Former Red Wings Stanley Cup Winner Slava Kozlov Fired By KHL Club
Like Datsyuk, Slava Kozlov won the Stanley Cup twice while playing for the Red Wings and was a key component of Detroit's consecutive championship seasons.
In a similar unexpected fashion of when Kozlov was traded from the Red Wings in the stunning 2001 Dominik Hasek deal, he's once again been dealt another difficult piece of professional news.
Kozlov has reportedly been fired as head coach of HC Sochi in the KHL, with the most puzzling aspect of the situation being that he was recently hired and hadn't even coached a single game for the team.
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
He was hired in early June to coach HC Sochi, who finished last in the KHL last season with a League-worst 41 points, after having spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach with HC Dynamo Moscow.
Kozlov spoke to Sport-Express, a Russian-based sports publication, about the circumstances surrounding his being let go from HC Sochi. Not only was Kozlov let go, but several other staffers, including assistant head coach Alexander Savchenkov, were also removed.
(Kozlov's words, originally published in Russian, have been translated via Google Translate.)
"At first they told us that everyone would stay, but then they started to remove people one by one," Kozlov said. "I learned about it after the fact, because I wasn't inside and didn't work with many of them, I wasn't familiar with them. The news came to us gradually, people were fired one by one."
"I'll take a week off, but I'll be looking for a job."
Kozlov was selected in the third round (45th overall) of the 1990 NHL Draft; earlier, the Red Wings selected Keith Primeau third overall.
He would go on to become one of the most important contributors over the next several seasons with the Red Wings, and was also 1/5 of the famed "Russian Five" put together by coach Scotty Bowman starting in the 1995-96 season.
While playing for the Red Wings, Kozlov scored 202 goals with 213 assists in 607 regular season games, and added 42 goals and 37 assists in 114 playoff games.
Kozlov was traded to the Buffalo Sabres on June 30, 2001 for Hasek, and he spent a lone, injury-riddled season in Buffalo before being dealt once again, this time to the Atlanta Thrashers.
With Atlanta, Kozlov was able to regain some of his old form that made him a dangerous offensive threat with the Red Wings. Following the 2009-10 season, Kozlov returned to Russia and played several more seasons in the KHL before retiring in 2015 after 28 years of playing professionally.
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship?
The new Gordie Howe International Bridge is less than two miles long, but it's been a long road to get there. Plans are on target for the opening this fall of the six-lane span crossing the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit. The bridge, named for a Canadian hockey great who found fame on the ice for the Detroit Red Wings, promises to deliver 'unparalleled benefits for supply chains, industry and commercial users,' according to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, the Canadian crown corporation overseeing construction of the bridge.
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
Former Vol to play basketball professionally in France
Former Tennessee men's basketball player Zakai Zeigler signed to play professional basketball. Zeigler, a point guard and three-year starter for the Vols, signed to play for Nanterre 92, in the LNB Elite, which competes in the top-tier league in France. Nanterre 92 is located in Nanterre, France. "New recruit," Nanterre 92 announced. "The Vol hoops point guard Zakai Zeigler joins Nanterre 92 and will try to outpace the Betclic_ELITE! After a solid (NBA) Summer League with the Detroit Pistons, Zakai averaged 13.8 points and 7.4 assists per game in his last NCAA season. Let's go ZZ!" Zeigler signed as an undrafted free agent with Detroit following the 2025 NBA draft. He played for the Pistons' NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas, Nevada, along with his Tennessee teammate Chaz Lanier, a second-round pick by Detroit. Zeigler, a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year, averaged 9.0 points and 3.0 assists in four games with Detroit in the NBA Summer League. Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
Bruins 2028-29 roster projection: How does the rebuild turn out?
The Boston Bruins have taken a big step forward in reordering their future. Fraser Minten and Will Zellers were among the returns in their selloff at the 2025 trade deadline. James Hagens was the prize for finishing with the NHL's fifth-worst record in 2024-25. So what could this look like in three years? Advertisement David Pastrnak will be 32 in 2028-29. Charlie McAvoy will be 31. The two cornerstones should be well within their windows of being franchise chain-pullers. But will the quantity and quality of Pastrnak's and McAvoy's next-generation reinforcements be robust enough for the Bruins to be Stanley Cup contenders? General manager Don Sweeney has made it a habit to spend liberally in free agency. There's no reason to believe that pattern will break. For this exercise, we'll peek ahead to 2028-29 using only current Bruins and internal prospects. It should provide a sketch to determine how aggressively management will need to supplement their existing veterans and inbound youngsters with trades and signings: Morgan Geekie will be halfway through his six-year, $33 million contract. Geekie, who will be 29 years old, could still be paired with Pastrnak. As for their prospective center, Hagens will be 21 at the start of the 2028-29 season. By then, the 2006-born center could have two-plus years of professional experience. The question is how good Hagens will be. Hagens' upcoming sophomore season at Boston College should give the Bruins better insight into what he will become. He was good enough to produce at a point-per-game basis as a freshman while centering Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard in 2024-25. The Eagles will ask Hagens to assume more offensive responsibility in 2025-26. It won't be easy without Perreault and Leonard as go-to wings. 'In some ways, it's going to benefit him,' player development coordinator Adam McQuaid said of Hagens' expected workload without his flammable linemates. 'Just continue to ramp up the compete level and consistent impact he's capable of having. That's a big thing for a lot of young players — just bringing the consistency night in and night out. It's not always going to be perfect. But just bringing the effort and wanting to be a driver and difference-maker.' Advertisement Unless Hagens turns into a top-tier smash, it's unrealistic to project him as a legitimate No. 1 NHL center at his age. But if Pastrnak and Geekie can carry the day, Hagens can continue his on-site development without the expectations of driving the line. The second line is full of wildcards. Will Zellers, the USHL's leading goal scorer in 2024-25, has yet to play a shift of NCAA hockey. He has work ahead of him to ramp up his pace and build the rest of his game. While he has top-six potential, Zellers will need time to develop. He will be a freshman at North Dakota this fall. 'I think he can get stronger, certainly, in order to play an offensive game at the NHL level,' amateur and college scout Parker MacKay said. 'That's going to come, though.' Will Moore is in the same category. He has second-line skill. But the incoming freshman at BC will need at least two seasons of college hockey to put on the weight required for NHL battle. Dean Letourneau has one year of NCAA experience. But it was a trying one. The 2024 first-rounder did not score a single goal. It's possible he may have to transition to an in-the-corners right wing who uses reach, physicality and puck protection to earn a pro living. 'He got much better with his stick,' McQuaid said of Letourneau once BC coach Greg Brown used him on the penalty kill. 'Just little details. He took all that in stride. But yet was like, 'I still want to do more. I believe I can do more.' Those are all positive things.' It's much easier to project the third line's performance because of their NHL experience. Elias Lindholm will be 33. He should be well into a phase of bottom-six, defense-first, penalty-killing shifts. Marat Khusnutdinov could develop more offensive presence by then. But he's on pace to be a third-line fixture. It's not as easy to determine what Matt Poitras will become. He is a natural center, but whether he has the all-around game to work the middle in the NHL permanently is unknown. Shifting to right wing could ease him of responsibility. Advertisement On the fourth line, Tanner Jeannot will be entering the fourth season of his five-year, $17 million contract. Minten, who will be 24, is trending toward becoming a trustworthy checking center. Chris Pelosi, the team's third-round pick in 2023, has the speed and puck-hungry approach to make it as a fourth-liner. Players not in the 2028-29 lineup (projecting to be traded or not extended) include Viktor Arvidsson, Johnny Beecher, Mikey Eyssimont, Fabian Lysell, Mark Kastelic, Sean Kuraly, Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha. The Bruins know what McAvoy is. It's not so with Mason Lohrei. The left-shot defenseman has the skill set to be the Bruins' version of Evan Bouchard: an offensive catalyst in charge of the power play. By 2028-29, Lohrei will be 27, perhaps more polished and more dependable defensively. Hampus Lindholm will be 34. He may not have the jump needed to push the offensive pace like he's currently capable of doing. It's possible Lindholm will have shifted more toward a matchup defenseman. Frederic Brunet, meanwhile, will be 25 and reinforced with three more years of pro shifts. He is a smooth skater who likes to go up the ice. On the No. 3 pair, the Bruins hope that Liam Pettersson, one of their two 2025 second-round picks, will have added the weight required for 200-foot shifts. The 6-foot-2 Pettersson was most recently listed at 170 pounds. Nikita Zadorov will be 33, still aligned with his defense-first window. Traded or not extended: Michael Callahan, Jordan Harris, Henri Jokiharju, Andrew Peeke Jeremy Swayman will start 2028-29 as a 29-year-old. Assuming 2024-25 was an exception, Swayman could still be peaking as a full-fledged ace. The Bruins do not currently have a high-end goaltending prospect, but they might not need one if Swayman is in elite form. Philip Svedeback, the organization's fourth-round pick in 2021, will be 26. Advertisement Traded or not extended: Michael DiPietro, Joonas Korpisalo, Simon Zajicek A much-needed infusion of youth is helping. More is coming: two first-round picks in 2026 and two more in 2027. But it's still not enough to offset the four first-rounders the Bruins traded between 2018 and 2023. Hockey operations will have to be aggressive on the trade market and in free agency to add NHL players, especially up front. The Bruins need game-breakers.
