Photo credit: sports.ru

The last time we caught up with Caps prospect Stan Galiev, he was rehabbing a wrist injury and showing RMNB some exclusive photos of his new championship ring. Hopefully that wrist has fully healed, because it must now bear the burden of another gaudy ring: the Saint John Sea Dogs have won the QMJHL championship for the second year in a row.

Thursday, Saint John emphatically clinched the title, blowing out Rimouski Oceanic (Sidney Crosby’s former Junior team) 8-0 in Game Four. They now will advance to the Memorial Cup for the second straight season. Galiev had a five-point night, tallying a natural hat trick, adding two assists, and rifling a game-high nine shots on net. Galiev and his line-mates Zach Phillips and Tomas Jurco also combined for twelve points.

“My legs felt good and I wanted to be dangerous with the puck every time,” Galiev told The Canadian Press after the game. “I’m just having fun and this will be a great memory. I’ve had three great seasons here and we’re looking forward to the Memorial Cup.”

Those who follow the Sea Dogs closely may not have been surprised — the team, sporting four NHL first-round draft picks, has been remarkable all season long, winning 50 games for the third straight season. They also lost just one game through four rounds of the playoffs, sweeping three teams.

Galiev, who continues to grow into his wiry frame, was dominant in the playoffs tying Charlie Coyle (QMJHL MVP) for the team’s points lead (34). He also scored more goals than any other Sea Dog (16) and finished the playoffs with an astonishing plus-30 rating. Galiev’s postseason scoring nearly doubled his regular season output (19 points and 13 goals in 20 games), which was cut short due to wrist surgery.

The 2012 Memorial Cup will begin May 18th in Shawinigan, Quebec. The Sea Dogs will look to be the first repeat team since the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires (Taylor Hall, Philipp Grubauer) did so in 2009 and 2010.

GIFs

Galiev’s sick assist to Tomas Jurco for a first period goal.

The Sea Dogs bench goes wild.

Team picture! (All GIFs from Station Nation)

Photos

Stan raises the cup on the ice.

Galiev and Tomas Jurco: two-time champions.

Stan holds the cup on team bus.

Galiev poses with teammates Ian Saab and Charles Roussel.

Stan holds the cup with his roommates Jason Cameron and Dylan McGuigan. (All photos from Stan Galiev’s Twitter account)

Additional reporting by Ana Hansen.

Stan is given his ring during “Night of Champions.” (Photo via sashastolemyheart)

Last year, the Saint John Sea Dogs were unstoppable. Led by Jonathan Huberdeau, Zack Phillips, Tomas Jurco, and Nathan Beaulieu — top prospects all of whom were selected in the top 35 of the 2011 NHL Draft — the Sea Dogs ripped off an insane 77-11 record capturing both the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Presidents Cup and the Canadian Hockey League’s Memorial Cup. Saint John — who joined the QMJHL as an expansion team just six years ago — became the first organization from Canada’s Maritimes region to win the most coveted prize in Junior Hockey.

The Sea Dogs new championship banners. (Photo credit: saintjohnseadogs.com)

On October 29th, the club celebrated their two titles by hosting a “Night of Champions” at Harbour Station. In front of an announced crowd of 5,888, the Sea Dogs raised their championship banners and handed out 67 rings to players and management.

Each ring, which Team president Wayne Long estimated cost the club around a thousand dollars apiece, is personalized with the player’s name and number and feature their 77-11 record on one side and their “Leave No Doubt” slogan on the other. 23 blue stones are encrusted on the top and four clear diamonds are planted on the side.

Caps prospect Stanislav Galiev — who scored 48 goals in 88 games and averaged well over a point per game during Saint John’s Championship run — was impressed with his new bling.

“They did a great job on the rings,” Galiev told RMNB. “It’s a great feeling from last year and we know how hard we worked last season to get it.”

Unfortunately, the 19-year-old Moscow native had to accept his new jewelry with a fluorescent orange cast covering his left forearm and could not play in the team’s 6-0 victory over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. During Capitals Training Camp in September, the 2010 third round pick absorbed a hit along the boards which broke his wrist. “After I went into the boards,” Stan explained, “[my arm] started to hurt so bad. It wasn’t even that bad of a hit!”

Galiev tried to play through the pain and managed to score three goals in the Sea Dogs’ first five games. But after being examined by team doctors, the team shut him down. Stan tells RMNB that the cast comes off next Tuesday and he’s eager to play again.

Regardless, after being passed over by the Russian WJC team last December, Galiev now has something awesome that even the gold medal-winning Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov can be jealous of: a championship-winning season. Maybe that’s why– as we ended our conversation– Galiev admitted he wears the ring 24/7. He might have been joking. Maybe.

While he’s healing up, at least Galiev can pass the time by blinding himself with that ring.

Photos of Stanislav Galiev’s Championship Ring

Photo credit: Stan Galiev

Photos Taken During “Night of Champions”

Photo credit: saintjohnseadogs.com

Sea Dogs goalie Jacob DeSerres & Galiev mug for the camera. (Photo via sashastolemyheart)

Video recapping the Sea Dogs’ Playoff Run Last Year

Boyd Gordon and DJ King are the only players on the Caps’ roster who have won the Memorial Cup

On Friday, the 2011 Memorial Cup tournament will get underway at the Hershey (what?!) Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. It’ll feature three of what Hockey’s Future deems as the Capitals top 20 prospects including 2009 third round pick Cody Eakin (#5), 2010 third round pick Stanislav Galiev (#6) and 2009 fifth round pick Brett Flemming (#17). Last year, current Caps goalie prospect Philipp Grubauer – who at that point had not been drafted by the team yet – helped lead the Windsor Spitfires to their second straight Memorial Cup title. Many current NHL stars have won the prestigious junior tournament including Brian Campbell, Derek Roy, Cam Ward, Brad Richards, Shane Doan, Shea Weber, Dan Girardi, Milan Lucic and Mike Richards.

Let’s learn more about the three talented Caps prospects participating, shall we?

Cody Eakin, Kootenay Ice, WHL Champions

Eakin is sitting in the row below the cup, 2 players over to the right. Click to enlarge. (Photo credit: Kootenay Ice)

When Swift Current Broncos GM/head coach Mark Lamb traded Cody Eakin away for five players and three draft picks on the WHL’s deadline day, he exclaimed that “Eakin [was] the best player to come to this team since Joe Sakic.” He certainly lived up to his billing as one of the WHL’s premier offensive players, notching 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 19 playoff games for the eventual 2011 WHL Champion Kootenay Ice. The Winnipeg native also finished second overall in playoff scoring and shared the team-lead with Matt Fraser for the most game-winning goals. Eakin, whose 1.42 points per game average during the playoffs dipped slightly from his 1.48 PPG pace in the regular season (83 points in 56 games), looks to deliver Cranbrook its first Memorial Cup since the 2001-02 season. The Ice had the WHL’s best playoffs record this season going 16-3, sweeping opponents in two of four series. Next year, Eakin will join the Capitals organization and he’s certainly one of the players we can count on in terms of cracking the NHL line-up sooner rather than later.

Stanislav Galiev, St. John Sea Dogs, QMJHL Champions

Galiev is seated on the ice all the way in the front. Click to enlarge. (Photo credit: QMJHL)

Stanislav Galiev racked up 27 points in the playoffs and was among the QMJHL’s highest scorers. He led the league in shots and improved his scoring from 1.02 points per game scoring average in the regular season (37 goals, 28 assists) to 1.42 points per game during the playoffs (10 goals, 17 assists). Galiev’s a top line winger for the Sea Dogs, playing with two draft-eligible prospects: top-10 lock Jonathan Huberdeau and Zack Phillips. Phillips, who’s projected to fall to a team in the bottom-10 of the first round, is a guy who could potentially be on the Caps radar during the upcoming NHL Draft. Especially when considering Washington’s dearth of quality prospects at wing. The Sea Dogs, like the Ice, also went a remarkable 16-3 in the playoffs, capturing their first-ever league championship.

Brett Flemming, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, D

Photo credit: OHL

Brett Flemming and the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors made the Memorial Cup as the host team this year. In the previous seven years of the tournament, only once did the host city not make it to the finals. This is the “Modern” Majors (re-founded in 1996) first time participating in the tournament, and Dave Cameron’s team is determined to not let someone else win the championship in their hometown. Flemming, who was signed by the Caps to an entry level deal earlier this season, is one of the key puck-moving defensemen for the Mississauga. After notching 43 points (four goals, 39 assists) in 68 regular season games, Flemming continued his strong play in the playoffs, tallying one goal and 12 assists. He was also a club record plus-60 during the 2010-11 regular season.

Additional reporting by Ian Oland

The Washington Capitals selected Stanislav Galiev (friends call him “Stan”) as the 86th overall pick in the draft.  The baby-faced left winger from Moscow stood out during development camp as a competent skater, playmaker, and polyglot whiz.  He’s not a particularly big player (178 lbs), but Galiev’s personality is plenty big. Our girl Friday, Oksana Zolotar, chatted up Stan in his native tongue following Wednesday’s scrimmage.

Follow us past the jump to learn about his adoration of Alexander Semin, bulking up, and Russian camaraderie at dev camp.  If you missed Monday’s interview with Evgeny Kuznetsov, we politely remind you that this will all be on the final exam.

Oksana Zolotar: So you’ve been in America a while now…
Stanislav Galiev: Yeah, I’ve played here for two years already.

OZ: So you know English pretty well by now.
SG: By now, yeah.
OZ: Yeah I’ve noticed, everyone says that you translate everything.
SG: Yeah I try to help out a little, make a little money. [Laughs]

OZ: When the season’s over, do you relax a little bit in terms of training? Or keep at the same rate?
SG: Well when this season was over, I stayed in Toronto for another two weeks and worked before the test with my agent. After the test I rested a bit, went to Turkey.

A serious look from a big personality (Photo by Neil Greenberg)

OZ: What do you think you have to work on to reach the next level? What weaknesses do you have?
SG: Well, I think I have to gain a bit more weight, physical mass, and play defense a little better.

OZ: For next year, what plans do you have? What goals?
SG: I want to make the Russian Junior hockey team, other than that just work as hard as I have been.

OZ: If you were to compare yourself to a famous player, who would it be? Why?
SG: I mean, I don’t think I have one. I’d love to be similar to Semin; I love his style.

OZ: Play with Semin in Washington?
SG: Yeah!

During Thursday's scrimmage, Galiev had 1G, 1A and the game's deciding shootout tally. On Saturday, his shootout goal shown above also pushed white to victory.

OZ: What about the Russian guys? Did you know them for a long time before camp?
SG: Dima [Dmitri Orlov] and Zhenya?
OZ: Yeah
SG: Dima I didn’t know before, but Zhenya yeah, we’re good friends, played together.

OZ: And what about the well-known players? Do you know Ovechkin?
SG: Ovechkin no, not yet.
OZ: Not yet?
SG: Yeah, just give me a little bit of time. [Laughs]

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Check back on Wednesday for our third and final interview with Dmitri Orlov.