But then at age 19 tragedy struck the life of Vyacheslav Kozlov and would forever change his personality , his life and make him eventually a hockey star...

What happened was that Slava and a teammate Taras Kirilov went to Slava's home in Voskresenk for a visit. After this visit was up and in a hurry to return to the Soviet Red Army training camp...Kozzie being an overly confident driver decided to take a series of shortcuts through a busy Moscow traffic to make time.

What happened next was heartwrenching. He took a side street and in doing so headed right into an oncoming bus head on. Sadly Kirilov died shortly afterwards. And Kozzie was described as not having a face.

Now there stood a series of problems. He was already a draft pick of The Red Wings. Yet Slava did not want to leave the team he felt was paying him well (@$120,000 in US currency) plus he had not finished his enlistment as an Army member.

Shortly afterwards those obstacles were no longer a clear reality. The CSKA ran out of funds so they no longer could afford to pay Kozzie. Then a diagnosis of brain damage caused additional problems and an initial investment of $25,000 and the promise of a car upon the signing of Kozzie was lost. Subsequent court trials would erupt but The Russians ran out of money and in essence gave up on trying to regain anything lost as a result of the car accident. They did not fight his being drafted and his signing over eventually to The Wings .

Kozlov's in your face style of hockey makes him a very popular player by many to be "picked on". He has a very gritty play as well as an occasional ability to place the puck in the back of the net.

He did though finally come over to play for The Wings. His teaming up with Igor Larionov is a combination that has proved successful . He doesn't score as often as he used to sadly anymore. He is due to be up for a contract signing at the end of this season. Let's hope we keep him!

By nature Kozlov is a quiet and low key guy. He has a degree in coaching he recieved from a Moscow university and loves to read newspapers from his homeland and collects Versace clothes. He does have a girlfriend but precious little is known of her.

His brother-in-law plays for a minor team that has ties to the Carolina Hurricanes. His name is John Namestnikov. He has a sister who lives in Detroit also. A photo of his brother in law is below.

He is an esteemed member of the Russian 5 .