Georgy Gelashvili is a Russian professional hockey player who plays as a goalkeeper in the Karaganda club "Saryarka" (Kazakhstan) in the Higher Hockey League. George is also known by the following nicknames: Gela, Genatsvale and Stable. He was recognized as the best goalkeeper of the Continental Hockey League according to the results of the 2008/09 season. Georgy Gelashvili (photo below) during his career also defended the gates of such clubs as Tractor, Kazakhmys (Kazakhstan), Lokomotiv, Metallurg (Magnitogorsk), Torpedo (Nizhny Novgorod) and Yugra.
Hockey player biography
Georgy Gelashvili was born on August 30, 1983 in the city of Chelyabinsk. His father, Kako Georgievich, is a Georgian by nationality, originally from the Georgian city of Marneuli. In his youth, he worked on the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, and after serving in the army he moved to Chelyabinsk, where he met Galina Vladimirovna, a Russian girl, the future mother of George Gelashvili.
Professional career: the beginningin "Tractor", transition to "Kazakhmys"
Georgy is a graduate of the hockey academy of the Traktor club from Chelyabinsk. Between 2000 and 2002 played for "tractor drivers" at a professional level. For a long time, Gelashvili could not win the competition for a place at the base. For this reason, he decided to change the club, having received an offer from the Kazakh Kazakhmys, where his countryman from Chelyabinsk Anatoly Kartaev was the head coach. As part of the new club, Gela became the main goalkeeper.
The game of the Russian goalkeeper surprised not only the coaching staff and club owners, but also the leaders of the Kazakhstan Ice Hockey Federation. Georgy could become a player of the national team of Kazakhstan if he accepted citizenship and agreed to the conditions offered to him. As you know, the Russian refused to defend the flag of a foreign country. For three seasons of being in the Kazakh championship, Georgy Gelashvili won the Cup of Kazakhstan in 2005 and the champion of Kazakhstan in the 2004/05 season. He also won a personal award: he became the best goalkeeper of the championship of Kazakhstan in the 2005/06 season.
Scandalous return to Traktor
In 2006, when the Chelyabinsk "Traktor" entered the Super League, Gelashvili was offered to return to his native team. In turn, Kazakhmys did not want to let go of the goalkeeper easily and ordered him to finish the game under the contract. However, the story didn't end there. Things got to the point that between the clubs "Tractor" and "Kazakhmys" a trial took place, which ended in favor of the Russians.
Between 2006 and 2008 Giorgi Gelashvili played in the Major League as part of Traktor. He showed a good game, but nothing remarkable. In the 2006/07 season, Gela's safety factor was 2.35, and in the 2007/08 season it was 2.89. In 2008, the goalkeeper quarreled with head coach Andrei Nazarov and left the club. He finished the season in the Chelyabinsk club "Mechel".
Career at Lokomotiv
From 2008 to 2010 the famous hockey player played for the Lokomotiv team from the city of Yaroslavl in the Continental Hockey League. Here Georgiy is number 20. In the debut game of the 2008/09 season, Sergei Zvyagin defended the goal of the “railwaymen”, and Georgiy Gelashvili sat on the bench. During the match, S. Zvyagin made a lot of blunders, because of which the team's result suffered. In the next game, Gelashvili was already at the gate. It is noteworthy that Genatsvale's debut took place against his native Traktor, which was beaten that day. After such a triumph, George took a regular place at the base. In the same season, he became the best goalkeeper in the KHL and was awarded the Golden Helmet trophy.
Further and current career
In 2010, it became known in the media that hockey player Georgy Gelashvili was moving to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. He played three seasons with the Steelworkers. Then he spent one season at Torpedo NN, after which he signed an agreement with the Yugra club, where he played until 2016.
Currently, Georgy plays for the Kazakh club "Saryarka", where he is the main goalkeeper.
