: Datsyuk (D. Markov), Kovalev (Datsyuk, Kovalchuk), Ovechkin (Gonchar, Tyutin) – Demitra (Hossa, Suchy), Visnovsky (Demitra), Bondra (Meszaros, Chara), Gaborik, Gaborik
Shots: Russia 23 – Slovakia 36
Saves: Bryzgalov 31 – Budaj 20
PIM: Russia 16 – Slovakia 10

Game 2: Russia 5 – Sweden 0
Goals: Kovalev (A. Markov), Ovechkin (Yashin), Sushinsky (Malkin, Zhukov), Kozlov (Frolov, Korolyuk), Afinogenov (Datsyuk)
Shots: Russia 32 – Sweden 24
Saves: Nabokov 24 – Lundqvist 27
PIM: Russia 16 – Sweden 20

Game 3: Russia 1 – Kazakhstan 0
Goals: Kharitonov (Sushinsky, Malkin)
Shots: Russia 50 – Kazakhstan 24
Saves: Nabokov 24 – Eremeev 49
PIM: Russia 12 – Kazakhstan 26

Game 4: Russia 9 – Latvia 2
Goals: Kovalchuk (Kovalev, D. Markov), Sushinsky (Kharitonov, Gonchar), Kovalchuk (Datsyuk), Kovalchuk (Kovalev, Datsyuk), Kozlov (Yashin), Kovalchuk (Datsyuk), Yashin (Kozlov, Zhukov), Malkin (Sushinsky, Vishnevski), Ovechkin (Kozlov, Yashin) – Cipruss, Redlihs (Berzins)
Shots: Russia 39 – Latvia 11
Saves: Nabokov 6, Sokolov 3 – Masalskis 18, Irbe 12
PIM: Russia 16 – Latvia 18

Game 5: Russia 5 – United States 4
Goals: Korolyuk, Malkin (Kasparaitis), A. Markov (Datsyuk, Sushinsky), Ovechkin (Malkin, Kasparaitis), Kovalev (Datsyuk, Malkin) – Rolston (Conroy), Gionta (Gomez, Weight), Gomez (Schneider, Rolston), Cole (Knuble, Drury)
Shots: Russia 21 – United States 34
Saves: Nabokov 7, Sokolov 23 – Esche 16
PIM: Russia 14 – United States 8

Quarterfinal: Russia 2 – Canada 0
Goals: Ovechkin (Kozlov), Kovalev (A. Markov)
Shots: Russia 33 – Canada 27
Saves: Nabokov 27 – Brodeur 31
PIM: Russia 41 – Canada 18

Semifinal: Russia 0 – Finland 4
Goals: Peltonen (Timonen), Lydman (S. Koivu), S. Koivu (Timonen, Selanne), O. Jokinen (Peltonen, Kapanen)
Shots: Russia 21 – Finland 30
Saves: Nabokov 26 – Niittymaki 21
PIM: Russia 16 – Finland 8

Bronze medal final: Russia 0 – Czech Republic 3
Goals: Erat (Vyborny, Lang), Zidlicky (Jagr, Lang), Straka (Erat)
Shots: Russia 28 – Czech Republic 15
Saves: Nabokov 12 – Vokoun 28
PIM: Russia 41 – Czech Republic 14

Roster:

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
D #4 Sergei Zhukov	8	0	2	2	6
D #5 Vitali Vishnevsky	8	0	1	1	4
D #6 Anton Volchenkov	8	0	0	0	2
D #11 Darius Kasparaitis	8	0	2	2	8
D #29 Daniil Markov	8	0	2	2	4
D #51 Fedor Tyutin	8	0	1	1	4
D #52 Andrei Markov	8	1	2	3	6
D #55 Sergei Gonchar	8	0	2	2	8
F #8 Alexander Ovechkin	8	5	0	5	8
F #13 Pavel Datsyuk	8	1	7	8	10
F #18 Evgeni Malkin	7	2	4	6	31
F #21 Alexander Kharitonov	8	1	1	2	6
F #22 Andrei Taratukhin	5	0	0	0	2
F #23 Ivan Nepryaev	2	0	0	0	2
F #24 Alexander Frolov	3	0	1	1	0
F #25 Viktor Kozlov	8	2	3	5	2
F #27 Alexei Kovalev	8	4	2	6	4
F #33 Maxim Sushinsky	8	2	3	5	8
F #61 Maxim Afinogenov	8	1	0	1	10
F #71 Ilya Kovalchuk	8	4	1	5	31
F #79 Alexei Yashin	8	1	3	4	4
F #94 Alexander Korolyuk	6	1	1	2	6
Goaltender	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SO
G #20 Evgeni Nabokov	7	5	2	0	1.34	3
G #30 Ilya Bryzgalov	1	0	1	0	5.00	0
G #39 Maxim Sokolov	2	2	0	0	4.00	0

Photo Gallery:

Nabokov was perfect in his Olympic debut

Yashin scores against Latvia

One of Kovalchuk’s four goals on Arturs Irbe

The team gathers around Maxim Sokolov after beating the U.S.

Russia defeats Canada

Evgeni Nabokov outduelled Martin Brodeur in the quarterfinal