Russian Players In NHL

During a pre-season intrasquad scrimmage, Habs' prospect Alexander Avtsin played on a line with Mike Cammalleri and had one goal and one assist. Everyone note that the 20-years-old player managed to learn good English in just one year. And now he knows what the team needs from him. He also fairly judged himself, saying that it’s too early to talk about the NHL, and most likely he will spend another season in the AHL.

"I've spent half of the summer in Moscow, then I left to Montreal to get ready for the new season, I had a strengthening program", Avtsin told in Russian. “I worked with a group of players gathered by my agents. There were many Czech and Slovak players, like Havlat, Michalek"

You did look good in Cammalleri's line.

Alexander Avtsin: "We played with 10 forwards, three lines and one spare. We changed a lot and thus I didn't play with Mike only. I played in any position and with any other player."

Why did you decide to play in the AHL and not in the KHL?

Alexander Avtsin: "Every player has his own path. Every player decides for himself, and decides for what can be better and more needed."

Russian rookie Sergei Bobrovsky is surprising many with his play in the NHL for Philadelphia Flyers. In this interview with the press club of his former team, Metallurg Novokuznetsk, Bobrovsky talked about his new life in Philadelphia, about the sensations of the first game and about his mask.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation:

Sergei, how did you settle down in Philadelphia? Do you live alone there?
Bobrovsky: "I live alone for now, waiting for my girlfriend. There are some problems with the American embassy. It's not easy to get a visa to the USA! My parents and my sister are going to visit me after the New Year."

How are you doing with the English language?
Bobrovsky: "I wouldn't say that I have big problems with it. I get what they say me, but it's hard to talk myself. My team mates are good guys, there is a great atmosphere. In such an environment I don't feel myself out of place because of the language. I arrived three weeks before the training camp's start and they assigned an English teacher to me and I studied almost every day. Now that the games are started there is no free time and I cope with the language myself. I have to go nowhere, all the people around me talk in English!"

With whom do you talk more? Did you befriend someone already?
Bobrovsky: "I talk mostly with Nikolay Zherdev, he's the only one I can actually discuss with. There is also Oskars Bartulis from Latvia, he talks Russian as well. With the other guys I can only exchange a couple of phrases, things like 'Hi, how are you?' 'All good, thanks'."

What is your ipression of the city?
Bobrovsky: "The team's training center isn't in Philadelphia, but in a nearby city called Voorhees. I live in a hotel not far. This is why I didn't have the chance to visit all the important parts of the city. Philadephia is a great city. There are a lot of great buildings, I put one of them on my mask. Also the arena is great."

Talking about your mask, how long did you think about what to draw there? And why did you choose that? Didn't your team mates asked about the tower of Novokuznetsk's fortress depicted on the mask itself?
Bobrovsky: "My father helped me! I thought a lot, I don't even know for how long. And when they asked, I replied that the tower is the top attraction of my city!"

Did you think to get a spot with the Flyers already on the very first game of the season?
Bobrovsky: "I trained for the season with the team, getting ready to play. This is why when I got to know that I was going to play it wasn't for me like a bolt from the blue. But for many fans it was unexpected."

What did you feel playing against Pittsburgh and players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin?
Bobrovsky: "It was nothing new before the game. You can't waste time on emotions. But after the game I was, of course, very happy! I'm glad that the team won and that I had a good game."

If it's not a secret, how many messages did you get on your phone and/or social networks after the game?
Bobrovsky: "A lot, I don't even remember. It was very pleasant."

Do you miss your home?
Bobrovsky: "I have no time to miss something. Here it's a whole another life, and I'm deeply immersed into it!"

Alexander Semin talked with Slava Malamud of Sport-Express about being a playoff choker and his contract with the Capitals.

Here is a quick translation.

Semin: "I can't get into the Caps bosses' heads. I don't know what they are thinking. Even if they trade me, so what? I'd finish the season somewhere else, then become a free agent. But I have been here for five years and I like it. It's comfortable here."

Some say that you are a playoff choker. What do you think?

Semin: "They can say whatever they want. I think that a player must be a player everywhere - in the regular season and in the playoffs. You know, it happens when you have no luck and it just doesn't click. And what, should I think what others are talking about at the moment? You have to play the same way in every game. Why would you change something in you? I don't understand how you can play one way in the regular season and another way in the playoffs."

Alexander Ovechkin won the Valeri Kharlamov Trophy awarded by Sovietskiy Sport to the best Russian player in the NHL.

It's the fifth consecutive win for the Washington Capitals' superstar.

"I'm very happy to get the trophy named after Kharlamov for the fifth time. Deserved or not deserved, I've got it and I'm glad that the NHL guys voted for me. Now I've got to try to win it for the sixth time", said Ovechkin after the ceremony.

"It's great that Alexander won the award for the fifth time", added Ovechkin's mom Tatiana. "Valeri Kharlamov was a great player and it's great that Ovechkin won the trophy named after him. It's sad that Kharlamov's father passed away, we miss him."

Russian superstar Ilya Kovalchuk will be back with the New Jersey Devils as he will re-sign with the team. The contract's details will be released during a conference the team will host on Tuesday afternoon.

Kovalchuk is a recent addition by the Devils as they added him to their lineup during the 2010 NHL trade deadline. But the move didn't boost the Devils like expected as they were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers during the playoffs' first round.

During this year's free agency Ilya Kovalchuk was reported to have refused offers from the Los Angeles Kings, the Atlanta Thrashers and SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.

Evgeny Nabokov has signed a 4-year, $24-million contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, as reported by the Russian newspaper Sovetsky Sport.

In the 10 seasons he played in California he recorded a 293-215-29 record, with a 2.39 goals against average. He also was awarded with the Calder Trophy of the top rookie of the year in 2001.

Sergei Gonchar signed a three year, $16.5 million contract with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. The contract includes a No Movement Clause.

Gonchar, 36, played the latest five years with the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning the 2009 Stanley Cup. The veteran blue liner had 11 goals and 39 assists with Pittsburgh last season.

Recently Gonchar stated that he intends to play until the 2014 Winter Olympics that will be played in Sochi, Russia.

We'll see this fall if adding a world class, puck moving defenseman will increase the Sens' odds in sports betting places.

With the 65th overall pick, the New York Islanders picked Kirill Kabanov. He's the fourth Russian player to get picked in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft round after Alexander Burmistrov, Vladimir Tarasenko and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Kirill Kabanov, once thought to be one of the prime candidates for the 2010 Entry Draft #1 overall pick, has experienced a serious downhill fall after his departure to Canada this fall.

According to agent Ilya Moliver, Kabanov's problems are caused by his father.

With the 26th overall pick, the Washington Capitals picked wing Evgeny Kuznetsov. He's the third player to get picked in the first round after Alexander Burmistrov and Vladimir Tarasenko.

Kuznetsov, 18, has recently signed a new 2 years deal with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL, but most likely the Caps are willing to wait a bit so that he can develop at home.

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a very good rookie season with Traktor, with nine points in 35 games. He also scored once in the playoffs. He skated at both U20 and U18 WJC.

With the 16th overall pick the St. Louis Blues picked Vladimir Tarasenko during the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Tarasenko was the second Russian player picked in the first round after Alexander Burmistrov, picked up by Atlanta with the 8th pick.

Tarasenko, 18, had two excellent seasons in the KHL. This year he scored 24 points with Sibir Novosibirsk.

Tarasenko has already announced that he's going to spend the 10-11 season back home in Russia, but it looks like the Blues weren't scared about this. Tarasenko is under contract until 2012.

The Atlanta Thrashers picked up Alexander Burmistrov with the 8th overall pick at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The center's selection was a bit of a surprize, but anyway the Thrashers decided to draft him most likely because of his skills set.

Burmistrov, 18, played with the Barrie Colts of the OHL this year, with 65 points during the regular season and 16 during the playoffs. Even if he joined the OHL on loan from Ak Bars Kazan, most likely Burmistrov will be back in North America for the next season.

Detroit Red Wings offered 23-years-old defenseman Evgeny Ryasensky a contract. As reported by Sovietskiy Sport, he will move to Detroit in September to skate at the Wings' training camp.

Ryasensky is a physical player who likes to hit and has decent offensive abilities. He was a key part of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk's surprize run in the latest KHL playoffs, even if he didn't score any point.

Later after the season he skated with Team Russia at the Swedish Hockey Games, the last stage of the Euro Hockey Tour, in which he was named tournament's best defenseman, but he didn't make the cut for the 2010 WC in Germany.

Ryasensky: "I've talked with my North American agent and through him Detroit offered me to play for them. And so in September I'll go to the USA and report to the training camp. I think at the same time I'll sign a contract with the team. I think that in the NHL I can grew up to my hundred percent, because of the small ice and the constant physical play - this fits my game. I'm not afraid of spending a part of the season in the AHL."

Translation by RussianHockeyFans.com