Artem Vilchinsky: “For a Hockey Player, There’s Nothing Better Than Game 7 of the Finals”

In an exclusive interview, Artem Vilchinsky, a promising young defenseman, opened up about his junior hockey career, the influence of legendary Igor Larionov, the sting of a championship loss, and his bond with his younger brother.

Artem Vilchinsky began his hockey journey in Vladivostok, where he first laced up his skates. After being recognized as the best defenseman at the Federal Districts Championship, he soon joined the SKA system. Vilchinsky made his MHL debut at just 15 years old, playing 16 games in his rookie season and participating in the Challenge Cup. In the 2023/2024 season, he accumulated 11 points in 44 regular season games, played in 14 playoff matches, and lifted the Kharlamov Cup. A year later, he achieved the league`s best plus/minus rating (+47).

“I still can`t quite define my style”

— What are you currently doing?

— I`m training independently on the ice and in the gym, preparing for the upcoming training camps.

— Have you been in St. Petersburg for a long time?

— I returned from Vladivostok on June 27th, where I was on vacation with my family.

— What did you bring back from Vladivostok?

— All the food gets eaten right there! I can bring something for my friends, but no one has asked yet (smiles). My grandmother usually sends me caviar or “Bird`s Milk” candies.

— Doesn`t St. Petersburg have “Bird`s Milk”?

— The candies from the local Primorsky confectionery factory are different. For some reason, you can`t find that specific “Bird`s Milk” in St. Petersburg.

— Who moved with you to St. Petersburg?

— My mom and my brother, who also plays hockey. My dad lives in Vladivostok.

— Would you like to play on the same line as your brother?

— Yes, absolutely. His 2009 birth year is entering the MHL this season. It would be fantastic to play with my brother for SKA-1946.

— Are your playing styles similar?

— It`s hard to say; I still can`t quite define my own style. Scoring goals and accumulating points is always nice, but the main thing is for the team to win. If I can`t contribute on offense, then my role is defensive. Still, I work on creativity in the offensive zone and joining the rush; in modern hockey, you need to be able to do that. I try to make myself a versatile player.

— How did you get invited to Valery Afanasyev`s training camp?

— He coached my age group at SKA-Strelna, and under his guidance, we became Russian champions twice. He invited me to the camp to improve my skating. We trained at Baltic Arena with guys from Dynamo St. Petersburg, VHL, and KHL. From SKA-1946, there were Egor Graf, Mikhail Sozinov, Alexander Filippov, Ignat Lutfullin, and Matvey Korotky.

— Is the later start to training camps a result of the main team`s coaching staff change?

— I don`t know. I think it`s because the championship was extended by a month. SKA-1946 had a long and tough season, so we were given more time to rest.

— How did you react to Igor Larionov`s appointment?

— It surprised me and made me curious about what would happen next. At Torpedo, Igor Nikolaevich played a lot of young hockey players. I think now, at SKA, young players will also get the opportunity to prove themselves at a high level.

— How have you improved this offseason?

— My physical measurements haven`t changed; everything`s still there: 194 centimeters and 110 kilograms. On the ice, I`m getting back into shape. The final part remains, and I`ll be ready for the start of training camps. I focused on speed, maneuverability, and technique. These components were weaknesses for me, which led to many errors in the playoffs.

— Have you ever measured the force of your shot?

— A long time ago, when I was a kid. And even then, it was more in jest.

“It would be nice if the best defenseman was chosen by plus/minus”

— Evaluate the team`s and your personal performance in the 2024/2025 season.

— We were close to the Kharlamov Cup, coming back from 0-3 in the final to force a Game 7. It was a heartbreaking loss. Still, the season can be considered a success because we showed character. In terms of my personal play, the regular season was good, but in the playoffs, I had different tasks, and the competition within the team was higher. I don`t think I failed in the elimination games, but I didn`t play particularly well either.

— Tell us about the tournament in Istanbul.

— When we were told about it, I didn`t believe it. I thought, “Hockey in Turkey? What?” It turned out to be a 3×3 tournament with Turkish teams that had many Russian hockey players. We trained for two days, and on the third, we played. Overall, it was fun; it was like a mini-vacation before important MHL championship matches.

— What were your impressions?

— It was fun; I got a real thrill from the game. In that format, no one is rigidly tied to their position—a defenseman can end up in offense, and a forward in defense.

— How did you manage to achieve the best plus/minus rating in the league while playing in the third pairing?

— That means I defended well (smiles). I took first place after a game against SKA-Junior, where I got a “+7”. After that game, everything just clicked. My worst games ended with a “-1”.

— In your opinion, by what criterion should the effectiveness of defensemen be correctly evaluated?

— Of course, I would be pleased if the best defenseman of the season was chosen by the plus/minus rating. Points are also an important indicator; they show how useful a defenseman is in the offensive half of the rink. None of the guys nominated for the best defenseman of the season had a “minus” rating.

— In the series against Krasnaya Armiya and Loko, which you won 3-0, did the difference in experience play a role?

— Yes, because SKA-1946 had quite a few experienced guys. Krasnaya Armiya and Loko were in a rebuilding phase, and they had many young players for whom it was their first career playoff experience.

— And did the Omskie Yastreby players, who had played in the VHL, stand out on the ice?

— I can`t determine from the game who among the opponents has VHL or KHL experience. In the semifinals, everyone moved well. Mikhail Gulyaev often took the game into his own hands and did a lot for the team`s result. In the game that Omsk won, he had two assists.

“For a Hockey Player, There`s Nothing Better Than Game 7 of the Finals”

— Can it be said that on the way to the Kharlamov Cup, SKA-1946 lacked critical situations?

— On the one hand, pivotal moments certainly temper you. On the other hand, when you go through series 3-0 and 4-2, you feel confident in your abilities. If we had ended all our series in Game 5 or 7, perhaps it would have only been worse.

— Did the confidence gained from the momentum turn into overconfidence before the final?

— No. We knew what kind of team Spartak was, and we understood it wouldn`t be easy. There wasn`t even a thought that the final games would be similar to what we faced in the first and second rounds.

— What happened to SKA-1946 in the first three games of the final?

— Sometimes Spartak got lucky, their goalie played exceptionally well, making saves from already open nets, but we also failed to capitalize on our chances. Then we found the key to their net, broke their momentum with goals, and our game picked up.

— Do you remember the night before Game 7 of the final?

— I tried to think about the game as little as possible so as not to overthink or build expectations, but it didn`t work out very well. I went to bed early because the game was at 1 PM. We didn`t do anything special that evening.

— Is it even possible to get thoughts of the most important game of the season out of your head?

— It`s not always possible. I just kept thinking that for a hockey player, there`s nothing better than Game 7 of the finals. It`s all or nothing. At the same time, the persistent thought that the season would end tomorrow was still in my head.

— Why did you only play in one game in the final series?

— My plus/minus rating in the regular season didn`t matter; everything had to be proven again. Perhaps in the playoffs, I dropped off compared to other defensemen, and the coaches weren`t as confident in my actions as before. It`s tough to play in the final, but it`s also tough to sit on the bench because nothing depends on me there.

— Why did your performance dip in the final?

— After the season, I analyzed my game and realized that problems I shouldn`t have in the playoffs hindered me. I was too rushed in my decision-making, giving questionable passes, which slowed down the entire five-man unit. Other defensemen performed their duties better; it was obvious. Perhaps I just overthought things myself; I didn`t hear an official reason. I think everything will come with experience.

“It was cool to see the opponents` faces when big forwards couldn`t knock me down”

— In SKA-Varyagi, where you started your junior career, was it difficult to maintain a positive plus/minus rating?

— I started being brought up to SKA-1946 in my very first season. It turned out that during Varyagi`s most difficult and important games, I was with the older team, and I mostly returned for even battles in the “Silver” division.

— What was the experience of playing in the Challenge Cup like?

— To be honest, I didn`t fully understand where I was. There were grown men walking around, because usually, graduating-year players come to the Challenge Cup, and I had only played in the MHL for about half a year. The roster included Artem Duda, Kirill Dolzhenkov, Ivan Demidov, and others. I sat in the Western Conference team`s locker room thinking, “What am I doing here?” There was a sense of shyness, as if I had arrived too early for such company.

— Do you remember the game itself?

— I still vividly remember that weekend. The Challenge Cup was interesting; it was the second time in my life I played in front of such a large crowd—over five thousand spectators. During the game itself, I was terribly nervous, probably made many mistakes, didn`t show anything particularly brilliant, but overall played pretty well.

— When did you first play in front of a large audience?

— As a child, the arena was full for the final of a tournament in Perm.

— In the 2023/2024 season, did you often play on the same line as Ivan Demidov?

— Yes, almost all the time: I was paired with Alexey Egorov, and in offense, we had Vladislav Romanov, Daniil Lazutin, and Ivan Demidov. It`s great to have a forward like Vanya on your five-man unit. You pass him the puck, and boom, it`s an assist.

— Paired with the offensive defenseman Egorov, did you have to suppress your own desire to create in the offensive zone?

— Absolutely, that season I would have liked to play with the puck more, but the guys did everything excellently without my help. My job was simply to retrieve the puck and pass it to my teammates. It`s great that I was able to perform well defensively. That`s valued in hockey; after all, my position is called a defenseman.

— Was Demidov`s presence key to SKA-1946`s team success?

— Beneath Demidov`s line, we still had an entire team; everyone could score and assist. Of course, Vanya was a leader, and together with Romanov and Lazutin, they scored frequently. But it`s unlikely we would have become champions without depth in our roster. One line cannot win it all.

— Why did your ice time in that playoff fluctuate from 25 minutes per game to three?

— I attributed it to playing in the playoffs for the first time and being quite young. SKA-1946 had Arseny Koromyslov and many other experienced defensemen. Throughout the playoffs until the final, I made the roster, meaning I won competition against someone—that`s also very valuable. In my only game of the final series, I made mistakes for several shifts in a row, then took a penalty, and they scored. I didn`t play again in that series against Loko. It was a logical decision by the coaching staff. I didn`t expect to be back in the lineup, but it was hard to accept. I wanted to rectify my errors and prove that they were just accidental.

— What were your emotions during the decisive game in Yaroslavl?

— A bit mixed, but still a very pleasant feeling! I believe I helped SKA-1946 for most of their journey to the Kharlamov Cup. If I had played then, the emotions would have been completely different. When you experience everything with the team on the ice, losses hurt more, and victories are brighter. You have to keep moving forward and try to win another trophy.

— Do your large dimensions help you significantly?

— They help a lot in physical battles. Other guys found it harder to compete in their first MHL season, but for me, it was normal. It was cool to see the surprised faces of opponents when big forwards tried to knock me down, but they couldn`t. I`ve always been big, so I felt comfortable on the ice and didn`t experience discomfort due to my height, unlike players who suddenly shot up.

— Is it difficult to adjust to smaller opponents during hits?

— Yes, that`s one of the challenges. I perform clean body checks, but unintentionally hit around the head area due to the height difference. I simply can`t bend low enough to hit a 170-cm player in the chest. I try to fix this somehow to hit cleanly.

“Viktor Tsoi`s songs turn out best on guitar”

— Tell us about Dalnegorsk.

— It`s a mining town built near a quarry. As the name suggests, it`s surrounded by mountains, and it`s a long drive through various mountain passes to get there. I was born in Vladivostok, lived with my parents in Dalnegorsk in my early childhood, and at five years old, I returned to Vladivostok and started playing hockey.

— How did you get into hockey?

— According to my dad, he introduced me to hockey, and according to my mom, she did. Mom gave me a choice of several sports sections, but apparently, my parents brought me to the school together. At that time, only “Polyus” existed in Vladivostok, and the “Admiral” school appeared in 2014. I remember half of “Polyus” went to “Admiral” then, but I stayed because we had a good coach.

— Is hockey actively developing in the Far East?

— Yes, conditions are improving, and good coaches are coming to the schools. The “Polyus” 2010 birth year team recently took third place at the “Golden Puck” tournament, which is a good result.

— How did you move to St. Petersburg?

— I became the best defenseman at the Federal Districts Championship, scoring eight points. I was told that SKA noticed me specifically after that tournament.

— What`s the secret to the success of SKA-Strelna 2006, which became Russian champions for two consecutive years?

— We built a strong core over a long period; there was a good atmosphere within the team, no small isolated groups, and player development progressed systematically. According to the guys, “Strelna” was always second best, but in the last years before graduating, we peaked in youth hockey and won the Russian Championship final twice.

— Why do they call you “Baby Willy” at SKA-1946?

— In my first MHL season, Egor Zelenov called me that, and the other guys picked it up. I don`t mind; there`s nothing offensive about it.

— Tell us about your hobbies.

— I learned to play the guitar. I play on the computer—that`s a standard hobby for all hockey players. Half of last season, I was studying at driving school and getting my license, which was interesting. I try to change my hobbies frequently; I don`t stick to just one.

— What songs sound best on the guitar?

— Viktor Tsoi`s songs, especially “Boshetunmay.”