There are not so many hockey players in the modern worldremain to play for the team in the school where they were trained. Nevertheless, such cases in professional hockey are, and one of the examples is Pavel Kulikov.
Nizhnekamsk patriot
Kulikov Pavel Vladimirovich was born on January 14, 1992years in Nizhnekamsk, and to date in his biography appear only his native, Nizhnekamsk clubs, plus a short-term lease in the neighboring region. It all began with the usual Nizhnekamsk hockey school, where the young Paul was brought by his parents. The boy liked the male game, and his ability to move away from the opponent and make aiming throws from any position quickly made him a promising attacker.
First professional steps in the adult leaguePavel Kulikov did in 2009 by signing an agreement with the “Reactor” club, which included playing in 31 meetings in the first season, scoring 9 points, and a year later showed almost three times the best result in almost the same number of meetings - 22 effective points for 30 games. After such a success, the young talent was noticed in the main team of the region (“Neftekhimik”) and they offered 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 inthe application for the meeting against Astana “Barys”, during the match went to the site for a total of almost 5 minutes, but was unable to score with effective actions. In the 2011/2012 season for the forward, it was the only match in the top division of the country, the rest of the time he continued to play for Reactor, where he excelled in insane performance, ending the championship with 44 points for 48 games.
These results again forced to draw on themselvesattention of the coaching staff of “Neftekhimik”, 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, who was struck by the forward, was Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The goal of the young striker did not bring victory to the “oilmen”, “Magnitka” won with a score of 7: 2, but the experience of this game played its part in the player’s development, although in the remaining 10 matches, where he took part, he failed to distinguish himself.
At the end of that season, Pavel Kulikov wassent to the neighboring region, in Penza "Diesel", where he had to gain the necessary experience. Having played there 9 matches, with an asset of 2 goals scored, the striker returned to Neftekhimik, who never left. Subsequent seasons, Pavel appeared regularly on the court, and although his performance did not even reach 20 points per season, the team’s coaching staff continues to believe in the player and release him on the ice, waiting for another stunning result and important goals.
Steps to the national team
In the course of his career, the forward has repeatedly attractedto 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, simply could not be unnoticed by the national team mentors. As a result, the Russian played in the youth team of Russia in 2010, taking the 4th place, and two years later he became one of the sponsors of the “silver”, gaining two points in 7 meetings.
Now Pavel is only 25 years old, he is considered excellent.a candidate for getting into the main Russian national team, and given his zeal and talent, in the near future we can expect to see him in the main team of the country.
