Akim Radulov - Junior Review

[lidz 102]

Akim Radulov

Age: 17

Height: 6'0

Weight 195lb

 

Akim Radulov was born in Moscow, Russia. Growing up, he played soccer until the age of eleven, where he discovered his love for hockey. His friends were huge fans of Alexander Ovechkin and got Akim hooked on the NHL. He didn't start playing organized hockey until he was 14. He got a pair of used ice skates from his friend. These were two sizes too small for him. He saved all of his money for his first hockey stick. He played in his local league, the JVMHA (Junior Virtual Moscow Hockey Association), and started lighting it up. In just his first ten games of ever participating in organized hockey, he put up a staggering eight goals and five assists. He finished the season as a legend amongst his schoolmates. He accumulated 36 points in those 24 games, averaging a goal per game. He was invited to a training camp for the JVRHA (Junior Virtual Russia Hockey Association) where he eventually joined his local team, the Moscow Rivers. His coaches there realized the pure potential of this sniping phenom and gave him lots of focus in practices. Akim continued to improve with each game, and he ended the season with 31 goals and 16 assists in 52 games.

 

Scouts from the VHLM were now starting to pay attention to Akim. The JVRHA is notable for its low score as countless goalie prospects are crafted in this league. For the two seasons Akim Radulov played, only two goals were averaged per game. It was extremely difficult for even the most talented snipers to break 30 goals at age 17 and 18, and Akim easily cracked it at age 15. This doesn't mean there were glaring holes in his game. His defensive abilities were terrible, and Akim wasn't able to create much space for himself by either speed or size against the competition. Some scouts even went as far as to say, "Without his top ice-time and elite linemates, [Radulov] would have struggled to even score 5 goals.". Even with the skepticism, Akim stayed strong through the off-season. His coaches described Akim as a "changed player" heading into his final season with Moscow.

 

In his first game in his age 16 season, Akim demonstrated his gained play-making by getting multiple assists in one game for the first time in his JVRHA career. His defense, while still weak, improved greatly as well. Radulov was on fire at the start of the season. 8 games, 5 goals, and 5 assists was an incredible start, and he kept up the historic pace breaking many records held by elite VHL players. By the mid-season point, Radulov was averaging 1.5 points per game, with 20 goals and 19 assists. Radulov at this point had gained immense hype in the scouting community, and VHLM teams were lining up to get a chance to speak with the kid. But let's rewind here, how did Radulov go from never playing an actual game of hockey to immediately dominating the competitive Russian junior scene? His answer is pretty much a cliché response to any inspirational phenom. He would spend hours shooting at a makeshift hockey goal made out of old crates he found in a dumpster. He got so adept at just shooting the puck that none of his other skills mattered at the measly JVMHA level, he was dominant.

 

Radulov finished the JVRHA season, as well as junior hockey as a whole, in 15th place in all-time season scoring, with 70 points, and 8th in all-time season goals with 42. He breezed his way to becoming the premier offensive winger in the JVRHA, but there were still questions about his game. During his two years of playing, he averaged 30 minutes per game on the ice, and he didn't make the playoffs either year. His defensive abilities were still barely junior level and is quite frankly a handicap when in any spot that's not the opponents' zone. He had just as many highlight-reel goals for him as highlight-reel goals where he got his ankles broken. 30 of his 70 points came from his large sum of power-play minutes and yet he struggled quite a bit with making plays for himself.

 

(698 words... I think I got a bit too carried away)