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 | Scotti Baumen: Kucherov succeeds the same as once Gretzky-to find free places on the site where there is no one. Nikita is not the most overall hockey player, but he is a thinker!27-01-2025 |
Scotty Bowman shared his thoughts on Nikita Kucherov`s performance. – Last season, Nikita Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy for the second time in his career - the award for the top scorer of the championship. What`s his secret - and did you expect him to beat both Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid?
– Kucherov has a sixth sense that only a few in the league have. He knows where both his partners and opponents are on the ice.
Nikita is not the biggest hockey player, but he is a thinker! When this player receives the puck, he already understands in advance what he will do with it next.
Kucherov always has the next play in his head. He doesn`t need to look at who is open and who isn`t. He already knows this, and therefore does everything quickly. The only way to deal with it is if you have a person who is already hanging right on it in this episode. If you give him a chance to get the puck freely for even a split second, he will decide the moment.
Tampa was successful in its championship seasons in large part because its power play was nearly unstoppable, and he was a key part of it. Kucherov is on the right flank, and at the top is the left-handed Hedman.
They moved the puck with incredible speed, and he was able to get open out of traffic and stay where no one could block him. Kucherov managed and still manages to do the same thing that Wayne Gretzky once did - to find free seats on the court where there is no one.
– Don’t you think he deserved the Hart Trophy that MacKinnon received last season?
– Oh, this is a difficult choice. There is always more than one player who is close to winning the reward. I always think about what the team would be like if that person wasn`t there.
I go to many Lightning games and see that the few matches in which Kucherov is absent for one reason or another become very difficult for the team. It definitely makes it better.
And they have a great long-term partnership with center Brayden Point, they have a great career together. In general, I noticed that often for a team to be successful, it must have two high-quality players.
In Pittsburgh these are Crosby and Malkin, in Washington – Ovechkin and Backstrom, in Colorado – MacKinnon and Makar. Edmonton came close to the McDavid Cup last year with Draisaitl, said nine-time Stanley Cup winner Scotty Bowman as head coach.