Photo credit: Sovetsky Sport

Last week, former Washington Capital Alex Semin settled on his lockout destination, surprising everyone by choosing Sokol Krasnoyarsk, a minor league team from his hometown. “When I was leaving for the NHL, I dreamed that if there is ever a decent team and an opportunity, I would definitely play in front of my local fans,” Semin explained during his introductory press conference. “And my (90-year-old) grandma hasn’t seen me play in person for awhile. I’ll give her a present.”

It was only a matter of time before the big guns of the Russian hockey media showed up in Krasnoyarsk, far from a hockey hotbed, to get the full story on why Semin came home. For their trouble, Pavel Lysenkov of Sovetsky Sport and Alexander Rozhkov of Championat.com got personal tours of the city from Sasha on the eve of his debut in the VHL. Semin showed them the rink where he learned to skate, his school, and the apartment building where he grew up.

Photo credit: championat.com

The ice rink where Semin made his first strides was the only indoor ice arena in the city twenty years ago. Today it is under major renovation. “They are not going to get it done by November, as promised,” Semin bemoaned to Sovetsky Sport. “There’s no ice-making equipment. The boards aren’t put together yet.”

“I started skating here when I was five,” Semin continued. “My dad put me in figure skating first. In a couple of months, I moved on to hockey. My dad just filed down the toe picks on the blades.”

The reporters and Sasha were driven around in an old Volga by a Sokol staff driver they call “Uncle Sergey.” Sergey has known Semin since he was a kid and decided to share a story about Semin and one of his youth team’s road trips.

“I remember they went to Finland, and they had some fun there,” Sergey began. “I am not sure if it was Sasha or someone else, but somebody broke a bed. So the Finns made the team’s coach buy that bed, which he then brought back all the way to Siberia. You can’t just throw away good stuff.”

Semin disputed some details of the broken bed story, as well as another legend, told by the driver and repeated by the play-by-play announcer during Semin’s first game for Sokol on Friday. That one was about Semin’s dad’s unorthodox incentive system for young Alex during the early years: a chocolate bar for every goal, and two for every assist recorded by the future NHL star.

“Where is Uncle Sergey coming from with all this stuff? Maybe I just forgot everything? I think we broke the bed when we went to St. Petersburg for the Golden Puck Tournament [Editor's note: Premier kids hockey competition in Russia started by legendary Soviet coach Tarasov]. And nobody rewarded me with chocolate for hockey. My father promised me hockey sticks.”

The Young Sasha Tour of Krasnoyarsk next visited Krasnoyarsk School #141, where Alex did not show up too often, and when he did, he usually made a dash for a seat in the last row. “This is where I studied, or more precisely, skipped classes. Because I played hockey a lot. But there were subjects I liked – math, geography. Everything else – I just copied from someone else.”

Photo credit: Sovetsky Sport

The visit to Sasha’s alma mater did not go very smoothly. The security guard refused to let Semin and his entourage enter the building. The principal, who also used to be Sasha’s math teacher, came to the rescue. Not to be outdone by Uncle Sergey, she volunteered her own funny “baby Sasha” story. “I reprimanded him very sternly once. It was the night of the graduation ball. Everybody was there, dressed up. And only Sasha was late. And then I see him walking down the hall and chewing gum. I told him – spit it out immediately!”

As the journey moves on to the next stop – the yard, Semin opened up a bit. “For a while our family was doing well. My dad worked for KrAZ (an aluminum company). He was a department head, but then he was laid off. He went on to work as a coach. Life was hard, just like it was for everybody. We had to grow our own tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes. We ate whatever we grew. I used to always help my parents and grandma [with garden chores] at our dacha.”

Having arrived to the yard besides the building where he grew up, Semin lamented the loss of his childhood playgrounds, replaced by parked cars and “guys drinking beer.” His best childhood friend – also named Sergey, talked about the neighborhood where they grew up to Alexander Rozhkov of Championat.com. “It was easy to find trouble in every neighborhood; The Green Grove wasn’t an exception. But nobody touched Sasha – as an athlete, he was respected. Remember the movie – Slumdog Millionaire? That’s about Sasha, only the main character is from India, and Sasha is from Krasnoyarsk.”

As the Grand Tour of Krasnoyarsk wound down, Sasha answered the final question, what he dislikes about people. “Hypocrisy,” he told Sovetsky Sport. “I don’t like when they say something – and then something different behind your back. If you want something – come and talk to me. Say it to my face.”

Photo credit: Sovetsky Sport

Alex Semin signs autographs for the kids in attendance.

This past Wednesday, Alexander Semin held a workshop for kids of the Sokol Hockey School in Podgorny, a southern Siberian town about 25 miles from his birthplace of Krasnoyarsk. The winger spent the day showing the young players everything from the basics — improving their shooting, skating, and passing — to how to warm-up like an NHL player.

“To become a star,” Semin told the kids, ”you need to work hard in training sessions and always give your all in games.” No word on whether Matt Bradley was in attendance.

Later, the 27-year-old held a Q&A with the children and signed autographs for the participants.

During his summers off, Sasha Minor often quietly volunteers his time near Krasnoyarsk – Semin gave away a signed stick the winner of a contest to name the new local ice rink last week, participated in a charity hockey tournament at the beginning of the summer, and even visited a group of orphans during his time off last year.

Below the jump, RMNB’s own Fedor Fedin transcribes Vesti-Krasnoyarsk’s video of the event.

Coach: “Now he moves, shows you the exercises. What should you try? Repeat it!”

Reporter: Young hockey players from Sokol Hockey School will remember this day for a long time — their coach is none other than Alexander Semin –World Champion, NHL star, and Washington Capitals forward.

Kid #1: “He knows it all, he shows us what to do.”

Kid #2: “He has very good technique — passing, skating.”

Reporter: Semin held a master class for the kids, showing them how NHL players warm-up, as well as skating and shooting techniques.

[Semin scores on a penalty shot]

Reporter: After the training session, Alexander talked to the kids in the sports camp. The Team Russia player signed autographs and told the kids how to succeed in hockey and life. He said, “To become a star, you need to work hard in training sessions and always give your all in games.”

Alex Semin: “Is it difficult for you to play where you play now?”

Kid #3: “Yeah, it is.”

Alex Semin: “Same for me. [laughs] There’s nothing easy in hockey. After you score you think it was easy, but really it wasn’t.”

Reporter: In a few days Semin will be gone to America where NHL season is soon to start, so he won’t be able to share experience with the Krasnoyarsk youngsters for a while.

Video by Kirill Makarov, Roman Rykov, and Konstantin Ozherelyev of Vesti-Krasnoyarsk.

S/T to sashastolemyheart.