Pavel Kulikov - the hope of Neftekhimik and the candidate for the Russian national team

In the modern world, not so many hockey players remain to play for the team in whose school they were trained. Nevertheless, there are such cases in professional hockey, and one of the examples is Pavel Kulikov.

The Nizhnekamsk Patriot

Kulikov Pavel Vladimirovich was born on January 14, 1992 in Nizhnekamsk, and to this day only his native, Nizhnekamsk clubs plus short-term rent to the neighboring region appear in his biography. Everything began with the usual Nizhnekamsk school of hockey, where the young Paul was led by his parents. The boy liked the man's game, and his ability to walk away from the opponent and make sighting shots from any position quickly made him a promising attacker.

Pavel Kulikov made the first professional steps in the adult league in 2009, signing an agreement with the club "Reactor", which in the first season played in 31 meetings, gaining 9 points, and a year later showed almost three times the best result for almost the same amount Meetings - 22 scoring points for 30 games. After such a success, young talent was noticed in the main team of the region ("Neftekhimik") and invited him to sign a double agreement - for the KHL and the MHL.

Conquest of "Neftekhimik"

In the debut match in the KHL Pavel Kulikov was in the application for a meeting against the Astana "Barys", in the course of the match went to the court for a total of almost 5 minutes, but failed to record the results. In the 2011/2012 season for the striker, it was the only match in the top division of the country, all the rest of the time he continued performances for "Reactor", where he distinguished himself by insane performance, finishing the championship with a score of 44 points for 48 games.

Such results again caused the attention of the Neftekhimik coaching staff, and the next season was marked for Pavel not only by returning to the KHL team, but also by the first puck in the tournament, while the opponent Metallurg Metallurg was the opponent whose gate struck the striker. The goal of the young striker did not bring victory to the "oilmen", "Magnitogorsk" won with a score of 7-2, but the experience of this game played a role in the development of the player, although in the remaining 10 matches where he took part, he could not be distinguished.

At the end of the season, Pavel Kulikov was sent to the neighboring region, in the Penza "Diesel", where he had to gain the necessary experience. Having played there 9 matches, with an asset in 2 goals scored, the striker returned to "Neftekhimik", which no longer left. Subsequent seasons, Paul regularly appeared on the site, and although his performance did not reach even 20 points per season, the coaching staff of the team continues to believe in the player and releases it on the ice, expecting another stunning result and important goals scored.

Steps to the national team

In the course of his career, the forward has repeatedly been involved in the games of the Russian national team of various ages. Pavel Kulikov, a hockey player who spent the season with an incredible score of 40 or more points, just could not be unnoticed by national team tutors. As a result, the Russian played in the youth national team of Russia in 2010, taking fourth place, and two years later became one of the co-authors of "silver", gaining two points in 7 meetings.

Now Pavel is only 25 years old, he is considered an excellent contender for getting into the main Russian team, and considering his zeal and talent, in the near future one can expect to see him in the main team of the country.