Philadelphia Flyers rookie goalie Aleksei Kolosov already made NHL history earlier this season when he became the first Belarusian goalie to play in an NHL game, starting an Oct. 27 matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.
The 22-year-old made NHL history once again on Saturday, taking up more space in the record books and becoming the first Belarusian goalie to win an NHL game. Kolosov made 19 saves on 21 shots as the Flyers stormed back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime on Saturday afternoon.
After yet another historic achievement, Belarus celebrates.
A number of Belarusian hockey fans — most of whom support Dinamo Minsk, Kolosov’s old KHL club –stormed the comments section of the official Philadelphia Flyers Instagram account after the team posted an image of Kolosov holding a commemorative puck labeled “1st NHL Win”.
“Kolosov, way to go, the best,” wrote one commenter, translated into English.
Another Belarusian fan said, “Well done, great match,” and included a fire emoji and a Belarusian flag emoji.
Flyers Rookie Aleksei Kolosov Elicits Emotional Reaction
Another Kolosov supporter, Nastassia Bublevich, wrote another heartwarming message for the Flyers rookie under the post.
“Our Alexei (heart emoji),” Bublevich wrote, translated to English. “Only yesterday in the arena we received congratulations from you on the 1,000th match of Dinamo in the KHL, and today we as the whole country are congratulating you on your first victory in the NHL! Good luck, our favorite goalkeeper (fire emoji)”
Based on Bublevich’s comment, it sounds like Kolosov recorded a message to be played in the arena for Minsk as they played their 1,000th KHL game on Friday. The support in Belarus is mutual.
As the lone representative of his nation at his position in the NHL, Kolosov’s achievements are very clearly a big deal back home. The young Flyers warden has had some ups and downs, to be clear, but he’s young and still learning. Kolosov is also doing it after missing virtually all of the preseason and training camp.
Kolosov appears to have already befriended fellow Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov, which will undoubtedly help him from a social perspective as the season grows long.
We can only hope that the young goalie feels his sacrifices and hard work have been rewarding thus far; Belarus is certainly proud of Kolosov and he appears to have quickly captivated the nation.
