Ramo on NHL, goalie fighting, move to Habs, ties with Tortorella (Photo © Getty Images)

24 years old Karri Ramo is one of the top KHL goalies. His NHL rights were recently traded to the Montreal Canadiens and he’s expected to join the Habs during the next summer as his deal with Avangard Omsk of the KHL will run out on the next April 30th. In this interview with Ilya Elchaninov of sports.ru Ramo talked about his future plans, about his past experiences with Tampa Bay and about life in Russia.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

You played under John Tortorella. Is it true that he considers you late at the practice if you arrive only two minutes before its start?

Ramo: “He always wants you perfectly on time. John always says playes to come earlier. If we agreed to meet, let’s say at 2 PM, then you should be there at 1.50 and if you’d arrive at 2 then you’d be late. We always knew that the bus wasn’t going to wait us. We really needed to get there earlier.”

And someone still arrived late?

Ramo: “I don’t remember I did. Once we were in Toronto, it was the first of January. We were in a very large hotel and we had to take the elevator as we were on the 30th floor. The hotel was full and everyone wanted to get out. We had to wait the elevator for a bit and we arrived five minutes before the planned time. It was literally the last minute! However I heard stories of people arriving with the plane already gone, and no one waiting for them.”

With whom from Norfolk and Tampa Bay you still talk?

Ramo: “I was glad when I met Brandon Bochensky before facing Barys Astana, I didn’t know he signed there. I still talk with young Finns from there, I write them through Facebook or the e-mail. I played for some months with Martin Karsums, who plays in Riga now. We don’t talk often, but after any game we always have a little chat.”

Did you learn from Olaf Kolzig when you were playing together?

Ramo: “Yes, I did. You can learn a lot from a player like Olaf. When you’re next to him you understand that he didn’t simply play 20 years in the NHL. When you see him it’s easy to understand how he could have such a great career. I learnt a lot from him.”

Do you want to get back in the NHL or are you planning to stay in Omsk another year or two?

Ramo: “The next season is far. I’m yet to think about it.”

Your rights now belong to the Montreal Canadiens. What did you think when you got to know about the trade?

Ramo: “Montreal is a big hockey city. The fans are very loyal to the team and they love hockey a lot. When I played in Montreal with Tampa there was a very good atmosphere on the stands. But I can’t say anything concret about the trade. My rights belong to the Habs and this is part of the game.”

What team has the craziest fans?

Ramo: “I like a lot hockey culture in Russia, after the game people wait for you, it’s really pleasant. Maybe in Moscow they don’t have big crowds, but in Omsk, Astana, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk arenas are always full. Sometimes fans sing for the whole game. In the NHL there are loud and crazy fans as well. I’ve heard that in Montreal, after they won a playoffs round, there were some riots, and they almost burned the whole city!”

How do you like to spend your free time?

Ramo: “I live a hockey life, I spend 4-5 hours at the arena. When I get out, of course, I won’t go to a museum. I’d like to go to the cinema, but I understand nothing there. I tried going to some clubs a couple of times, but I didn’t like it, it was too crowdy and smoky, you couldn’t breath. I love visiting good restaurants.”

You spent more than one year in Russia. Probably you came here with a good bag of prejudices. Which ones you could confirm and which ones you couldn’t?

Ramo: “Yes there is such prejudice that Russian language is very hard, and that’s definitely true! (smiles) Also that Russia is very big, and that was confirmed as well. I’ve been told that in Russia you can trust no one, but this isn’t true. They also said me that walking on the street is dangerous, mafia is everywhere.”

Is people more friendly in the USA or in Russia?

Ramo: “This is a hard question, I don’t understand Russian. In the USA I could understand people more. It was easy for me there as I could care about everything myself. I can’t compare due to the language barrier.”

What do you like here in Russia? And vice versa, what you don’t like?

Ramo: “I like the food here. I also like watching at the old Russian houses, great architecture. I don’t like when on the stores everyone is rushing, pushing and tries to take your place.”

Would you call yourself a cosmopolite, a world citizen?

Ramo: “I can adapt to any country of the world and live there. Of course I’m not such a world citizen like Wesley Snipes. (Laughs) But I guess you could say that as I don’t live in Finland since I was 16 and I never spent more than 2 years on the same place.”

Sergei Fedorov said that once he’ll quit with hockey for a couple of years he won’t do anything but travel. What will you do once you’ll be done with your career?

Ramo: “Now I think that after my career I’ll do something completely unrelated to hockey. I don’t even watch games. I don’t want to do something hockey-related as a matter of principle. But sometimes when someone retires he just needs to rest a couple of weeks then he would miss the action and find very hard to stay without hockey. But now I can say that once my career is done I’ll turn my phone off and will go to a secret place. I want to try normal life and do things that all people do.”

Did you befriend someone in Russia?

Ramo: “Yes, I can say I’ve picked up a couple of new friends here. When I got here last year I knew only Lasse Kukkonen, and now I’m familiar with many guys.”

Will it be hard without him?

Ramo: “I’ll survive, I think.”

Are your team mates used to Finnish heavy metal?

Ramo: “Maybe some of the younger guys. I knew that some one already listened to such music, but I didn’t want to risk to play it on the locker room. But now it’s played more often.”

If the opponent goalkeeper runs at you, there will be a fight?

Ramo: “Of course!”

But earlier in the season you didn’t fight Alexander Vyukhin from Metallurg Novokuznetsk. What happened?

Ramo: “Well, that was another situation, he didn’t come to me, but I skated to him. In that case the fight would have been two against one and I didn’t like it. I think he understood me, I just wanted to step up for my team mates.”

Mika Noronen fought Travis Scott during the RSL 2007 finals. Did you see that?

Ramo: “Sometimes such things happen. It doesn’t mean that you want it. You don’t plan it. If the same would happen to me, I am not scared, I will fight.”

You didn’t want to imitate Ron Hextall?

Ramo: “When I was playing in the AHL I fought in my second game. My team mates called me Ron for two months.”

Sometimes fans joke and say that 90% of Finnish population is made up of good goalies. Do you think that Finland has the biggest number of talented netminders?

Ramo: “Funny. But nowadays we’d lose this title to Sweden. But Finland is a good country for hockey, many good goalie prospects come from there because they know how to train and develop them. In the NHL there is plenty of goalie stars from Finland, young players watch at them. It’s good to have such examples just in front of you and I hope that in the future Finland will keep on having so many young talents in this position.”

Finally the Finnish fashion reached the KHL?

Ramo: “Nowadays it’s easy for Finns to get here. Many guys play here and they have a good opinion about Russia, they are a good advertising for other players. And more and more Finns keep on coming here. People love us!”

Who’s the most technically gifted player you ever faced?

Ramo: “It’s hard to say one name only. In the KHL of course it’s Radulov. In the NHL there are many talented players. Steven Stamkos, he’s always shooting and he manages to score. He’s a true North American player. Many players have a talent for creating such moments in which you can simply do nothing. Kovalev is a very talented and skilled player. Ovechkin too. You can’t stop him, he’s always going to find his way to the crease and score.”

Marek Svatos signs with Avangard Omsk (Photo © Getty Images)

28 years old Marek Svatos signed with Avangard Omsk of the KHL. He was an unrestricted free agent.

The forward was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2001 NHL Draft, and played with the Avs a total of six seasons.

Svatos scored a 164 points in 316 NHL career games. He won the Memorial Cup with the Kootenay Ice of the WHL in the 2002.

Svatos struggled in producing constantly, mostly due to his size and injury proneness. Avangard Omsk now has a good contingent of Czech and Slovakian players, having in their team also Jaromir Jagr, Roman Cervenka and Martin Skoula.

Svatos signed a one year deal with the Siberian team.

Nikita Nikitin signs with St. Louis Blues (Photo © Ilya Korneev)

24 years old Nikita Nikitin has been signed to an entry level contract by the St. Louis Blues, as reported by the team’s official page.

Nikitin played his whole career with Avangard Omsk. Last season he scored four goals and 13 points in 43 regular season games. “His top feature is his excellent first pass. He can launch a forward one-on-one against the goalie directly from his own zone”, Russian reporter Ilya Elchaninov based in Omsk said to RussianHockeyFans.com. “He’s got a very strong shot, but he lacks accuracy.”

Nikitin played with team Russia one of the stages for the Euro Hockey Tour, even if he couldn’t score a single point in the three games he wore team Russia jersey. “He’s a fairly fast skating and is very good on the corners”, added Elchaninov. “The fact with him is that he’s inconsistent. He can play a great game and then a bad one the day after. Sometimes he makes some positioning mistakes. He needs to be well mentored by his coach. When Avangard’s coach was Sergei Gersonsky he was the best defenseman of the team, but when that coach stepped out, it was just not the same. He can play both defensive and offensive roles, even if he’s better as stay at home blue liner. Nikitin has a big potential, but he needs to be motivated.”

Nikitin has been signed by the Blues to a one year contract. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Roman Cervenka signs with Avangard Omsk, won’t play for the Maple Leafs (Photo © Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

As reported on the official Avangard Omsk‘s web site, Roman Cervenka signed a two years deal with the KHL team and thus won’t sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL.

Cervenka is a natural center who oddly enough has never been drafted in the NHL. His strong play in the latest couple of seasons put him under the lights and the Toronto Maple Leafs were thought favorites to sign him by most North American media outlets like ESPN or TSN.

But most likely Roman Cervenka, 24, preferred to play side-to-side with Jaromir Jagr.

Jaromir Jagr: “I would like to stay in Omsk” (Photo © sports.ru)

During an interview with Sovietskiy Sport Jaromir Jagr declared that he would like to spend another season with Avangard Omsk.

Jaromir Jagr: “I really love Omsk and its inhabitants, their character. Maybe it’s strange to hear this from a Czech, and they won’t believe me. But I like everything here. I would like to stay in Russia, but I want to get something serious next year. My career will be over soon and thus I can’t waste my chances. I wanted to win something with Avangard, but we couldn’t.

This is my fault too. I never blame others. I’ve always hoped that if I would be playing well, then also other players would perform better. I’m not looking for other teams now. I would like to stay in Avangard, but it’s not up to me only. I still don’t know about my future. I believe that God will help me in getting another chance.

I don’t think about the money, that’s for my agent. But I will understand if Avangard will reduce its budget. We didn’t play like we should. Who can pay big salaries to players which don’t give results on ice?”

All quotes translated by RussianHockeyFans.com

Avangard and Vityaz get 840 PIMs, set new world record (Photo © khl.ru)

The participants of the Saturday’s bench-clearing brawl in the KHL, Jaromir Jagr’s Avangard Omsk and Vityaz Chekhov, set a new world hockey record getting 840 PIMs. The KHL disciplinary committee met on Sunday to spend 7 hours studying the incident.

As a result, the total number of PIMs was increased from 691 to 840 minutes. Six Vityaz and one Avangard player were suspended for one game. Both teams got fined for the total of $133,000. Vityaz was warned that in case of a similar situation happening in future the team will get excluded from the KHL.

According to Russian newspaper Sport-Express the teams were awarded with enormous 840 PIMs. Vityaz got 421 minutes, Avangard — 419. The teams surpassed the record set by NHL‘s Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers in 2004, when teams together earned 419 PIMs. It should be noticed that Vityaz beat this record just by themselves having 2 more PIMs than Senators and Flyers combined.

See also:
Video: KHL game cancelled after bench-clearing fight, teams get 691 PIM
Jaromir Jagr: “I’ve never seen a fight like this before”

Jaromir Jagr: “I’ve never seen a fight like this before” (Photo © khl.ru)

Jaromir Jagr, playing for Avangard Omsk of the KHL, spoke about the yesterday’s massive brawl in the game against Vityaz Chekhov.

The game was canceled because there was not enough players to continue the match as the lion’s share of them got game misconducts. Jagr himself fought against Darcy Verot.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation of this Jagr interview to Sovsport.ru.

Jagr: “I’ve never seen anything like this before. I have never even heard of such situations. And of course it never happened in the NHL when I was playing there. It just couldn’t happen.

Why not?
Jagr: “The rules. If players fight during the warm-up or jump from the bench to the ice during a fight they can get suspended for 20 games. And it means losing a quarter of the salary. To tell you more, the suspension can be even more severe — six months or a year. No one would like to get a one-year suspension as a result of stupid behavior.”

In your opinion, why did this brawl start?
Jagr: “Because their tough guy Darcy Verot threw the puck at one of our players. Then he skated to another our player at the red line and speared him.”

And how did it happen that you fought Verot? On the video there are you standing near Verot and in the next moment he punches you in the face. As you were not ready for this punch you fell down. Then you get up and got a grip on him. It looked like Greco-Roman wrestling.
Jagr: “If you’re a tough guy you should respect the honor code. There were people fighting around us and I was holding Verot. Then he told me: “Ok, we are done. No fighting”. I released his hand and in a second he punched me in the face. I didn’t see that coming and that’s why I fell down.”

That’s just mean
Jagr: “Yes. But this is what kind of a person Verot is.”

KHL game cancelled after bench-clearing fight, teams get 691 PIM (Photo © khl.ru)

A Saturday game between Vityaz Chekhov and Avangard Omsk in the KHL didn’t last any longer than 3 minutes and 39 seconds. It was postponed after a massive brawl because there was not enough players to continue the game. Teams got 691 PIM (Update: KHL increased it to 840), which look like a record in hockey history.

Just seconds after the game started Brandon Sugden, former AHL tough guy who recently joined Vityaz to replace Chris Simon, jumped on Alexander Svitov. Other players present on the ice started fighting too, among them was a former NHL star Jaromir Jagr who fought Darcy Verot. Here is an interview with Jagr on this fight.

After the first wave of fighting was gone the second wave came bringing a bench- and even a penalty-box-clearing fight. However, goalies didn’t fight, they didn’t even remove their hockey goalie masks during the brawls.

“What a disgrace. I have no other words for it. I can’t say why it happened, probably because Vityaz players wanted to entertain their fans. Alas, there was only a bit of hockey today,” said Alexander Svitov in an interview to Russian site shaybu-shaybu.ru after the game.

“During the warm-up Sugden jumped on our captain, Svitov,” said Anton Kuryanov of Avangard Omsk. “They fought and everything continued later in the game. In the very beginning of the 1st period Darcy Verot attacked Jaromir Jagr, and this is not welcomed in our league. Jagr plays hockey and if Verot wants to fight he should choose another sport.”

On Sunday KHL will held a special meeting to analyze the situation and discipline the players.

Below is the full video of all fights.