Slava Malamud’s interview with Sergey Bobrovsky published in Sport- Express. Ru (9/20/2011)
SM: First of all, congratulations. You’ve got married last summer. Has your life changed dramatically?
SB: About the same. I have lived with her in Novokuznetsk already. We are yet to have a wedding; we just had a civil ceremony. We are planning a wedding next year in Novokuznetsk. We just went through official motions, so that she is able to get a visa. She will be having an interview in the American Embassy in October. She had not been able to visit me entire last season. I hope she will be allowed now.
SM: Is there a big difference between you and Bryzgalov?
SB: Yes. Iliya is bigger and taller. I come out of the crease farther, move more; he plays deeper in the goal. I think he has more of the North American style. That means that he plays more often in butterfly and catches puck with his trunk. Europeans try to use hands more.
SM: How is your mood?
SB: Ready to go. Preseason is here.
SM: Were you upset? There was so much talk about goalies last summer…
SB: A little. Boucher and I helped the team to take the second place in the conference. It would be impossible without good goalies. May be people were influenced by play offs, when we were replaced constantly. But we were playing with the Flyers logo, not by ourselves. Let me say this: in a Boston series there were plenty of times when not only goalies did not help.
SM: You were not “thrown to the wolves” last year, were you? You had just come and became #1.
SB: Vice versa- it elevated my mood. That was the reason I came here to begin with.
SM: But you had never played that many games before, had you?
SB: No. And, certainly, I was tired by the end. There is different regimen here and one needs to get accustomed to it.
SM: How is your English?
SB: I learn it little by little. I can’t give the interviews yet, but I am able to say and to understand what I need. I am able to communicate with the team…more or less.
SM: Do you feel more confident?
SB: Comparing to a year ago, of course. I’ve lived through a lot. New country, I was clueless. I have gotten used to it by now. I have learnt where to shop, where to eat.
SM: Have you visited Russian area (NE Philly)? Bryzgalov did not like kielbasa there
SB: I liked it. They have Russian food, especially buckwheat. They really do not eat buckwheat in America. My mom is here, she is cooking. So she and I are shopping there.
SM: Do you have friends on the team?
SB: I maintain even relationship with everyone.
SM: Goalies are usually a little bit strange. Are you?
SB: I would not say so. I am very collected and in my own world when I play or practice. But I have not noticed being strange. I do not think I am a crazy goalie.
SM: Never the less, there is only one spot in goals. There is fierce competition for it.
SB: I try not to think about whom is going to be #1. Everything is in our own hands, and the game will show. It’s too soon to claim anything
I love his interviews. I know some of it gets lost in the translation but he seems so intense. I would love to see him do so well that they're forced to give him a lot of playing time.
My feelings also. I wouldn't have minded waiting a year to see it happen either, given the semi-reboot the team just did.
Eh, I'd rather go with the proven goalie. Bob could turn out to be good, but Bryz already is. I wouldn't have been mad if they said they were going with Bob as #1 and didn't get a goalie, but I think getting Bryz is a better move.
Yeah, I understand the move in getting Bryzgalov, and am not critical of the idea. The execution was a little iffy, but that's another issue. I'm just saying, in a few years I can see myself thinking of Bobrovsky's time as a Flyer and thinking "What might have been?".
