Andrey Vasilevsky is one of the best Russian hockey goalkeepers of this generation. Despite his young age, the goalkeeper has already spent several seasons in the NHL, earning himself a place in the main squad from Tampa. He was called to defend the gates of the Russian national team at the most important tournaments.
Andrey Andreyevich Vasilevsky is a native of Tyumen. Was born on July 25, 1994 in a sports family. His father, Andrei Leonidovich, was himself a professional hockey player. He played as a goalkeeper in Rubin Tyumen. As a child, Vasilevsky Jr. often watched his father's sports activities, which gradually led to the development of a love of hockey.
In 2000, Andrey's father became a coach of goalkeepers of HC Tolpar Ufa. By that time, Vasilevsky Jr. had already grown up in order to start practicing in the hockey section. Andrei Andreevich began to receive his first hockey education at the sports school of the Ufa "Salavat Yulaev". The biography of the future goalkeeper includes the time when Vasilevsky played as a striker. It was in this role that the future gatekeeper began his career. Only a few years later, Vasilevsky Jr. decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and retrained as a goalkeeper.
Vasilevsky's career in Russia
Vasilevsky's hockey career began with Tolpar. The goalkeeper has played for this club in the Youth Hockey League since 2010. Spent three full seasons. The goalkeeper made his debut at the senior level in the 2012-2013 season, when the goalkeeper's talent allowed him to be included in the main squad of Salavat Yulaev (Ufa). In his first season in the KHL, Vasilevsky played eight matches with a reliability coefficient of 2, 22 and a percentage of reflected shots over 92%. In the next season, Vasilevsky took part in 28 matches. In 2014, he took part in the Gagarin Cup playoffs for the first time, in which he played 18 games, conceding on average less than two goals per game. This play by Vasilevsky contributed to Salavat's winning silver medals in the Russian championship.
Vasilevsky's career in the NHL
Work in training and play creativity allowed Vasilevsky at a young age to try his hand overseas. Back in 2012, Andrey was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he left for America only in 2014. At first, the goalkeeper played in the American Hockey League.
The debut for Tampa in the NHL for Vasilevsky took place on December 16, 2014. The rival of the "lightning" in that match was the "pilots" from Philadelphia. Vasilevsky's club won, and the goalkeeper himself was unable to reflect only one shot out of twenty-four. In total, in the 2014-2015 season, Vasilevsky played 16 matches in the NHL regular championship. The rest of the time, the goalkeeper played for the farm club of the main team from Tampa.
Vasilevsky was able to gain a foothold as the main goalkeeper of Lining already in the 2016-2017 season. His statistics for the calendar game year are as follows: 50 regular season games with a reliability factor of 2, 61 and 91, 7% percent of reflected shots. Since the next seasons, Andrey's performance has only improved. He gradually became one of the most reliable goalkeepers in the NHL.
In the 2018 - 2019 season, Andrei Vasilevsky, according to many overseas experts, may well qualify for the title of the best goalkeeper of the NHL season.
Despite the fact that Andrey plays for the club, which in recent seasons has been one of the favorites in the fight for the Stanley Cup, the Russian goalkeeper has not yet managed to win such an honorable trophy.
Achievements of Andrey Vasilevsky in the Russian national team
Andrei Vasilevsky was involved in the Russian national teams of different ages. He started with goal defense in the junior national team, with which he won bronze medals at the World Championship in 2011.
The goalkeeper has participated in three World Youth Championships. At all tournaments, the Russian national team did not remain without medals. Vasilevsky has two bronzes and a silver MCHM.
In the senior Russian national team, Andrei won the title of World Champion in 2014, and in 2017 won a bronze medal, adding to it the title of the best goalkeeper of the 2017 World Cup.
Andrey Vasilevsky is married. The hockey player's wedding took place in 2014. Andrei Andreevich's wife's name is Ksenia.
