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.