Russian Machine Never Breaks

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.

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KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in Deadly Plane Crash

September 7, 2011 will be remembered as one of the worst days in hockey history. An airplane carrying the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team crashed just after takeoff from Tunoshna Airport, 11 miles southeast of Yaroslavl in central Russia. The team was on its way to Belarus, where they were set to begin their regular season against Dynamo Minsk.

The aircraft was an Yakovlev Yak-42, an outdated Soviet-era plane that was due to be phased out next year. In Russia the plane is known for its woeful air safety record, and just two months ago 44 people were killed when an Antonov-24 caught fire in midair before crashing in western Siberia. There have been eight fatal crashes in Russia just this year.

According to Slava Malamud of Sport Express, Kommersant, a Russian newspaper, reported Yak-Service, the airliner operating the plane, was ranked last by the European Air Safety Commission. The New York Times reported that the company, founded in 1993, was suspended for three months in 2009 by Russian authorities because of “major safety deficiencies.” The BBC reports that the aircraft broke into two pieces after hitting a radio mast before crashing into Volga river. The Times notes that eight Yak-42s have crashed over the years, killing 570.

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Dmitry Orlov Caps Development Camp

Dima speaks with Igor after Saturday’s scrimmage (Photo credit: Chris Gordon)

At his third Capitals Development Camp last week, Russian defenseman Dmitry Orlov not only showed off a little bit of his well-known offensive side, but a hard-hitting, physical game as well, laying out a couple massive checks during the week. And though the soon-to-be 20 year-old has begun to adjust his game to the North American style of play, Orlov said getting used to the change in language and cultural will still take some time.

For now, Dima is heading back to his hometown of Novokuznetsk, where his training for next season will resume, before heading back to Washington in September. After the final scrimmage of camp on Saturday, RMNB’s Igor Kleyner was able to talk to Orlov, who dished on his new English teacher, his hopes for next season, and more.

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Photo credit: Chris Gordon

Over 3,000 fans packed Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Saturday, packing the Arlington, Virginia practice rink to watch the final scrimmage of Washington’s 2011 Development Camp.

In a physical, fight-filled match (you can check out photos of the day’s fights here), Group B rolled past Group A, 5-2 lead by T.J. Syner’s two goals. Karl Stollery, Reid Edmonson, and Stanislav Galiev also tallied for the winners, while Andrew Cerniwchan and Luke Lockhart scored for the losers.

Below, I recap the game in photos.

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Garrett Mitchell attempts to headbutt Scott Wietecha into submission. (Photo credit: Chris Gordon)

After losing the first scrimmage game, Group A turned the tables on Group B on Thursday to take the second match of Development Camp, 4-3, in the shootout.

Garrett Mitchell, David Citviarese and Danick Paquette tallied Group A’s goals in regulation, while Travis Boyd scored twice along with Reid Edmondson in Group B’s losing effort. Mitchell also added the only shootout goal.

Below, I recap the game in photos.

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Danick Paquette dishes out a hit along the boards.

After participating in workouts for first two days of the Capitals’ annual Development Camp, 19 of the organization’s prospects and 25 free agent invites took to the ice for the first intra-squad scrimmage of the summer on Wednesday.

Group B — wearing the red sweaters — controlled the play throughout the game at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, taking it by a score of 4-2. Caleb Herbert, Stanislav Galiev, Travis Boyd and Aaron Schmit scored for the winning team while Andrew Cherniwchan and Garrett Mitchell tallied in the losing effort.

“The thoughts were is they played hard,” Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters after the game. “I think there was a lot more physical contact than the last two development camps, at least early on for the first game. … They’ve gotten better every day, I expect them to be even better tomorrow and by Saturday I’ll be a pretty good game.”

Forward Cody Eakin, a third-round draft pick in 2009 and a veteran of three camps, attributed the style of play to the players desire to make an impression on Washington’s brass.

“They’re some big guys out here and everyone is fighting for a job, a second chance and a second look so it was pretty physical. Guys are stepping up and there wasn’t a lot of room out there.”

Below, I recap the game in photos.

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Following today’s development camp activities, Dmitry Orlov (now and forever spelled with a y) and Stan Galiev spent a few minutes goofing around on the ice. Moving the net up the ice, they practiced point-blank distance trick shots before calling it a day.

Orlov and Galiev flipped the puck from around the back of the net, from halfway up the ice, and from extreme angles. Perhaps they’re working on one of those Granlund-style lacrosse goals, or maybe Stanislav Galiev’s header (13 seconds in) is the real future of the Capitals’ offense. Either way, we’re probably looking at the future of the Caps: fun, creative, and somewhat mischievous.

Ovi’s gonna love these guys.

Stanislav Galiev

Stanislav Galiev celebrates his first career Memorial Cup goal (Photo: Aaron Bell/CHL Images)

By all accounts Stanislav Galiev has had a good year. On June 26, 2010, the 18-year-old Russian sniper was selected by his favorite NHL team, the Washington Capitals, in the third round of the 2010 Draft. Shortly thereafter, he attended Caps Development Camp — where he impressed many by being one of the fastest and most exciting players on the KCI ice.

After taking a short break, Galiev returned to his junior team, the Saint John Sea Dogs, in the fall. The talented Sea Dogs were coming off a 2009-10 season in which they started the campaign with a 22-game winning streak (from October 17 until December 12) and made it to the QMJHL Finals. To the surprise of no one, the squad continued its dominance in 2010-11, relying on Galiev’s play-making (37 goals, 28 assists) and the development of four potential first round picks in the upcoming 2011 NHL Entry Draft: Jonathan Huberdeau (top five), Nathan Beaulieu (top 15), Zack Phillips and Tomas Jurco.

Saint John racked up an insane 58-7-3 record in the regular season and lost just three of 19 games on the way to capturing their first QMJHL Championship in franchise history. Notably, Galiev finished in the top five of postseason scoring, notching 27 points (10 G, 17 A). The team’s winning ways have continued in the Memorial Cup, as the Sea Dogs won their first two games of the tournament and earned a bye to the finals which are set to begin Sunday.

Several Russia media members have spoke with the Caps prospect over the past week. RMNB’s Igor Kleyner and Fedor Fedin offer the translations.

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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?

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Prospect Watch: Russians Win WJC, Eakin Gets Traded

RMNB Prospect Watch

Ed. note – Fedor Fedin and Roman Piontkovsky of GlobalCapsFans live to dish out salacious gossip about those players orbiting just out side the Capitals’ exosphere. Here is your sorta bi-weekly edition about kids in the Caps system (CHL, USHL, NCAA, KHL, TL;DR).  It’s Prospect Watch!

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