Colorado Avalanche: Top 5 Facts about Alexei Gusarov

Defenseman Alexei Gusarov played a large part of his career with the Colorado Avalanche — and most of it with the franchise.

The Colorado Avalanche have had many fine players in their time. You know the big names automatically — Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and, of course, my idol Patrick Roy.

One name that doesn’t immediately come to mind is Alexei Gusraov. However, the 6-foo=-2, 183-pound defenseman spent a lot of the early years in Colorado and, so, helped formulate the idnetity of the team.

So, let’s look at some key facts about this Avs defenseman.

1. Alexei Gusarov didn’t come to the NHL until the 1990-91 season.

Though Gusarov was drafted in 1988 — 213th overall — by the Quebec Nordiques, he stayed in Russia for three more seasons. He was playing for the Soviet Red Army, CSKA Moscow, for whom he’d played since 1984-85. He was well overage when drafted — 24 years old — and he didn’t enter the NHL until he was 26.

2. Gusarov played 9 full seasons for the franchise.

Alexei Gusarov was the kind of player who flew under the radar. So, it may be surprising to even longtime Avs fans that Gusarov played nine full seasons for the franchise. Of course, when Alexei Gusarov started out his NHL career in 1990, the franchise was still in Quebec. However, Gusarov was an Avalanche for five seasons and nine games before being traded to the New York Rangers.

Colorado Avalanche great Adam Foote said of Gusarov:

“I don’t think there’s another Goose out there,” Foote said. “I think he was really undervalued. You go back to the [first] championship this team has, and he was a big part of it. I think even then, he didn’t get enough credit.”

3. Gusarov changed his playing style in North America.

Gusarov was known as an offensive defenseman for the Red Army. He wasn’t a prolific scorer — not in the modern sense. However, he could pot in a few goals and assist on a few others. When he came to the NHL, though, he changed his playing style completely to a skilled shutdown defenseman.

Gusarov was known for being a strong skater with a long reach. Though he occasionally over-committed in his positioning, he was known for having good hockey IQ. Foote said of his playing style:

“He kept things quiet. He stayed out of everything and just showed up to play. I don’t think Colorado fans saw him in his true prime, and I owe a lot to him.”

4. Alexei Gusarov was a member of the Triple Gold Club.

Gusarov is part of a very exclusive club — the Triple Gold club. Only 28 players are a part of this club, which signifies that the players have won the three most important trophies in hockey — IIHF Worlds gold, Olympic Games gold, and the most important, the Stanley Cup. Gusarov won IIHF gold in 1989 and Olympic gold in 1988, both times for Team Russia. He won the Stanley Cup in 2001, as part of the Colorado Avalanche.

5. Gusarov initially retired in Colorado.

Alexei Gusarov played all but 42 of his NHL games with the Nordiques-Avalanche franchise. As noted above, he spent five years in Colorado. He retired after the season that saw him traded first to the New York Rangers and then to the St. Louis Blues — 2000-01. Unfortunately for Gusarov, that was the year that saw the Avs win the Stanley Cup again – without him.

Nonetheless, he retired to Evergreen, Colorado. He founded an operated Goose Racing, which fielded teams racing late-model NASCAR cars. However, he moved back to St. Petersburg to serve as assistant general manager.

Next. 4 Forgotten Facts about Uwe Krupp. dark

While the mark Alexei Gusarov left on the team isn’t as identifiable as some other players, he nonetheless played 561 games for the franchise — 292 of those speciically with the Colorado Avalanche. Clearly, he was a player the team valued.

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