Illinois State Redbirds welcome Pavel Bakhtin to the family! Bakhtin, a 6′-2″ 194 lb. forward is a West Bloomfield, MI native. He joins the Redbirds after one season with the Indiana Tech Warriors.
Bakhtin chose Illinois State because of the great atmosphere on campus. “The campus was very welcoming and lively. I also chose Illinois State because of its hockey team. I hope to help the team continue to find success.” He intends to major in exercise science, allied health professions sequence. Bakhtin stated, “My favorite coach would be my coach in juniors, Colin Bailey, who traded for me and gave me a shot. I ended up really excelling in my game under coach Bailey, and I owe a lot of my success to him.” Pavel’s biggest supporter would definitely be my mom. “She’s there for almost every game, sometimes even driving almost 10 hours to see me play in other states. She’s always supported my dream of playing hockey so she’s my #1 supporter,” Bakhtin stated. Pavel explained, “The biggest play of my career would be assisting the goal that clinched the first franchise playoffs for the Wausau Cyclones. Also, having the opportunity to make a playoff run in my last year of juniors was really special.” When asked about his favorite hockey memory, Bakhtin explained, “My best hockey memory would be all of them – there’s too many to pick just one. Hockey’s given so much to me so I’m super thankful to have played it for so long.” Pavel is looking forward to meeting the hockey team the most at Illinois State. “I’ve met some of the guys already, and excited to meet the rest!” Bakhtin has two older siblings, brother Andrei and sister Jenna.
“We are super excited to have Pavel joining the organization. He has seen a lot of success throughout his career and we look forward to helping him continue that at Illinois State!” – Coach Chris Prewitt
If you’re interested in playing for ISU Hockey, we encourage you to fill out our Recruit Form under the team tab on our website!