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Dec 14, 2005
Wow, haven't been on in a long long time. Ha, school... loser loser....
I see bruins added himself to the email list, and some violent violet person....
http://www.theahl.com/AHL/OnTheBeat/2005/12/13/1350998.html
Aeros rookie learning everything's bigger in Texas
More articles in the AHL On-The-Beat Archive
By Michael McHugh
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Younger than all but two other players in the entire AHL, Roman Voloshenko ranks second in the league with 17 goals. |
The U.S. is a whole new world for Aeros rookie sensation Roman Voloshenko.
Less than five months ago, he came to the U.S. from Moscow, Russia, with hopes of playing in the NHL. For, now, he is spending his time in Houston, Texas, pursuing his dreams and new horizons.
Voloshenko, a native of Brest, Belarus, arrived in the U.S. with his eyes wide open. "Moscow is very different," he said. "Everything here is different."
Having only been in the U.S. since August, Voloshenko has had to make a lot of adjustments, especially with the culture and the language. Having a very limited vocabulary, he has quickly picked up the language, with the help of teammates and neighbors Bill Kinkel and Clayton Stoner.
"When I see something, and I do not know what it is, I just point and they tell me," said the 19-year-old Voloshenko, who leads the Aeros and all American Hockey League rookies in goals (17). "They've taught me a lot."
Off the ice, Voloshenko enjoys soaking up the Texas culture. His mother, Marina, came to stay with him in October, and became chief cook for her son, Kinkel and Stoner. Favorite dishes include pasta, chicken and cheese. Marina even cooked a turkey on Thanksgiving. "I do not know this holiday," he said, "but we had a 'Russian-style' turkey."
Together Marina and Roman have discovered the joys of shopping at the famed Galleria mall in Houston. "It is big!" Voloshenko said. "My mother does not speak any English, so I have to translate for her. There is nothing like it in Russia."
Voloshenko began skating at the age of 5 and played on the Russian national team as a teenager. He was selected by Minnesota in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
Voloshenko's appeal has made him a favorite with the fans. He has an ever present smile, and truly enjoys his time at and away from the rink. On opening night, he scored a hat trick, then scored four times in one game two weeks later. When asked what he thought made him successful, he replied, "My partners on the line. They are very good and help me," he said, referring to linemates Erik Westrum and team captain Kirby Law.
Aeros head coach Rob Daum is impressed with the young talent. "He's been leading our team in goals, which is not an easy thing to do," said Daum. "He's been a streaky type of scorer. He'll score in bunches, then other nights, nothing happens for him, so he has to work on his consistency in his game.
"But he plays with two very good players (Westrum and Law), and the three of them work well together. They have an excellent chemistry and I think that's been a big part of Roman's maturing."
Maturing? He has definitely overcome a lot of obstacles while here, but he still enjoys the typical teenage obsessions. Video games, like NFL football, are a favorite. His team is the Philadelphia Eagles, where he is the quarterback, and currently has himself a record of 10-1. Not bad. He would love to be able to attend a Houston Texans football game, but his schedule, and theirs, has not worked out. Voloshenko has been given permission from the Minnesota Wild to play in the World Junior Championships, and he is expected to leave this weekend for Vancouver for his second straight year representing Russia.
Another new obsession is cable TV, which he just had installed. He loves American TV, especially the music and sports channels. He enjoys listening to 50 Cent, rock and techno music.
There are things in Moscow that he does miss. In January, Voloshenko hopes that his girlfriend, Masha, will be able to come from a visit. "She works in Moscow and doesn't have a lot of free time," he said.
For now, he is making the adjustments just fine, and he is enjoying every minute in the AHL.
"He's done incredibly well," said Daum. "He's adjusting well and has very good communications skills, considering the circumstances of his arrival. He's an outgoing happy guy for lack of a better word. He's enjoying life and he's doing his best to fit in to the culture that he's come to, and to our team and everything else. I have nothing but positive things to say about his play on the ice and his ability to adjust to all the things he's facing."
As for fitting in with his teammates, Clayton Stoner added, "He's a good guy, a lot of fun, and speaks great English for only being here a short time. He's one of my better friends on the team."
"It's all good," said Voloshenko with a smile. "It's just all good."
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I hope I get to see him soon, Sportsnet doesn't carry a lot of AHL teams beside the three Canadian ones.
However, I did get to see Lukas Kaspar again.
He was a very streaky player during his time here in Ottawa, and that is one aspect that has not changed about his game.
He does seem more alert however, and willing to go into the corners. He's very quick, though he needs to work on his patience with the puck and his decision making. He received the puck once, faked a pass before backing out of the offense blue line, forcing his teammates to evaculate the zone. He doesn't shoot near enough, but I think his accuracy has improved.
Staubitz got into a fight, and he was good defensively.
My original point was wanting to see Voloshenko, and I miss watching Sully dangle. O'Sullivan's really had a good last 10 or so games, shooting and scoring consistently.
NHL- I saw Vitaly Kolesnik. I wouldn't have known he was European trained if I didn't know he just came to North America. In junior hockey, the distinction is quite obvious, but the majority of players are assimilated and their styles controlled when they enter the NHL, so it's disappointing to some extent from that perspective.
The ADT Challenge was pretty bad this year. The Russians were awful. Some notable individual players were Sergei Ogorodnikov, who I was very happy to see. Drafted by the Islanders in 04, few have seen him play.
He's a average sized forward with better than average puck handling abilities (for a Russian?), good skating though his stride could be wider to give him better balance. I can see him as a 2nd or 3rd liner in the NHL, but I think his talents would be wasted in North America.
Sergei has the rare ability, like many great hockey players, to slow the game down to his pace and give himself ample time to deal or shoot the puck. The North American game is about control, controlling talent by physical intimidation. Ogoronikov was very feisty and he was captain, so he defended his teammates. But ultimately, he's a player that needs time and space to play to his precise and fluid passing game, hockey in North America is too frenzied for his style.
Igor Makarov was very very fun to watch. There's some hype surrounding himself, but I don't want to make any comparisons. The name alone is enough to draw some attention (though he isn't related to Sergei) .He's a very finesse forward. It's not that he plays with an edge by any means, but he's very easy to spot on the ice. I think it's the creativeness that really shows. All the Russians used their linemates well, but Igor has a very distinct style of forming plays; sharp vision in threading passes through defense pairs and in getting shots through sticks and holes. I think the biggest component of his dynamic play is his skating, he displayed not just speed but his excellent lateral movement from side to side in dodging defensemen.
I didn't know what to expect from Vitaly Anikeenko at all. He was the most physical of the Russian defensemen, though that isn't saying much... Overall, their dismal defensive coverage is something I would rather forget about.
Ivan Kasutin, is expected along with Anton Khudobin to be Russia's WJC goalies. Kasutin was pretty interesting. Though Russian, he was Finnish trained and it was very obvious in fact from his poise and knowledge of how to handle certain situations with confidence. Russia's lack of goalie trainers usually shows in their goalies' restlessness or lack the ability to hide their weak traits. Kasutin was quick on his feet, good with his glove, with well timed lateral slides. There was definitely a distinction between his game and those of OHL goalies. I can't exactly narrow it down, but I think to a large extent it's was his positioning.
Russian hockey, from the very beginning, was heavily based on lateral passing and drop passes. I think it's because of this that their goalies play so differently. Kasutin moves very well across his crease, he doesn't stay at the top of the blue paint like NA goalies or shuffle around at the top of his crease. His motions were steady, and very smooth. He didn't shuffle, or try to cover as much of the net as possible. Unlike Canadian goalies who are always thinking of blocking a shot or taking up the net, Kasutin played by anticipation and was very active with his glove.
I did a pretty poor job of explaining that, but it's all the little things that are so distinguishable and distinctive. You don't see it so much in the NHL because everything is so intermingled, but in junior, it's quite fun too see something new.
Right.... Calculus now...
Posted at 04:18 pm by Panflo
Permalink
Oct 1, 2005
It's pretty old, but I liked it.
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Czech goaltending prospects: Lukas Mensator
Czech hockey was always known for producing quality goalies. Every year some promising goalie takes center stage and these times everybody knows the names of Dominik Hasek, Roman Turek, Roman Cechmanek or Tomas Vokoun, all of whom have made it to the NHL. Here they represent the Czech hockey succesfully. Winning two consecutive Under-20 World Championship titles in 2000 and 2001 also wouldn't be possible without great goaltending provided by Zdenek Smid and Tomas Duba, respectively. Smid got drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers and Duba is now a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect. But the next highly promising netminder to burst onto the scene carries another name - Lukas Mensator.
It is often said, that some player 'has hockey in his blood'. In Lukas' case it would better sound 'has goaltending in his blood'. His dad was a goalie for the Sokolov team, the city where also Lukas was born. He has never made it to the Elite League, but was definitely the first role model for Lukas. Since he could walk he followed him to the practices and games, like most hockey player's kids do. But he never watched the forwards or defenseman. He was astonished by the goalies, watched every save of his father and immediately decided that he wants to be 'the masked man'. Lukas was looking forward to the time, when he'll start his own career and it really began when he was seven years old. At that time he was accepted to play for the youngest kids of Sokolov. The coaches didn't have a tough question what position will Lukas fit best. When looking at the smallish kid the idea of a defenseman could be forgotten, only the forward and goaltender remained. Lukas didn't want to be a forward. He wanted to face the forwards. From the very first practice he dressed into the goalie's gear and positioned himself in the net.
Pucks were flying all around him, but Lukas could stop the most of them. His father was a factor in his career from the first time. He was the one who gave the little Lukas all the needed tips and shared his experiences with him. The thing which differs normal players from future stars is besides talent dedication to the sport. No problem for Lukas. He was willing to listen to the advices given to him by his father and his goaltending coaches, so since the very first time he could be described as very coachable. To this fact then came various special workouts for goaltenders Lukas did often also in his free time. Lukas was doing lots of gymnastic practices and he has a good figure for those workouts. Simply an athletic goalie from the start.
But without exceptional talent and cat-like reflexes all of this would make almost no use. Lukas had all those tools, so it was no wonder that the Sokolov kids were often relying on his play. Lukas' secure saves gave them confidence and he could win a lot of games for them. From this time Lukas has a lot of trophies from various tournaments, which are on display at his home.
Since he was playing for the first grades, Lukas admires the play of Toronto Maple Leafs star goalie Curtis Joseph. Even if Lukas plays a different style than 'Cujo', he was his childhood hero and after Joseph started to wear blue and white, also Lukas became a fan of the Leafs.
Like Joseph's move from St.Louis to Toronto, so was for Lukas Mensator the move from Sokolov to Karlovy Vary. Extraleague teams always take the most talented kids from the region to their own developmental programs to secure quality future for the senior team. The Karlovy Vary franchise eyed the Sokolov standout and Karlovy Vary's coach Jiri Pesout arranged the transfer. That move came in time when Lukas was ready to start performing for the 7th grade, also when he was 13. Another little change in his career came with the arrival to Karlovy Vary. At first Lukas was playing with number 18 on his back, but now he had to change it to 48. In this case he was a bit influenced by Dominik Hasek. The Dominator was first playing with number 19 and then 39, being inspired this fact, Lukas made the simillar change.
Lukas stood out also in Karlovy Vary and soon made a reputation of being the top 1984 born Czech goaltender. Despite his diminutive 5'8'', 154 lbs. frame he covers the net well with his very good movement in the crease and he plays very aggresively. Mensator is a strong-skating netminder who relies on his outstanding agility and quickness to overcome the size deficiency and is at his best when he challenges the shooter. Lukas is a resilient goalie with a very good dexterity plus his instincts are simply terrific. His glove hand is very fast and Lukas has a great control of all first shots and can also control most of the rebounds. He is an athletic goalie who plays a butterfly style and is quick to recover. The things to work on for him are better stickhandling skills, which will be essential in NHL success, and then handling huge traffic in front of the net. Lukas Mensator draws comparisons to Carolina Hurricanes' Arturs Irbe or Boston Bruins' 'Lord' Byron Dafoe with his smallish size and a simillar style of play.
Lukas posted whooping numbers already in his underage season in the midget Extraleague. As a 14-year old he managed to win the starting position for the Karlovy Vary midgets. Lukas led the team to a 25-11-12 record, appearing in all 48 games! He posted a 2.44 GAA which was good for second overall in the whole midget Extraleague. Also in the minutes played cathegory Mensator was among the top, with 2783 minutes played he ranked fourth overall.
The diminutive magician made his presence felt also at the selection tournament for the Under-16 team of the 1983 borns in spring of 1998. Coaches Jiri Kalous and Zdenek Cech couldn't oversee the poise and confidence how the underaged kid stops the shots of one year older opponents and Lukas Mensator got invited to the first international Under-16 tournament in 1998-99, which was a three-game series against the Swiss players. Lukas played one game there, but that was enough for the coaches to invite him also to the top event of the season, the Four Nations Tournament of the Under-16 teams, played in Jamsa, Finland. Lukas shared the goaltending duties with Lukas Stabl of Jihlava and played again one game for the third-placed Czechs, posting a win in the 4:2 beating of Finland.
The following season, 1999-2000, Lukas Mensator was the clear cornerstone of the Karlovy Vary midgets. The team finished one place shy of relegation, posting a 14-3-31 record, but Lukas was again one of the top goalies of the midget Extraleague. Even if he often faced unopposed raids of the opposition, he posted a 3.99 GAA and a .8975 save percentage after playing 2406 minutes. The number of minutes played was once again the fourth best overall record of the midget Extraleague. A 3.99 GAA may seem high, but Lukas playing behind a very porous defense.
That season he also played his debut in the junior Extraleague, even if only for one contest. Lukas gave up three goals, but was the youngest goalie to dress up for a junior Extraleague game in 1999-2000. His stats were the 3.00 GAA and a .9167 save percentage.
In the international competition Mensator continued his stint with the team of 1983 borns. For the Under-17 team in 1999-2000 Lukas played at three-game series against the Finns, played in Finland. There Mensator recorded two ties and a 2.50 GAA.
Lukas also participated at the famous World Hockey Challenge. There he created with Jan Freylach the goaltending duo, but unfortunately the play of the Czech team wasn't good for a medal. He returned to the Under-16 team for another Four Nations tournament, which took place in Angerholm, Sweden. Lukas' international experience should be one of the main weapons for the Czechs and they really won the whole tournament. Mensator's stellar play was one of the reasons for the success as he posted a shutout in the 3:0 win over Sweden and went for a tie in the 2:2 game against Russia. Scouts could rave about his skill and Lukas slowly became talked about as a serious NHL prospect.
He had to prove the scouts right in 2000-2001. The bigger portion of playing time he already saw with the Karlovy Vary juniors, where he appeared in 19 games, playing 1085 miutes while going for a 3.32 GAA and a .9052 save percentage. The Karlovy Vary juniors have had a sub-par season last year, notching a 11-6-19 record after the regular season and finally finishing just six points ahead of PZ Kladno, the team which was relegated to the Div I junior league.
So Lukas had to hope on a better run with the midget team in his last year of midget eligibility. Lukas helped the Karlovy Vary midgets to slip into the final group of the midget Extraleague, even if he dressed up for only six games. He played the full 360 minutes and gave up 15 goals en route to a 2.50 GAA and a .9265 save percentage. Very solid numbers, but finally the team didn't qualify for the playoffs, where the top four teams from the two final groups qualify. He couldn't play more games also due to his first major injury in his career, Lukas suffered a broken ankle, which prevented him from seeing more action in the season. Plus, the injury didn't come in a hockey game, he was just playing basketball at the physical education lesson at school when he broke the ankle. That happened in December of 2000 and he had to sit out a portion of the games.
On the international stage Lukas split the season between the Under-17 and Under-18 teams. For the team of his birthyear, the Under-17 team, he performed at the Four Nations Tournament in Finland and the European's Youth Olympics. He stood between the pipes in 5 games, posting average numbers with a .8808 save percentage and a 3.54 GAA. Lukas Musil was the starter for the Under-17 team and Lukas Mensator tried to crack the roster for the Under-18 WJC. After playing at the Five Nations Tournament in the USA, where he recorded two losses, 3:4 against Russia and 1:5 against Sweden, Lukas got invited to the camp prior to the Under-18 WJC. Unfortunately, he was scratched from the team as 1983 borns Martin Laska and Miroslav Kopriva were selected to play at the WJC. So it came that for the Under-18 team in 2001-2002 Mensator played just those two games, with a .8571 save percentage and a 4.5 GAA.
This season Lukas was off to a very hot start. One of his favorite coaches, Under-18 team's goaltending coach Adamec was working with Lukas over the last three years and now he could see the results of his good work Lukas Mensator began to rule on the international scene and after a stellar performance at the Six Nations Tournament, held in Czech Republic last August, he was selected the top goalie of the tournament. He won the starting job in the Czech Under-18 team over Lukas Musil and the same great play he could repeat at two more Four Nations Tournaments in the season, played in Slovakia and Russia, respectively. Also at those two events Lukas was the deserving winner of the Best goalie trophy. He backstopped the Czech Under-18 team also at the Viking Cup, the only tournament where he wasn't voted the top netminder. He performed in games against the Augustana Vikings, the Swedish Under-18 team and the playoff game against the AJHL Selects, leaving a very good performance especially against the Swedes when he almost alone won the game for the Czechs. In the overall standings the Czechs finished fifth-placed.
Karlovy Vary juniors also in this season rely heavily on Lukas Mensator's performance. Lukas has his stats improved this year, even if the team isn't way better than the from the previous season. Thus far Lukas played in 36 games, which meant 2059 minutes and was good for a 2.86 GAA and a .9227 save percentage.
Nearly in all of his free time Lukas Mensator does some sport. In Karlovy Vary is a famous spa and lots of golf places. Lukas visits them quite regularly and already at 17 is a skilled golf player. He also likes to play tennis or soccer. But when he is playing a soccer game, he never plays the goalie. He feels more comfortable at forward in soccer. He is one year away from graduating at the Karlovy Vary's secondary school for sports, a school which is visited by many young athletes of the region. Besides Mensator the Czech Under-17 team star Vojtech Polak also visits this school.
The CHL isn't a chapter for Lukas Mensator. He definitely wants to stay in Europe and take the European route to the NHL. The first goal on this way is making it to the senior Extraleague, which could happen pretty soon. Lukas has the talent and determination to reach the NHL. Now he is looking forward to the NHL Entry Draft, which will decide about his future. Good luck! |
http://209.0.144.5/article.php?sid=4061
Posted at 05:32 pm by Panflo
Permalink
Sep 26, 2005
Nice article from Houston.
Wild: Skating skills round out game for Voloshenko
TRAVERSE CITY, MICH. -- In a little more than a year, Roman Voloshenko has eliminated a hitch from his skating stride, allowing him to add speed to the puck skills he's always had. In a little more than a month, Voloshenko, a native of Belarus, has become conversant in English.
So which is more impressive?
For the purposes of the Wild, probably the skating. The Wild took Voloshenko in the second round of the 2004 draft. With his improved skating, he is acting more like a first-round prospect.
How did he do it? A month ago Voloshenko would have had a hard time explaining. Not now.
"Before last season, I went to Toronto and I skated with Nikolai Borschevsky," he said. "I work with him for two weeks."
Borschevsky is the former Russian player, part of the 1992 team that won Olympic gold, who came to North America and played 162 NHL games over four seasons late in his pro career. He worked with Voloshenko's technique, giving him a number of exercises to work on as he left to return to Russia for the 2004-05 season.
"During my season in Russia, before every practice, I would work, maybe 15, 20 minutes," Voloshenko said. "I would skate these exercises."
The results have been impressive. Always skilled with the puck, Voloshenko had trouble getting to top speed, and he would lose that speed when making a sharp turn. Now he's better able to keep up with the play.
"He has just smoothed it out," said Tom Thompson, the Wild's assistant general manager for player development. "Fifteen, 20 years ago, not as many people were able to improve their skating as much as now. It might be a combination of the players being in top condition, that they have more access to skating instructors. Maybe the modern skates allow you to improve your skating."
As for the English? When Voloshenko first came to the Twin Cities on Aug. 6, he could hardly speak a word. Daily two-hour lessons helped with that, as did the family he has been living with.
Posted at 09:23 pm by Panflo
Permalink
Sep 16, 2005
Hi
How are you today?
Watch how this works.
Posted at 06:08 pm by Panflo
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Sep 6, 2005
First day was fun-ish. As fun as school can get. At least I didn't get any homework.
Algeo- I have a cool class, if Jane leaves it'll be a lot less fun though. Ms. Engel was nice *today*. We'll see how it goes.
Calculus- Marchildon was great. Every time I looked at him, I wanted to run out of the class and laugh my head off. He has a permanent mocking smirk on his face. I remember in grade 10, the last question on the programming test was to spell his name correctly. I lost that mark....
Chemistry- Stockford does not actually sound as high pitched as everyone forewarned me. She is nice, though I think we're getting an alphabetized seating plan, I hope I don't get stuck last row. Blind ack!
English- My god, Strong is such an intelligent person. She's never taught gifted before and she was so relaxed. She bantered with us. Who uses "banter" anymore? Oh well, I like her and it's going to be a fun class. Oh. Jenn, Jane, Rebecca, Allison and I are finally in the same English class for once. We never are! in grade 9 it was Rebecca and I in one class, Jenn, Jane, and Allison in another. In grade 10 it was Jane and I, and Jenn, Rebecca, and Allison in another class. In grade 11 it was Rebecca, Allison and I in one with Jane and Jenn in the other.
Hm... I've never been in the same English class as Jennifer. Odd.
Looking forward to a good year. I'm happy to note there are so idiots in my class. I have one academic class filled with majority of gifted people. Some of the JS guys I've never seen before obviously. But I'm sitting around nice people.
Posted at 07:40 pm by Panflo
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Sep 5, 2005
I GOT A 76 ON MY PIANO EXAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TAKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted at 10:59 am by Panflo
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Sep 4, 2005
One more day, and it's the beginning of Grade 12. I guess I'm sorta excited.
The first day of high school doesn't seem like 3 years ago.
Two maths first semester, that's going to be a challenge.
Grade 11 was tough. I was too rash, and said lots of things I shouldn't have.
I wonder if Pan still wants to walk to school.... are we?
I'll call you later.
I'm ready for lots of homework!
Posted at 09:54 am by Panflo
Permalink
Aug 29, 2005
RUSSIAN TEAM ROSTER (EURO TOUR)
Goalies
Alexander Eremenko (Ak Bars)
Sergei Zvagin (Dynamo)
Alexander Fomichev (CSKA)
Defensemen
Vadim Khomitsky (CSKA) - Denis Kulyash (Dynamo)
Sergei Zhukov (Lokomotiv) - Andrei Kuteykin (Salavat Yulaev)
Alexander Titov (CSKA) - Vitaly Atyushov (Metallurg)
Dmitri Vorobiev (Lada) - Kirill Koltsov (Avangard)
Forwards
Alexander Kharitonov - Pavel Datsyuk - Maxim Sushinsky (all Dynamo)
Anton But - Ivan Nepriayev - Ivan Tkachenko (all Lokomotiv)
Denis Platonov - Alexei Kaigorodov - Stanislav Chistov ( all Metallurg)
Denis Zaripov (Ak Bars) - Anton Kuryanov (Avangard) - Igor Mirnov (Dynamo)
Kuteykin, Titov, Koltsov, and Zaripov are all first timers on the national team, Max Sushinsky will most likely wear the "C".
http://www.rushockey.com/events.php?i=sl&stream=sl_interviews&id=294
There's an interview with head coach Vladimir Krikunov (Moscow "Dynamo"). Assistant coach Boris Mikhailov is preparing to undergo surgery. Good luck.
Posted at 09:40 am by Panflo
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Aug 25, 2005
Ha... It's kind of crazy I found this article today, when I just finished talking about Russians and the AHL this morning.
This situation concerns another of the Russians I really wanted to see this season- Alexander Semin.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bmarshall63/semin_profile.html
"A clause in Semin's entry-level contract stipulated that should Semin not make the Capitals' roster, he could return to Russia if that were deemed best for his continued development, by mutual consent of player and team. Management believed that Semin would benefit from the more physical play that is prevalent in North American hockey, and only reluctantly agreed to this clause. Yet at the end of the 2003-04 season, Washington persuaded Semin to join the AHL's Portland Pirates. There he flourished and helped in the team's drive to qualify for the playoffs and advance to the second round, before falling to the Hartford Wolfpack.
During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Washington assigned Semin once again to Portland, but he left North America to play for Lada Togliatti in the RSL instead. Washington suspended Semin for not reporting to Portland, which effectively freezes his years of service to the club and will delay Semin's unrestricted free agency status in the NHL (which under the new CBA, kicks in at seven years of NHL service or age 27). Semin thrived, scoring 19 goals and 11 assists for 30 points in 50 games in the low-scoring RSL.
It may have been a mixed blessing. Semin became so integral a factor in Lada's team that Semin was drafted into the Russian military to complete his military service this off-season, and conveniently enough, into the Lada military district. It appears that Semin is locked into another year with Lada for 2005-06, but should be able to return to the Capitals for the 2006-07 season.
Due to the NHL suspension that remains in place, Semin will still be playing off his entry-level contract when he returns to the NHL. Having played just one year of that deal for Washington, he will owe the Capitals the last two years on his entry-level deal. Semin received the rookie maximum salary for 2002 draft picks of $1,185,000 per season, plus signing and performance bonuses. However, owing to the 24% rollback on all NHL salaries enshrined within the new CBA, Semin's salary will be $900,600 for each of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons."
Posted at 03:57 pm by Panflo
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This news wasn't a big surprise by any means. Malkin's been training with Metallurg, playing in all of their tournaments and showing very little interest in the happenings on the other side of the Pacific. Some were lead to believe that Evgeni would want to come to North America since Pittsburg has obviously made the effort to establish itself as a strong competitor in the new NHL. It seems, however, Evgeni's ties to his Russian team are tight and he refuses to desert "Magnitka" in their search for the Russian Super League Championship.
In a few preseason tournaments, Metallurg has thrived with the help of Malkin; recently winning the Tampere Cup in Finland. Last year, Malkin finished 24th in Russian League scoring. Considering the influx of NHL Superstars in the league and on every team, that is nothing to be ashamed of. Metallurg's run to the Championship was unfortunately cut short by the reining Super League winners- Omsk Avangard- in the first round of the playoffs last season. Malkin's presence on the team is vital if Magnitogorsk hopes win the Super League title this season.
I was hoping, of course, to be able to watch him this year in the NHL. Though it isn't mentioned in the interview, Malkin seems very reluctant to come to North America unless he is 100% certain he will make the NHL roster. He wants no part of the AHL, and is therefore staying in Russia to refine his (already mature) game as well as to "work on his English" (in a non English-speaking environment)...
I suppose I shouldn't mock his excuses, since Russians players in general have a very low opinion of the American Hockey League. Two Rangers prospects in Fedor Tyutin and Maxim Kondratiev left for Russia as soon as they realized the end of the lockout was nowhere in sight. Kiril Koltsov was another to return to his native country against Canuck management's orders after being demoted to the AHL. Boston Bruins' young forward Sergei Zinovyev is staying with the Russian team Kazan Ak Bars after Bruins management couldn't guarentee him a place on their NHL roster. Surprisingly, many players who have not encountered success in North America find their game in Russia and perform better than even NHL stars (as last season showed).
Evgeni Malkin will play for the Pittsburg Penguins one day certainly. My only concern is that he may be hampering his game because he still has yet to learn the North American style of hockey. I can't imagine how long his reluctance to come over the North America will last, but like many fans, I'm looking forward to the day he will skate in the NHL.
Posted at 09:01 am by Panflo
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