As reported earlier this week, the Montreal Canadiens fifth overall selection at the last draft Ivan Demidov has made SKA St. Petersburg’s opening night roster. The youngster was all smiles when he was introduced to the crowd earlier this week and presented with his new 91 jersey. It looks like Canadiens’ fans can rest easy, he won’t be asking Gallagher for his number 11 jersey.
The regular season kicks off on Sept. 3 in the KHL but SKA’s first game is scheduled for Sept. 5 against Metallurg MG. Before the season gets under way, Demidov gave an interview to Russian media outlet Championat and Canadiens’ fans will be happy to hear that his dream remains to play in the NHL.
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While his coach Roman Rotenberg has been quoted as saying there’s no point for Demidov to go over to North America if he won’t be playing on the Canadiens’ first line, the prospect is more than ready to pay his dues and play in the AHL if that’s what it takes to achieve his ultimate goal of playing in the NHL.
When questioned about his future, Demidov says he wants to play out the last year of his contract and then think about his next step. Russian teams have been known to want to retain homegrown talent when they can and this is an excellent answer from the teenager. Saying he fully intends to cross the ocean to join the Canadiens next season might have resulted in less ice time as has been the case with Russian prospects who were committed to come over to the NHL in the past. He did add he feels ready to go to the NHL and that he will more than likely go next year.
Related: Canadiens: Ivan Demidov’s Puchkov Performance Merits Him Opening Day Lineup Spot
About former Canadiens’ alternate captain Andrei Markov suggesting he learns French to get even more respect in Montreal, the silky handed forward replied that he’s already started to learn the language, but that it’s no easy task, the pronunciation is giving him some trouble.
The new number 91 enjoyed his experience captaining the Russian U-23 at the Puchkov Tournament and added that Rotenberg asked him if he wanted to be loaned to the national team for the tournament. Since it came with more ice-time and responsibility, he figured why not and agreed to do it. He wasn’t worried his decision might put him at a disadvantage to make SKA’s first team since the coach reacted positively to his decision.
Related: Canadiens: Ivan Demidov’s Stance on Playing in the AHL
Demidov readily admits that he doesn’t feel in optimal shape yet, that he didn’t have that much time to prepare even though the Puchkov Tournament helped him get back in the rhythm of the game, but there’s still some work to be done to get to the right level. Given he was rehabbing his ankle when the training camp started, it’s hardly surprising he doesn’t yet feel in tip-top shape for the upcoming season.
Even though SKA has got quite an impressive lineup, Demidov intends to put in the work and use every opportunity he gets to secure himself an important and stable role on the team. That’s his most important objective this season, he’s not even thinking about perhaps being named the league’s rookie of the year.
Every week seems to bring new Demidov highlights and interviews these days and I fully expect this trend to continue all season long. The KHL regular season is schedule to end on March 23 while the Gagarin Cup playoffs will take place from March 26 to May 25 at the latest.
Needless to say that if SKA has a successful season, Demidov won’t be done in time to join the Canadiens at the tail end of the NHL season. Last year, St. Petersburg finished second in the league, three points behind the leaders. However, they bowed out in the second round of the playoffs losing the series 4-1 to Avtomobilist. They’ll no doubt be hoping to compete for longer this time around.
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