I've written a lengthy post in defense of Alexander Semin, particularly his playoff performance last season and the way he was misused by Boudreau. There's also a note in the about about Zherdev as well. Semin fans may find it interesting.
This is a very good article. Very scientific and straightforward. There isn't really any thing i disagree with and the Arnott/Shift length thing was spot on and pretty illuminating. You have a talent in statistical analyses my friend. Bravo
I've written a lengthy post in defense of Alexander Semin, particularly his playoff performance last season and the way he was misused by Boudreau. There's also a note in the about about Zherdev as well. Semin fans may find it interesting.
Excellent post! What you are describing applies not only to Semin, but to most other Russian NHL'ers not named Ovechkin. The hockey style and cultural attitudes that Semin and other Russian players who play Russian-style hockey is just simply what they inherited from their native land. It would be just as hard for Russians to un-learn their culture as it would for Canadians. Russians play a skilled game emphasizing skating, stickhandling and passing, perhaps suited for bigger rinks, and the banging, mucking, dump-and-chase game found in Canada is as alien to Russians as Russian hockey is to Canadians. That is a major reason why many talented Russians reach a dead-end in the career in North America.
I never understood why people were so hard on Semins playoff performances. It's like they were looking for one person to blame the Capitals playoff failures on.
Russians play a skilled game emphasizing skating, stickhandling and passing, perhaps suited for bigger rinks, and the banging, mucking, dump-and-chase game found in Canada is as alien to Russians as Russian hockey is to Canadians. That is a major reason why many talented Russians reach a dead-end in the career in North America.
Then again, when a single small skilled Russian forward like Datsyuk manages to get into the NHL, they praise him like God. I'm sure if Datsyuk played in KHL, he'd be only one among other top small forwards... he'd be good but not talked about as some hockey genius.
Then again, when a single small skilled Russian forward like Datsyuk manages to get into the NHL, they praise him like God. I'm sure if Datsyuk played in KHL, he'd be only one among other top small forwards... he'd be good but not talked about as some hockey genius.
Seriously? Who'd be capable of out-Datsyuking him in KHL?
Then again, when a single small skilled Russian forward like Datsyuk manages to get into the NHL, they praise him like God. I'm sure if Datsyuk played in KHL, he'd be only one among other top small forwards... he'd be good but not talked about as some hockey genius.
that is false, he was remarkable even at the young age, but on the other hand, they sure know how to hype up their stars in the NHL
Great article. I watched Capitals playoff games and Semin seemed to play sound hockey. When Ovetchkin - Bäckström - Semin played together they were very much checked.
I've written a lengthy post in defense of Alexander Semin, particularly his playoff performance last season and the way he was misused by Boudreau. There's also a note in the about about Zherdev as well. Semin fans may find it interesting.
Reading your blog again reminds me of how badly the "KLM" line, Fetisov, Kasatonov and others who were huge talents that had a great impact on the international scene, were thoroughly trashed by North American media and fans as being "grossly overrated," and incapable of playing the game of hockey without their robot-like buddies. Everybody expected that these guys would walk into the locker room in New Jersey, Calgary and Vancouver and say, "hello everybody, I'm a star from the Soviet Union, your arch-enemy, and I'm here to take over the team as your leader." Those expectations were unbelievably unrealistic, and of course, the exact opposite occurred. For the most part, these great stars who had proved themselves in life-or-death competitions against the best of the NHL found themselves in need of being inconspicuous and avoiding the perception of being too bold or arrogant in the face of the dominant NHL culture.
Brendan Shanahan, who was a teammate of Fetisov's in 1989 when Fetisov first joined the Devils, wrote about how disgusted he felt when he observed Fetisov's North American "defense partners" deliberately clearing a path so that forechecking forwards from the opposing team could "backstab" Fetisov (i.e., check him face-first into the boards). Shanahan argued that the betrayal of a teammate was not so much a function of hating Russians as it was a fear that Russians would start coming over in numbers and taking away jobs. Clearly, the same degree of animosities don't exist today, but the difference in hockey culture and philosophy is definitely a factor when Russian players who are in a slump get a disproportionate share of criticism than their North American counterparts. i am hard pressed to think of a single Canadian hockey player who has had his personal courage and character questioned to the same degree as Semin. That would be unheard of.
Then again, when a single small skilled Russian forward like Datsyuk manages to get into the NHL, they praise him like God. I'm sure if Datsyuk played in KHL, he'd be only one among other top small forwards... he'd be good but not talked about as some hockey genius.
As magical as he is with the puck, Datsyuk is revered in the NHL as much or more because he is one of the premier defensive forwards in the league. He uses his magic hands to strip the puck off the stick of players from the other team. There are a lot of talented offensive forwards in Russia that are not effective defensively. Playing defense is not as big an emphasis for forwards in Russia as it is in NA, for whatever reason.
I've written a lengthy post in defense of Alexander Semin, particularly his playoff performance last season and the way he was misused by Boudreau. There's also a note in the about about Zherdev as well. Semin fans may find it interesting.
With Dale Hunter taking over for Bruce Boudreau, the situation for Semin will be even worse. Hunter was a tough guy who believes in a really physical, agressive style of play, which Semin and many other Russian finesse players aren't used to playing. Hunter will have no patience with Semin, who is likely to get waived and sent to the AHL because of his high salary. I believe that he will be in the KHL in the near future, which is probably the right place for him to be!
With Dale Hunter taking over for Bruce Boudreau, the situation for Semin will be even worse. Hunter was a tough guy who believes in a really physical, agressive style of play, which Semin and many other Russian finesse players aren't used to playing. Hunter will have no patience with Semin, who is likely to get waived and sent to the AHL because of his high salary. I believe that he will be in the KHL in the near future, which is probably the right place for him to be!
There was an article in Russianprospects.com yesterday by Chuck Gormley, a blogger who writes about the Capitals, about Yevgeny Kuznetsov showing some interest in joining the Capitals after the WJC. There was also a link to an article that he wrote about Semin. He claims that the Capitals aren't having any luck trading Semin because allegedly no teams want to pick up his 6.75 million per year contract, and that if they can't work out a trade, then they will send him to the AHL. I don't know how likely that is, but it has been done by teams before. It would obviously be a stupid move, because Semin is a great talent. But hypothetically, if Semin did find himself in the AHL, he might be sorely tempted to play out his contract and go to the KHL, where he could make at least as much money.
