MUSKEGON – Aleksandr Kuleshov seems like an easygoing guy who takes back luck in stride and bounces back quickly.
That definitely helps, considering all the challenges he’s faced in recent months.
The 21-year-old goalie started the 2021-22 campaign playing in his native Russia, before the Lumberjacks cut through enough red tape to bring him to Muskegon in October.
He did pretty well for months, both on the ice and off. The latter part was a bit of a challenge, because Kuleshov speaks very little English, but he had another Russian goalie on the team – Platon Zadorozhnyy – who spoke very good English and helped him adjust and communicate with coaches and teammates.
That changed when Zadorozhnyy had to return to Russia a few months ago to receive treatment for the lingering effects of COVID, which he contracted back home last summer.
[1]Suddenly Kuleshov was on his own, with only a Russian translation Google app on his phone to help him with conversations.
“I actually understand a lot of what they say, but it’s hard for me to answer,” said Kuleshov, speaking in Russian and communicating through the translation app.
Injuries also became an issue for Kuleshov in recent weeks.
He suffered a groin injury about a month ago in a game against Chicago and had to miss the next two games.
“Near the end of the game I unsuccessfully reached for the puck and stretched my groin a little,” said Kuleshov, who goes by the nickname of Sasha.
He returned for a game against the Team USA 18-Under squad on March 11, but was injured again just minutes into the first period when an opponent plowed into him.
[2]He had to leave the game with an elbow injury and couldn’t play the next night, either.
“I came out of goal to get the puck and did not see the player,” Kuleshov explained. “He drove into me and drove my shoulder into the ice.
Kuleshov was not expected to be recovered enough to play last weekend, when the Lumberjacks hosted red-hot Dubuque in a crucial two-game series at Mercy Health Arena.
But Kuleshov defied that bleak outlook. He felt well enough to return practice by last Thursday, and was a surprise starter last Friday against Dubuque.
He performed extremely well, stopping 31 of 35 shots and helped the Jacks post a 7-4 victory over the Fighting Saints, who came into the game with a seven-game winning streak.
Kuleshov was particularly strong in the first period, when Dubuque outshot the Lumberjacks 15-7 and could have taken a big lead, but his work in net left the game tied 1-1 at intermission.
[3]He repeated his performance on Saturday night, stopping 21 of 24 shots to help the Jacks post a 4-3 victory and complete the weekend sweep.
The victories were huge for Muskegon, who came into the game with a 3-7 record over their previous 10 games, a three-game losing streak, and a four-game home losing streak.
“I think he was the reason that Friday’s game was so close after the first period,” Hamilton said about Kuleshov. “I think that was the turning point of the weekend. From the second period on we took over the weekend.”
Kuleshov shrugs when asked about the two injuries that kept him out of so many games.
He said he felt very little pain when he came back to play against Dubuque, despite the shoulder injury that caused him a great deal of discomfort just a week earlier.
“I developed well during the games,” said Kuleshov, who has a nice 12-4-1 record this season with a 3.87 goals against average. “When your body is hot everything is fine. After the game I got a little sick, but now everything is fine.
[4]“I always want to play, and when my health is well and the coach trusts me, I am ready for the game. We have a good team – good defenders and good forwards – so I didn’t even worry about the games. I just knew we would go out and win.”
Now, in the wake of those big wins, Kuleshov says he’s feeling good and is prepared for the rest of the regular season and the upcoming Clark Cup playoffs.
“It so happens that over the past four or five years I have been the main goalkeeper on my teams,” he said. ‘It’s an incentive. I want to win the cup with Muskegon.”
That’s great news for Hamilton, who said the Russian has earned the inside track to become the No. 1 goalie headed into the playoffs.
“If you look at our recent stretch when we went 3-7, I think he only played in two of those games,” Hamilton said, reflecting on Kuleshov’s value. “Right now he has earned the next start, and if he continues on this path for the next 12 games (the remainder of the regular season) he will be starting, but if not Chase Clark or Cameron Korpi will. We are looking for someone to separate from the pack, and last weekend was a step in the right direction for him.”
Even with his major contributions, you have to wonder how much fun Kuleshov is having, considering the communication barrier. But he shrugs when you ask him about that, too.
[5]He said he’s reached the point where he understands the majority of things that coaches and teammates say to him, but still has trouble responding.
That’s where the translation app comes in handy. All the coaches and players have it downloaded on their phones, because it allows Kuleshov to speak to them in Russian, gives them the translation in English, and vice-versa.
It’s a painfully slow way to communicate, but Kuleshov seems to take it in stride, and those around him have become accustomed to it.
“When Platon left, it wasn’t too hard for me,” he said. “All the guys know me and helped me because they know I have problems with the English language.”
Kuleshov says it’s easy to communicate with his teammates during games, because hockey is a lot more about doing and less about talking.
“I only have five or six phrases I have to say, and all the players understand me perfectly,” he said.