Alexei joined the New Jersey Devils at the age of 30, after a storied international career. However his best days were behind him at that point. While he had a couple of good seasons with the Devils, his play deteriorated and soon he bounced around the league with Anaheim, St. Louis and Boston.
Alexei's hockey resume is stacked. Three Olympic tournaments (1980, 1984, 1988), winning 2 golds and 1 silver. Five times he was a member of the World Champion squad (1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989). He was even named the best defenseman in 1983 World Championships and was a 5 time tournament all star. He was also a standout in 4 Canada Cup tournaments. In the Russian leagues he was a star by the age of 16 when he joined SKA Leningrad before joining the famous Red Army team two years later. While with the Red Army, he helped the team win 11 national titles.
Kasatonov joined the New Jersey Devils half way through the 1989-90 season where he was reunited with Slava Fetisov. Throughout the 1980s with Red Army and the Soviet national team Kastanov almost always played beside defensive partner Fetisov. The pair was considered to be the best defensive tandem outside of the NHL, and better than most in the NHL.
So you'd think they'd be happy to be together again right? Wrong. The two despised one another to the point where they refused to talk to one another. They kept as far away from each other as they could. The dispute started back when the two were still playing for the Red Army. The players were demanding to be treated better, to have more freedom, to be allowed to play outside of Russia. Of course this was during the days of communism and such outbreak was not tolerated. Fetisov and Igor Larionov led the rebellion, but Kasatonov didn't support their stance. He was even accused of spying on his teammates and reporting back to the hockey and government authorities.
Read The Full Alexei Kasatonov Biography
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