The plight of Konstantin Barulin

Konstantin Barulin is one of Russia’s top young goaltenders. While the NHL scouts failed to take note during his first year of eligibility in 2002, they certainly took notice during the 2002-03 season, when he was a capable backup to the incumbent national team goalie, Andrei Medvedev, and also took over the starting job on his Upper League club, Gazovik Tyumen. Though Barulin’s rise in stock was due largely to his play on Russia’s national team, it is also, unfortunately, the national team, along with his agent’s over-eagerness, that has caused the young goalie’s recent struggles.

At the conclusion of the 2002-03 season, the future appeared bright for Barulin, the young goaltender out of Tyumen, Russia. While he was virtually unknown and unproven prior to the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, by May of the following year he was one of the hottest goaltenders available, coming off a solid debut on the Russian U20 national squad and a starting job in Russia’s secondary Upper League. So, come draft day in Nashville, the young Russian heard his name on the first day of the draft, when the St. Louis Blues selected him in the third round, 84th overall.

The young goalie received permission from his Upper League club to attend St. Louis Blues’ training camp, where he performed very well, impressing the NHL club’s management, which was quite pleased to once again have depth between the posts. When Barulin returned to Russia, he was quickly called up to represent his country at the Four Nations tournament in his home town, Tyumen. Unfortunately, while his excellent performance at the NHL training camp and on the international stage seemed to elevate his career, they may also have in fact created serious cracks in his relationship with Gazovik’s management.

While Gazovik Tyumen spent the entire month of August preparing for another season in the Upper League, they had to cope with Barulin’s absence, which was a problem since he was considered the club’s starting goaltender. When the young goaltender returned to Gazovik after representing his country, he had already lost his starting job to another young goaltender, Denis Franksevich. Barulin had to sit on the bench for almost the entire month of September before he finally got his first start in early October. He played very well, and proceeded to regain his starting role for Gazovik, winning five of his eight starts, including a pair of 1-0 losses. Then, when the relationship between the young goaltender and his club appeared to return to normal, it took another serious blow in late November.

Management appeared to not only understand, but also promoted the fact that their starting goaltender would likely receive invitations to represent Russia at the U20 international tournaments. However, in mid November, the U20 head coach, Rafael Ishmatov, called up Barulin to represent Russia at the Canada Challenge Cup tournament. Though Barulin’s call-up did not likely sit well with Gazovik’s management, they likely felt obliged to release him to the national team. This was not a regular international tournament where a player is out of the lineup for less then a week. The Canada Challenge Cup took Barulin from his club for at least three weeks, which is an unacceptable period of playing time for a starting goaltender to miss, unless injured.

Barulin’s departure for Canada also smelled of agent involvement, as this undermanned national team really had little chance of putting up significant resistance to the best of the Canadian junior leagues. It seemed clear that the Russian Federation was not serious about this tournament, and it seems equally clear that Barulin’s presence on the squad was a calculated move to boost the young goaltender’s stock in the eyes of his NHL club.

Nothing short of great could describe Barulin’s performance at the Canada Challenge Cup. The young goaltender carried the Russian squad in the four of his five starts, facing upwards of 50 shots in almost every contest. However, once again, what appeared to be a great maneuver to position the talented backstopper higher in the Blues’ depth chart, may have ultimately backfired.

Upon his return to Tyumen, Barulin was likely tired from the intense tournament, and had to once again readjust to the European style of hockey played in the Upper League on the larger ice surface. The young goalie was given two starts against relatively weak opponents, and, while his team came away with a tie and a win, he allowed four goals in each of the contests. After that lackluster performance, Gazovik reinserted their new starter, Konstantin Vlasov, between the pipes and he did not disappoint, outshining Barulin and ultimately beating him out of the starting job. So, once again Barulin warmed the bench, and while he may have been able to wrestle the starting job away from Vlasov, yet again timing was simply not on his side.

Two weeks after his last start for Gazovik Tyumen, the now-rusty Barulin was called up once again to represent Russia, this time at the U20 WJC. This was to be Barulin’s ultimate opportunity to showcase his ability in the last and possibly most significant tournament of his junior career. Unfortunately, this was not the same Barulin, who carried Russia at the Canada Challenge Cup. No, this Barulin did not have the same mental makeup or physical ability, and lacked the edge he possessed just a month earlier.

Knowing what the young goalie is capable of, Barulin’s performance at the 2004 U20 WJC would be hard to describe as anything more then mediocre. Russia’s medal aspirations ended when he allowed a terrible winning goal in the waning seconds of a quarterfinal game against the Finns. Barulin’s quest to replace Andrei Medvedev as the next goaltender to bring Russia the gold was not to be, while his NHL stock also likely took a hit. However, this unfortunately was not the end of Barulin’s vows.

Even before his mediocre performance at the U20 WJC, it became apparent that Gazovik’s management was fed up with their goalie situation and finally decided to part ways with Barulin for the remainder of the 2003-04 season. The club loaned him to Super League club SKA St. Petersburg. While a “promotion” to Russia’s top league may seem like an opportunity for the talented backstopper, nothing could be further from the truth. SKA already possessed an established starting goaltender in Slovak veteran Jan Lasak, who often carried his club to victory on his back. Unfortunately for Barulin, Lasak also likes his ice time and started in every single game since the young prospect’s arrival in St. Petersburg.

Overall, since his arrival in early January, Barulin has played only one minute and 12 seconds for SKA. Just 72 seconds of ice time! Simply, during a game in mid January, when SKA was losing 4-1 with just over a minute left in the game, the club’s head coach decided to insert his young goaltender to get his first “taste” of the Super League.

Barulin is a great young goaltender with a wealth of potential. He is competitive and athletic, seemingly able to adapt to any environment. He will inevitably adjust in his new surroundings in St. Petersburg, but the young goalie will not likely get any Super League starts until SKA is completely out of the playoff race. Fortunately for him, it will likely be soon, as his club is in 11th place with only a handful of games left. Only the top eight clubs qualify.

While it is easy to play the game of “what if”, it seems very applicable in this case. Barulin’s struggles in the Gazovik organization can be attributed to him missing the club’s preseason preparations in August and early September as well as three weeks in November. While the club would have likely dealt with his brief absences during the international tournaments, they could not allow their starting goaltender to leave the team to promote himself in front of an NHL club.

This is exactly what Barulin was doing when he attended the club’s training camp, and then joined Team Russia for the Canada Challenge Cup, a tournament that the Russian hockey world clearly did not take seriously, as every Super League club withheld their top young eligible players.

The 19-year-old player is not the one to blame for what happened, as it is more likely that his agents advised him to make the aforementioned decisions. They may have thought they were acting in Barulin’s best interests, but their efforts clearly backfired, possibly due to their relative lack of understanding of hockey in Russia.