Aleksey Morozov

Position	Right Wing
Shoots	Left
Nickname(s)	The Devil Killer
Height Weight	ft  in ( m) 204 lb (93 kg)
RSL Team F. Teams	Ak-Bars Kazan Soviet Wings (CIS/RSL) Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Nationality	Russia
Born	February 16 1977 (1977--) (age 30), Moscow, U.S.S.R.
NHL Draft	Round 1, Pick 24, 1995 Pittsburgh Penguins
Pro Career	1993 – present

Aleksey Morozov (Алексей Морозов) was born on 16 February, 1977 in Moscow, USSR and is a professional ice hockey player.

Playing career

Aleksey Morozov was drafted in the first round, 24th overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. After being drafted, he remained in Russia and didn't join the Penguins until the 1997-98 NHL season. Aleksey began his career much like Pittsburgh legend Mario Lemieux, scoring on his first shot on his first shift of his first game as a Penguin. He played seven seasons for the Penguins totalling 451 games, 84 goals, and 219 points. In his seven year NHL career, Morozov earned the nickname "The Devil Killer" for his notorius success against the New Jersey Devils. In fact, New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur in an interview before a Penguins/Devils game on Fox Sports Net jokingly stated that he had nightmares of Morozov each night before his club would play the Penguins. He also won an Olympic Silver Medal on the 1998 Russian Olympic Team. Despite these successes, Morozov never fully developed into the player he had the potential to be as he played a majourity of his first few seasons in the NHL on the third and fourth lines due to the tremendous depth of a talent laden Penguins team. He finally got his chance on the starting line during the 2002-2003 season and the KLM line of Kovalev, Lemieux, and Morozov lead the Penguins to a top 3 record in the conference the first third of the season before being dismantled by injuries and trades. After bursting onto the scene with 25 points in 27 games, Morozov suffered a fractured wrist by a crushing hit that ended his season and Lemieux became bogged down by back problems which forced him to call it a year while Kovalev was later traded at the NHL trade deadline.

The next season saw Morozov off to a slow start, mainly due to the lack of talent on a young Penguins team, however down the stretch of the 2003-2004 season, Morozov was instrumental to the Penguins late season success, leading the team with five game-winning goals including two in the final three games of the season. During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, he went back to Russia to hone his skills and play for the Ak-Bars Kazan of the Russian Super League. After a successful 2004-2005 season with Ak-Bars and with the NHL's future up in the air, he opted to remain in the RSL for one more season in hope of winning a championship. The 2005-2006 season proved a great one for Morozov where he finished the regular season leading the league in goals (23) and points (48) while leading Ak-Bars to its first championship win in nearly ten years. He was instrumental in his teams long playoff run, amassing an unbelievable 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in just 13 games en route to Playoff MVP. He was also qualified for six other RSL league awards, two of which he won. As the 2006 NHL Free Agency period began, Morozov was one of the most sought after free agents. The choice was a very difficult one for Morozov as he wanted to join his compatriots Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Semin in the NHL but he also had a great relationship and close ties with Ak-Bars. However, in the end Morozov chose to sign an undisclosed contract to stay with his Russian club in hopes of winning back-to-back championships.

During the IIHF European Championship Cup (ECC) in January 2007, Morozov earned the titles of best forward and MVP as he led Ak-Bars to the championship, reaffirming Russian dominance at the tournament. When the regular season ended, Morozov lead the league and established new Super League record in points (83) as Ak-Bars Kazan had a league leading 119 points and well on the way to an unprecedented second straight championship. He became the first player in the history of the RSL to top the eighty points in a season and his 83 points broke the old record of 79 held by Sergei Makarov. After quickly dispatching of Metallurg Novokuznetsk in the opening round in three games, Ak-Bars then defeated KHIMIK (Moscow) and CSKA (Moscow) in four games each to advance to the finals to face Metallurg Magnitogorsk. In a final decisive game five, Ak-Bars would come up short losing the final game by the score of 2-1. Despite not matching his stellar numbers of the 2005-2006 season, Morozov finished the playoffs with a league leading 15 assists in 14 games.

Shortly after the 2006-2007 RSL season ended, Morozov was chosen to represent Russia as an alternate captain at the International Hockey World Cup (IHWC) and despite missing two games to a minor knee injury, he finished first in goals while finishing second in points as well as capturing the title of best forward at the tournament.

Honours

• Russian Super League: 2006
• Ceska Pojistovna: 2006
• Kubok Pervovo kanala: 2006
• European Champions: 2007

Statistics

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