Sadikov stands alone as Russia/Canada awaits
19-1. That’s the number of Canadians to Russians in the Erie Otters locker room, where goaltender Ramis Sadikov stands alone as the only native of Russia. For his sake, he would also hope that isn’t the score in Wednesday’s Gold Medal Game at the 2011 World Junior Championships in Buffalo.
Sadikov, who was born and raised in Moscow, could have been at the big stage tomorrow. The second-year OHL netminder was selected to the pre-tournament camp roster and represented Russia at last year’s tournament in Saskatchewan, where the Russians finished in a disappointing sixth place.
That disappointment was even bigger for Canada, who treats the World Junior Championship arguably in the same way that the United States treats the Super Bowl. The Canadians earned a silver medal last year after the United States won in overtime in front of a stunned crowd of Canadian supporters.
For Sadikov, the chance to root for his country and his friends is once-in-a-lifetime.
“It’s unbelievable,” Sadikov said. “It’s the gold medal. Hopefully we’ll win this game.”
With the game being played while the Otters host the Niagara IceDogs (owners of Canada’s starting goaltender Mark Visentin) at Tullio Arena, the players could rely on their trusty satellite television in the locker room during intermissions to keep tabs on the score.
“I’m sure some of the (players) will want to throw (the game) on there,” Otters defenseman Brett Cook said. “We’ll have to see what the mood is like during the intermission and hopefully we can put it on there so we can see what’s going on.”
Cook, who lives at the same billet home as Sadikov, quelled any thoughts of early trash-talking at his roommate’s expense, partly because he was unable to watch either semifinal at his home.
“(Sadikov) has been pretty quiet,” Cook said. “He thought Sweden won, so he was pretty bummed. Then he found out Russia won, so then he got excited.”
Sadikov took the opportunity following the win to reach out to his compatriots through Facebook, where he talked to London Knights goaltender Igor Bobkov, a member of the Russia squad.
“I told (Igor) to tell the guys that they did a good job and to keep going,” Sadikov said. “They’ve got a good chance to take a gold medal, so don’t lose.”
Although the battle for the gold medal is on the mind of 19 Canadians and one Russian on the Otters, everyone has their minds on one thing: their play for the remainder of the Ontario Hockey League season. Sadikov confessed that the game is really the last thing on his mind.
“I have a game on Wednesday,” Sadikov said. “I just hope there’s a good game between Russia and Canada tomorrow and we play well for ourselves this week.”
