While Dmitry Orlov is a defenseman who is known more for his offensive instincts, the 21-year-old Russian sure loves to hit too. Last season he crushed Blake Wheeler, Steve Downie, and Lars Eller all with devastating hip checks. And during Hershey’s second game of the season this year, he flipped a dude head over heels. Last night, during Teddy Bear Toss night at Giant Center, Orlov — apparently jealous of the fans — attempted to toss something over the boards too: Norfolk’s Jay Rosehill.
A few summers ago, Winnipeg Jets forward Alex Burmistrov posted pictures of his vacation in Turkey on his Facebook page. Lo and behold, the photos (now private) featured himself as well as Caps defenseman Dmitry Orlov having fun at the beach, doing basically the opposite of this. Unknown to us at the time, the two are close friends.
The friendship was more apparent last season, Orlov’s first in the NHL. As members of the Jets and Capitals, the friends played each other four times and said nice things about each other in the press.
If you’ve ever watched warm-ups before a Capitals or Bears game, you may have noticed a pattern. Dmitry Orlov will spend 10 minutes zig-zagging along the red line, working on his puck-handling skills. Orlov, a defenseman who loves jumping up on the rush like Mike Green, is attracted to offense like a moth to a flame. During his younger days in Russia, Orlov was used routinely during shootouts.
At last year’s Caps Development Camp, Igor Kleyner asked Orlov if he’d like opportunities in the shootout once he came to North America. Orlov nodded and explained,”I think any player would want to get a chance to score in a shootout, although you need to be able to handle the situation mentally,” he said. “You have to be confident; you can’t be nervous. It’s mostly a game of nerves: goalie versus the shooter.”
When Orlov came to America to begin his professional career, his above-average offense was apparent. On November 18, 2011, when the Hershey Bears visited the Syracuse Crunch, Bears head coach Mark French played a hunch and sent out Orlov during the gimmick to see what he could do.
The lockout is miserable, but at least we get NHL stars participating in silly AHL promotions. Check out Braden Holtby (front row, second to the left) and Dmitry Orlov (back row, dude wearing the hardhat) doing their best to raise money for the American Cancer Society by showing off new pink t-shirts and sticks. The “Pink The Rink” shirts will be available for purchase at the Bears game on Sunday behind section 117, and the pink sticks they use during warm-ups will be up for silent auction behind section 119.
That’s great and all, but where can I buy that hard-hat Dima’s wearing?
Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov has been in North America for parts of just three seasons, but he’s already had four head coaches, two broken noses (okay, the same nose broken twice), and has suffered through a benching that spanned the Caps’ entire 2011-12 playoff run.
Now, during a season Orlov should have started in Washington, he’s back with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, experiencing his first ever lockout.
On the first day of the lockout, Leonid Vaisfeld, general manager of Metallurg Novokuznetsk, expressed his interest in bringing Orlov home. “[Orlov] has a two-way deal,” Vaisfeld told Sports.ru. “So it’s up to Washington if they want to send him to the farm to learn English or let him come here, where I think it would be better for Dima’s development. As far as I understand he just wants to play at home.”
Way back in February of 2011, Orlov negotiated out of his contract with his KHL team to start his professional career early in Hershey. Now, while some of his friends are making big-time money playing in the KHL, Orlov– whose family is still in Russia– is staying the course in Hershey, doing everything the coaching staff has asked of him.
RMNB caught up with Orlov on Saturday before Hershey hosted the St. John’s Ice Caps (for whom Orlov’s best friend Alex Burmistrov plays). RMNB’s Igor Kleyner asked him about the possibility of going home, how his English is progressing, and what it’s like playing under a Hall of Fame coach. We also talked about what it’ll be like to play against his former teammate and good friend Alex Semin.
Early on Wednesday, the Hershey Bears assigned Stanislav Galiev — third round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft — to ECHL affiliate Reading Royals. The rookie’s demotion may come as a surprise to many – as just a couple of months ago the young Russian was rated at #29 on Hockey Prospectus Top 100 Prospects list. But to those who follow the Bears hockey regularly, the move makes sense. Since the AHL season started, Stan’s struggled to adjust his game to the pro level.
As the Bears were preparing to face the visiting St. John’s Ice Caps on Saturday, RMNB found the usually gregarious and easygoing Stan in a subdued mood. After recording just one assist in the first eight games of the season, Galiev found himself in Adam Oates’ doghouse as a healthy scratch for three of the next four games — despite scoring the game-winning shootout goal for the Bears on November 2nd. Stan talked to us about his bumpy transition away from the QJMHL, being coached by a Hall of Famer, and his search for confidence on the ice.
Photos expertly taken by Perry Keating. (Copyright Perry Keating 2012)
Soon after representing the NHLPA in Toronto, Alex Ovechkin was back at home in Virginia playing soccer with his shirt off. Along with girlfriend (and Olympic bronze medalist!) Maria Kirilenko and Capitals teammates Stan Galiev and Dmitry Orlov, Ovi kicked the ball around on Wednesday night, letting us all know he’s fit and active during this hopefully not overlong offseason.
Ovechkin’s fitness comes as a huge relief to the Caps community, who last summer suffered terribly under the extinction-level crisis we now know as Fat-Gate. Ovechkin appears lithe and healthy here, which is exactly what any rational person would expect of an elite professional athlete.
On the morning of July 26th, Kuznetsov decided to put his fame to good use by hosting a public workout for over 200 orphans in the heart of Cheylabinsk, at Revolution Square.
Kuzya had the kids from the orphanage called “Revival” try more than ten different exercises in 20 minutes, including stretching, squats, and pushups. He even showed the orphans how to do some of his more complicated exercises that he does before games. And Kuznetsov dressed appropriately for the carefully choreographed PR event by wearing a… Washington Capitals hat?
Dmitry Orlov was a surprise — but unlike most of the surprises we had this year, he was a pleasant one. The Russian rookie got his chance early on in a difficult season and never looked back, shooting and checking his way to our hearts. We’re almost glad his first season is over, though, because we weren’t sure his nose was going to survive.
As I was wrapping up my chat with Alex Semin just outside Caps locker room at Kettler last Sunday, Dmitry Orlov was just coming off the ice.
While it is official RMNB policy that any time is a good time to interview Dima, I was a bit hesitant to put my recorder in the young Caps defenseman’s face. After all, anybody can understand how frustrating it must be for Dmitry to fulfill his dream of becoming an NHL player — and then to find himself firmly planted in the press box for the duration of the team’s playoff run, even after playing in all but a handful of regular season games since he was called up in late November.
Luckily for me, Dima came to my rescue by initiating the conversation himself. “Come on, interview me,” he said with a wry, but welcoming smile. “I am a forgotten man now. I am not playing, so nobody wants to talk to me!” I didn’t need to be asked twice.
