(courtesy of Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
It’s funny how quickly things can change in hockey. Whether a team drops out of a playoff spot after being in the top eight all season (see New Jersey), a one-team veteran dons another jersey (see Iginla, Morrow, Murray) or for the sake of this article, when a player goes from lackluster to what the kids call “beast mode”.
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Last night, Alexander Semin became a very rich man after the Carolina Hurricanes gave him a 5-year extension worth $35 million. Compared to most sports contracts this makes Semin a pauper, but since this is a hockey blog it’s big deal.
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(courtesy of The AP)
In a game where his line mate stole the show with a four-point night, Pavel Datsyuk reached two career milestones not too far from “Where dreams come true.” The 34-year-old center notched a goal and two assists just up the road from Disneyland in both scoring caterogories. Datsyuk broke a 1-1 tie with his 10th goal of the year and the 250th of his career.
He would add his 22nd helper on the season on Justin Abdelkader’s hattrick goal, while also reaching the 500 mark on his career. In 762 games played, Datsyuk has notched 751 points which translates to an average of 98.5 point percentage for his NHL career. This doesn’t come as a surprise however, since Pavel is Russian after all and currently sits 10th all-time amongst his countrymen.
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(photo courtesy of Getty)
After appearing in 22 of Buffalo’s 27 games where he scored just one goal (below) with four helpers, Sabres center Mikhail Grigorenko has been sent down to the Quebec Remparts. The move comes as a surprise since the Sabres elected to keep him in Buffalo after their first five games thus taking one year off his three-year entry level contract.
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(courtesy of Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
Having led the league in victories this past week, Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky has helped backstop his team to playoff contention. Few picked Columbus to make the post-season having lost their heart and sole in Rick Nash last summer, yet thanks to a hot goalie they not only find themselves on a five-game win streak but also just four points shy of the last spot in the west.
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(Courtesy of SI.com)
On Friday night, Pittsburgh star and reigning league MVP Evgeni Malkin took a check from Florida’s Erik Gudbranson forcing him to fly hard into the boards before slamming his head violently. The 26-year old stayed down and play (seen below) was halted immediately. Despite being able to skate off the ice under his own power, Malkin left the game and it was revealed the following day he was suffering from short-term memory loss.
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Call it deja vu, call it what you want, Alexei Ponikarovsky is a Devil once more. Left for the greater pastures of Winnipeg, the 32-year-old winger is back with New Jersey after a total of 12 games with the Jets.
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Earlier this evening, the NHL had it’s first trade of the shortened 2013 season involving a Russian player. 22-year-old Andrei Loktionov who has spent his entire career with the LA Kings was dealt to New Jersey for a 5th round pick in this years draft. Loktionov spent most of his time with the Manchester Monarchs in the AHL where he scored 29 goals in 132 games. The Voskresensk native was assigned the Devils farm team in Albany, NY and could be available for Saturday’s game against Syracuse.
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A busy weekend of NHL action saw many Russians on the ice or between the pipes. One however stood above the rest as he lead his team to glory, he of course is no other than Artem Anisimov. The 24-year-old center put on quite the show for the Blue Jackets as be scored two beautiful goals against the Red Wings on Saturday night. Coming off two straight losses, the Blue Jackets wanted to show their fans they can contend at home having picked up just one win in four attempts.
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Thursday night saw five different Russian NHL’ers light the lamp for their respective teams. While they were all important to the teams involved, one players performance stood slightly higher than the rest. Heading into Thursday’s match-up against the Rangers, Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins were coming off an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Islanders in the ever competitive Atlantic Division. Just 1:27 into the game, Simon Despres found Malkin with a pass near the far right circle which the 26-year-old center rocketed past Henrik Lundqvist’s 5-hole.
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