Path to stardom. Ilya Nabokov

KHL.ru keeps telling stories of those who showcased an exceptional level of playing despite their young age. Today, the talk is about Ilya Nabokov. The Metallurg goalie had a tremendous rookie season, culminated with the Gagarin Cup triumph and the Playoffs MVP award.The goalie had an incredible debut season with Metallurg. Not only did he win the Playoffs MVP and Best rookie award, helping Metallurg winning its third Gagarin Cup, but Ilya Nabokov was also shortlisted for the Best goalie award (who then flew to Lokomotiv’s Daniil Isayev) and got a spot in the All-Star team. Earlier, he only played a handful of minutes in the 2022-2023 season, and won the starting goalie position for Metallurg just this year, forcing Magnitogorsk to trade away the more experienced Artyom Zagidulin to make space for their rising young star.“I’m slowly starting to come to terms with our win,” Nabokov says about the recent Gagarin Cup triumph. “I’m not quite there yet. It was a big dream, and I still can’t believe it has come true. Our secret was the excellent atmosphere in the locker room. Everyone encouraged and supported each other. The trust from the coaches and management, as well as the trust in each other, made a big difference. We were fired up, eager to win, and ready to prove ourselves.”In this offseason, Magnitka underwent a coaching change, with Andrei Razin taking over from Ilya Vorobyov. Razin earlier spent five years with Severstal, managing to surprise, launch several younger players, and showcase entertaining hockey. Moreover, he brought with him a number of skaters from Cherepovets, including defenseman Robin Press and forwards Igor Geraskin, Daniil Vovchenko, and Alexander Petunin. “Of course, there were jokes about Severstal, especially at the beginning. But they were just jokes, nothing more. The guys are all good, sociable, and quickly integrated into the team, interacting with everyone, not just their former teammates from Cherepovets.”After the Gagarin Cup triumph, Nabokov finally could find something common with former Metallurg and KHL legend Vasily Koshechkin and other goalies who won the Playoffs MVP award, like Alexander Yeryomenko and Konstantin Barulin. “I watched every playoff, I remember everyone of them, and I was happy for each of the goalies. Probably, the most important thing is to win the Cup. Unfortunately, Konstantin Barulin didn’t manage to do that. Personally, I never even dreamed of an individual award. I watched Vasily Koshechkin the most. I started playing hockey because of him; he is my idol.”He has worked in the past with his idol, at summer camps for Magnitka. “I managed to ask him about some things,” Nabokov recalls. “He gave me some tips himself. I observed how he approached his work and how he handled various situations. I like that in everyday life, Vasily is very calm and cool, even though he has won so much. He is a true professional. As for hockey, I simply watched Koshechkin and enjoyed it.”In his career, Koshechkin was often his team’s absolute favorite option between the piping, playing more than 50 season games six times out of ten seasons in Magnitogorsk. So far, Nabokov only had one such season. “Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about playing so many games!” the goalie admits. “The main thing is that it should benefit the team and lead to wins. Records that harm the team are definitely unnecessary. This season, I played without even checking how many games I had. It was tough; I've never played so much before. Last year I played 38 games in the JHL, now it’s almost twice as many. Moreover, when you win, you forget about fatigue and recover faster. When I saw that I played 66 games, I was amazed! In the summer, I couldn’t even imagine it.”Ilya Nabokov is a namesake of the legendary Evgeny, who lined up for Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk and Dynamo Moscow before embarking to a long career in the NHL with pauses in Magnitogorsk and St. Petersburg. He wasn’t shy in praising the younger Ilya during the season, saying that he has some of the best feet movement he has seen between goalies of such age. “I have to thank my coaches for this,” the young goalie says. “Klemen Mohoric, with whom I’ve been working for four years, and also Sergey Kipriyanov, with whom I train in the gym. A lot of credit goes to them. I won’t praise myself too much, but I really worked hard.”Mohoric is one of the few international coaches in the league, and has worked with several teams in the league – Medvescak, Slovan, Admiral, Torpedo, and Metallurg – he will move to CSKA for the next season. “Klem is a very good coach. He travels a lot around the world, he has many acquaintances in the NHL, he observes the training process in different clubs. Mohoric has a lot of experience and a style that is close to North American,” Nabokov says. He didn’t change much of the goalie’s game in his work with Metallurg. “We didn’t have big changes. We adjusted my stance and worked a lot on skating. We focused on positioning and sharpness.”Nabokov was at the center of a hard-to-deal situation with Avtomobilist’s Alexei Makeyev in the semifinals – the forward allegedly run backwards into the goalie and was assigned a two-minute penalty. “I didn’t feel more pressure from the opposition and didn’t think about it,” he explains. “Maybe they wanted to, but I try not to pay attention to provocations and roughness. I kept my focus, understanding that they were simply trying to get me emotional.”In the finals, Metallurg’s forward Nikita Grebyonkin provoked Daniil Isayev before a crucial OT in the series, as Magnitka then snatched a win. “In every series and in every team, there are guys who want to get you emotional. But I didn’t give in. I’ve known Nikita for a long time, we played together since school, for almost ten years. He has always been persistent, with character. He remains the same. We could have some arguments in a joking manner during practice, teasing each other, but nothing more.”It’s unusual for goalies to be awarded with Best Rookie honors. Only three other netminders won this award – Ilya Proskuryakov, Andrei Vasilevsky, and Ilya Konovalov. “This number speaks for itself,” Nabokov says. “It’s clear that it’s harder for goalies. However, it was an honor to attend the ceremony, and none of this would have been possible without my team.”Last year, Nabokov had his Kontinental Hockey League debut with four minutes against Kunlun Red Star. He wasn’t actually ready, and it wasn’t easy for him to tune in. “When I was told to go out, I had a bit of a shock,” the goalie admits. “I was kind of in a daze. After the very first shot, the clasp on my helmet came undone. I had to switch out, then I went back in. It was an interesting debut, for sure. Not everyone has had such an experience in their career.”Then, this season, at the trade deadline, Metallurg traded Zagidulin to Neftekhimik, allegedly to make space for the young netminder. He was definitely more ready this time. “When Artyom left, I had already played many games,” he explains. “Alexander Sudnitsin and I remained, and he shared his experience with me like an older teammate. We started playing and kept going, then Nikita Podskrebalin joined. That’s how our new goalie squad came together.”Earlier in the season, Razin said that he noticed Nabokov’s talent in the so-called “superseries”, a series of SO attempts during the practice where also coaches take part. With Razin, Yury Trubachyov, and Sergei Mozyakin, that’s quite a training for goalies. “We goalies don’t distinguish between this kind of shootouts and serious ones. Every game, every moment makes us play at our best. We can’t afford to let in a goal as a joke; we play to the end, no matter how the skaters treat these shootouts. Moreover, all our coaches played hockey, including at the highest level. They all can score and do it beautifully.” Of course, Mozyakin didn’t forget how to go top shelf. “We come out for practice, he shoots from the circles, and I know the puck is going to the far corner. I put my glove up, but it still goes through. Mozyakin is such a great master that it’s very hard to stop his shots, even now.”Nabokov had a fantastic season this term, and he is determined to go ahead the same way in the future. “You need to do what you love. Don’t stop at what you've achieved. Never put on a crown and always remain a simple guy” – that’s his recipe. “Just like Vasily Koshechkin,” he added with a smile.