Vyacheslav Kozlov

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size=200px
team=Atlanta Thrashers
former_teams = Detroit Red Wings
Buffalo Sabres
league = NHL
position = Left Wing
shoots = Left
height_ft = 5
height_in = 10
weight_lb = 190
nickname =
nationality = Russia
birth_date = birth date and age|1972|5|3
birth_place = Voskresensk, U.S.S.R.
draft = 45th overall
draft_year = 1990
draft_team = Detroit Red Wings
career_start = 1987

Vyacheslav "Slava" Anatolevich Kozlov ( _ru. Вячеслав Анатольевич Козлов, born May 3, 1972 in Voskresensk, U.S.S.R.) is a Russian ice hockey left winger and alternate captain who currently plays for the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL.

Playing career

Kozlov was drafted 45th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Kozlov made his NHL debut on March 12, 1992, recording two assists in Detroit's 5–4 win over the St. Louis Blues. He became a regular player with Detroit in the 1993–94 NHL season. After the Red Wings acquired Igor Larionov in 1995, coach Scotty Bowman created a 5–man Russian unit (the "Russian Five") consisting of forwards Kozlov, Sergei Fedorov and Larionov, and defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov and Viacheslav Fetisov. This group helped Detroit to a Stanley Cup win in 1997.

Kozlov played for Detroit until the summer of 2001, when he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in the trade that put Dominik Hašek in a Red Wings jersey. After one injury-shortened season in Buffalo, Kozlov was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers.

Since the inception of the shootout into NHL play in 2005, Kozlov has been been known as one of the league's best scorers in the shootout.

Kozlov re-signed with the Atlanta Thrashers on July 4th, 2007 with a 3-year, $11–million contract.

Slava Kozlov played his 1000th NHL game on December 26, 2007 against the Columbus Blue Jackets and his former Russian Five teammate, Sergei Fedorov.

Awards

* Dan Snyder Memorial Award - 2007

Career statistics

International play

*Played for the Soviet Union in the 1988 European Junior Championships.
*Played for the Soviet Union in the 1989 European Junior Championships.
*Played for the Soviet Union in the 1990 World Junior Championships.
*Played for the Soviet Union in the 1990 European Junior Championships.
*Played for the Soviet Union in the 1991 World Junior Championships.
*Played for the Soviet Union in the 1991 World Championships.
*Played for the Soviet Union in the 1991 Canada Cup.
*Played for Team Russia in the 1994 World Championships.
*Played for Team Russia in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

International statistics

References

*2005 NHL Official Guide & Record Book ISBN 0-920445-91-8

ee also

* List of NHL players
* List of Atlanta Thrashers players
* List of Buffalo Sabres players
* List of Detroit Red Wings players
* List of Stanley Cup champions

External links

*hockeydb|2809