Sports recalls the loudest antics of Alexander Radulov. In the current season, the hockey player has already managed to add a second conflict with Ak Bars coach Oleg Znark to his list.
If Radulov was not in Russian hockey, he would definitely have to be invented. Even the most beautiful goals, incredible assists and fantastic records get boring. Radulov, with his actions, spices up a dish called professional sports. At the same time, he remains a great hockey player, and not just a hero for the «Scandals, intrigues, investigations» section.
Here are just some of the high-profile stories with his participation.
br>Escape from the NHL to Ufa
We are used to the fact that talented hockey players usually flee from Russia to NHL clubs, but Radulov went against the system. In 2008, with a valid contract with Nashville, Alexander accepted the offer of the Ufa Salavat Yulaev. In the NHL, he was paid one million dollars a year. In Ufa, the hockey player was promised eight million for three seasons.
«If there is no agreement between the NHL and the KHL, how can I be banned from playing?» — the hockey player was indignant.
The scandal reached its peak, and Radulov was threatened with disqualification. In court, he assured that he returned to Russia, because he wants to take hockey to a new level. The hype subsided. And about the new level, Radulov said not for the sake of a red word. His game in the KHL and for the national team at this stage was extremely good. Only a few could compare with him. in Nashville, Alexander remained a quiet and obedient boy. The club has repeatedly reported problems with the discipline of the Russian striker.
Our Russian collective farm!
«Welcome home, monster!» With these words, Vyacheslav Bykov welcomed the return of Radulov to the KHL. He also compared the attacker to a nuclear power plant. Perhaps there is no better analogy to be found.
When used correctly, Radulov brings great benefits. If you take him out of himself, a catastrophe can happen. In the spring of 2012, during the «green derby» with «Ak Bars» in the playoffs at the arena in Ufa, an accident occurred. A huge puddle of water formed on the ice. “Salavat Yulaev” lost, and after the match Radulov smashed everyone who had anything to do with what happened. Including KHL.
However, the next day he apologized and paid a fine of 100 thousand rubles. A few days later Alexander left for the NHL.
Arguing with Judges
In sports, there is a category of players who are called «thrash talkers». These are those who, with their chatter, are trying to confuse the opponent. Radulov also likes to talk during matches. Most often, the words are addressed to the judges.
Any controversial decision of the arbitrators causes a fit of emotions in Alexander. Sometimes these «attacks» are transferred outside the site. In October 2014, after the match with SKA, Radulov gave the prize of the best player to one of the referees. Then he almost smashed the door to the judges' room with a skate.
In the same game, the lesson of communication with Radulov was demonstrated by the referee when fined Arina Ustinova. She put Alexander in his place when he raised his voice at her. I wish other referees could learn from it!
Hit the coach with a stick
Excessive aggressiveness of Radulov on the ice, from which opponents suffer, can still be somehow explained. But why did he hit the coach of his own team, Ilari Nackel, with a stick? He said it was by accident. However, the consequences could be the saddest.Maybe it was Nakel who was addressed to Radulov's legendary tweet «Mal trener za**** obmena poroshu», in which he complained to Evgeni Malkin. However, Alexander also hushed up this story. He said that the mail was hacked and all nonsense was written on his behalf.
Went out in a bar during the playoffs
In 2012, Radulov made a second attempt to play in the NHL and returned to Nashville. At first, everything went well. The team adopted the prodigal son, he scored some beautiful goals and helped the Predators get through the powerful Detroit in the first round of the playoffs. But in the midst of a series with “Phoenix” boomed thunder. Radulov and Andrey Kostitsyn were seen in a bar at the wrong time. According to some journalists, in a «borderline» state. Hockey players were removed from the squad.
In Radulov's camp, they said that these were all provocations and an attempt by «predators» to bring down the price of a player in front of the free agent market. Then Alexander himself confessed to being wrong. Having received a bucketful of criticism, he returned to the KHL, where he signed a contract with CSKA.
Refused the World Cup and the KHL overseas clubs suffered the most, then in 2016 he quarreled with two influential people in Russian hockey. The head coach of the Russian national team Oleg Znarok was the first to suffer. He did not wait for the striker at the training camp before the World Cup, and then did not take him to the World Cup in Canada.
The president of CSKA, Igor Esmantovich, also had not the best memories of Radulov. It turns out that Alexander agreed to extend the contract with the army team. However, he still flew to the NHL.
The hockey player himself took this story calmly. Unlike CSKA. When it came to the possible return of Alexander, the club immediately said that they would not negotiate with the traitors.
I was late for training and scored a hat-trick
In Dallas, where Radulov played before moving to Ak Bars, not everything went smoothly either. If hockey in Texas were covered in the same way as in Canada, there could be even more interesting stories. form. They did not stand on ceremony with Alexander, but simply left him to sit on the bench and think about his behavior. In March of the same year, the Russian was late for training, for which he dropped out of the squad for one match and received a harsh reprimand from the club. Interestingly, it worked. In the next game, Radulov scored a hat-trick.
Maybe the new scandal in Ak Bars will have the same continuation? On November 1, Kazan will play the most important match with CSKA. Radulov will definitely not need to be motivated additionally.