For the fans of the Carolina Hurricanes one story shines above all else and one player was at the center of it all. The year was 2006 and after falling behind two games to Montreal in the first round, coach Peter Laviolette turned to rookie goaltender Cam Ward with the starter Martin Gerber struggling to gain footing. Cam stepped in and the Hurricanes turned the ship around defeating the Canadiens 4-2 in the series. They would follow that round up with a 4-1 rout of the New Jersey Devils before being driven to a game seven in both the Eastern Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals. It was in game seven of that Stanley cup final where Rod Brind’Amour and the Carolina Hurricanes etched their names in history winning the franchises only Stanley Cup. Now Rod has been dealt a similar hand to that of his former coach. With the unknown extent of All-Star goaltender Frederick Andersen’s recent injury, a young man by the name of Pyotr Kochetkov is skating in limbo waiting for his chance to strike.
Russian Genesis
His story starts in Penza, a Russian city of just over 500,000 sitting around four hundred miles southeast of Moscow. Born in the summer of ‘99 the twenty two year old began skating at a young age joining Diezel Penza, his hometown hockey club in 2011. Pyotr would play for the Diezel Sports Academy team where he would go on to claim the Volga region championship. That was the first piece of hardware on the shelf for the young Kochetkov but is certainly not the last.
In 2015 Pyotr would join a Ak Bars Kazan juniors program only to join back with Penza the next season after seeing limited ice time. After spending his time on Penza’s junior roster, he would eventually make his debut for Penza pulling out a relief win for the club. Only playing in a handful of games during the season, Pyotr did record his first win in a start in his final game played.
When 2017 rolled around he wasted no time and signed his first KHL contract with HC Sochi and would spend most of his time with Kapitan Stupino, the club's farm team. Kochetkov would struggle to gain footing in the wins department despite posting a solid .917 SV% going just 6-21-3. The following season Pyotr would play primarily in the VHL for the HK Ryazan before playing for Russia’s U20 team at the World Juniors.
It was at the World Juniors in Canada that Kochetkov would solidify himself as the top international goaltender in the upcoming 2019 draft after posting four wins in five starts and a .953 SV% leading Russia to a bronze medal. For his efforts in the tournament Pyotr was awarded Best Goaltender honors, another strong accolade under his belt. With the 36th overall pick in 2019 Don Waddell and the Carolina Hurricanes decided the young Russian prospect was fit to be a part of their long term plans as they took him off the board early in the second round of the draft. With his NHL destination now set, Pyotr remained in Russia playing for a myriad of teams before finishing off his last season with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the KHL in February and heading stateside to begin his North American pro hockey career.
Stateside
After signing a two year entry level contract with the Hurricanes, he joined the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and it was at this time that I truly started to pay attention to him. I heard rumblings of a Russian phenom in the pipeline from a friend deep in the web of prospects, and it was finally time to see what the kid had to offer. So how has he done? He has blown expectations out of the water. Since landing ashore in North America, Kochetkov has posted a stifling 2.09 GAA and .921 SV% to go along with a 13-1-1 record. He is the reigning AHL Rookie of the Month, being awarded for going 7-0-1 in March with a 1.74 GAA and a .937 SV%.
What does his future look like with the Hurricanes?
Pyotr is ready to take the Hurricanes and the Caniacs by storm (at least that is what I keep telling myself). He has been hot and that is just what this team needs with the goal scoring struggles as of late. The Canes need a guy who can shut teams down and with Freddie out and Raanta struggling to keep the puck out of the net, maybe just maybe Pyotr can be that guy.
Here I am talking myself into a rookie who has never taken the ice in the NHL saying that he is the piece we need and maybe I am a crazy person. I’m just on the hunt for a beacon of hope in the chaos after the trade deadline and frankly Pyotr gives me hope. The fans in Chicago absolutely love the man. Myself and everyone on twitter loves the man. His antics have proved to be a crowd pleaser and his willingness to throw hands with opposing goaltenders is ELECTRIC! (Still mad at that ref.) The Hurricanes seem to have found a winner, now we just need to see him in action. Pyotr needs to go out there and prove to Raleigh and the world that he is in fact Pyotr the Great.
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