Apparently, yesterday was the day all of hockey’s media decided to begin their predictions for the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi, Russia. From ESPN to Yahoo, both the USA and Canada has been the talk of the best international hockey tournament on the globe. Luckily, no one is yet talking about the hosts, the best national team in the sport, and the reason you all read this site.
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(photo courtesy of theprovince.com)
On a night where many Russian NHL’ers were getting their first goals or wins of the season, one man stood above the rest. Having only suited up 17 times for the Montreal Canadiens since Nov. 9, 2010, Andrei Markov scored two goals against the Florida Panthers and showed (at least for one night) that he still has quite the cannon from the point. Finally past the two anterior cruciate ligament surgeries on his right knee, Markov showed little hesitance on using his beloved slapshot, making netminder Scott Clemmensen look absolutely hapless on both goals.
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(courtesy of Getty Images)
With just hours to go until the 2012 NHL draft gets underway in Pittsburgh, the Philadelphia Flyers announced they had sent 23-year-old netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to the Columbus Blue Jackets. There had been much talk leading up to the draft that the Novokuznetsk native would be moved by GM Paul Holmgren and as luck would have it, the Flyers exchanged him for 3 draft picks on starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov’s birthday.
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(Courtesy of Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
On a busy night in the NHL which saw the goalie tandem of Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky give up a combined nine goals, Evgeni Nabokov get yanked ahead of a shootout, Evgeni Malkin razzling and dazzling in said shootout, and Nikolai Khabibulin helping his team beat the undefeated Washington Capitals one man stood above the rest.
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If you plan to become rich in the NHL perhaps you should look into changing your name to Ilya. For the second consecutive summer, players with the name have seen big money and big contracts while coincidentally playing in the same division. Last year, it was the Kovalchuk saga which saw the then 27-year-old sign a 15-year $100 million with the New Jersey Devils. This year, Ilya Bryzgalov joins the fun, signing a nine-year $51 million deal with the Philadelphia Flyers a week before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
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(courtesy of ALEXANDER DEMIANCHUK/REUTERS)
It appears Evgeni Nabokov’s stint back in the motherland is over as the four-year $24 million contract has been terminated by SKA St.Petersburg earlier today. Nabokov signed the contract with the intent of finishing up his career back in his adopted home country after being cut loose by the San Jose Sharks due to cap limitations. The 35-year-old netminder was the backbone to the only team he knew in the NHL and holds every major record for goalies in team history.
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For the first time in our short history we have two comrades of the night as two of Russia’s most seasoned NHL vets had a memorable night up in Ottawa. Prior to face-off, the Senators honored Sergei Gonchar on his 1,000th game in the NHL by presenting him with a plaque, a silver stick, and a portrait. A video was also shown of his career and the various teams he played for including Washington, Boston, and Pittsburgh respectively.
Gonchar becomes just the fifth Russian (and third Sergei) in league history to surpass the plateau joining the likes of Sergei Fedorov, Alexei Zhitnik, Slava Kozlov, Sergei Zubov, and teammate Alex Kovalev. Kovalev will soon surpass Fedorov for most all-time games for a Russian-born NHLer needing just 11 more games. After being criticized in the early going of the season by GM Bryan Murray, Kovalev scored two goals and added an assist en-route to a 5-2 Ottawa win.
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Ovechkin gets the best of Brodeur with a penalty shot for his 2nd of the game. (ESPN)
Well Dobriy vecher, it’s been a long time, we have been waiting for you. The most frequent winner of From Russia With Glove’s Comrade of the Night award, it only took Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin three days into the 2010 season to make his first appearance. After a somewhat quiet opening game, by his standards, as he picked up an assist on 8 shots against Atlanta, the Great Eight found himself in the “G” column once more.
Deadlocked at 2-2 at home against the New Jersey Devils, Ovechkin swooped in down the left wing, stick handling around defenders towards the middle of the ice. He then released a dart of a wrist shot with two Devils in front of him, and somehow beat Martin Brodeur anyway. From positions where no other player in the league would even think about shooting a puck, Ovechkin can find the back of the net from essentially any place on the ice.
(Courtesy of LasVegasLasVegas.com)
On Wednesday, the NHL will honor it’s best at the annual award show at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Yours truly will be on hand for FRWG’s first big league event and will hopefully be able to land a few minutes with the athletes that matter most to you.
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It has been 20 years since the NHL ventured to Mother Russia when the Minnesota North Stars and Montreal Canadiens took on the likes of the Soviet National team. Now prior to the official start of the 2010-2011 NHL season the league has arranged for both the Phoenix Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes to take on KHL clubs in Moscow and Riga, Latvia before the season kicks off in Finland and the Czech Republic.
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