Team Russia has OHL Flare

By Terry Doyle

The Russian flavour of the Ontario Hockey League will be on display during the upcoming SUBWAY Super Series game in Ottawa next Thursday November 10.

A total of five OHL players from Russia have been named to the squad. Four are returnees from the 2010 Russian team that made stops in Sudbury and London last fall.

Many scouts will be keeping a close eye on Nail Yakupov. The Sarnia sniper leads the Ontario Hockey League in scoring and is expected to be chosen in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft. Yakupov is the reigning OHL and CHL Rookie of the Year after scoring 49 goals and 101 points during the 2010-11 season. He has followed that up with 34 points in the first 16 games this year.

All of the other OHL players on the Russian team have been drafted by National Hockey League clubs.

London Knights forward Vladislav Namestnikov was chosen by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, 27th overall last summer. The London sophomore has averaged about one point per game since joining the Knights at the beginning of last season.

Windsor’s Alexander Khokhlachev is a Boston Bruins second round pick from June. As a member of the Spitfires, he has shown he can score points at important times – with 20 points in 18 playoffs games during last year’s run to the Western Conference Final. He is the lone OHL player on the Russian team that did not participate in last year’s SUBWAY Super Series.

Now in his third OHL season, Winnipeg Jets prospect Ivan Telegin of the Barrie Colts is getting adjusted to playing in the Eastern Conference after two seasons with the Saginaw Spirit.

The four forwards will be joined by Guelph Storm defenceman Andrey Pedan, a New York Islanders third round choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

All five of the Russian-born OHL players will play in the November 10th game in Ottawa before their teammates head to Sault Ste. Marie to wrap up the Ontario swing on November 14th. Despite winning the national SUBWAY Super Series in 2010, the OHL representatives on Team Russia will be looking to avenge a pair of losses last November. Team OHL won 4-0 and 2-1, in a shootout, during the Ontario stops last season.

Kingston Frontenacs goaltender Igor Bobkov, then a member of the London Knights, backstopped Team Russia in both of the OHL-hosted contests last season, earning Player of the Game honours both times. Bobkov went on to be a member of the Russian team that captured the Gold Medal at the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo, defeating Canada in the Championship Game.

The SUBWAY Super Series is a chance for Canadian-born OHL players to impress the Hockey Canada brass heading towards the World Juniors. But it also allows the Russian coaching staff to become familiar with their countrymen playing in the CHL, and consider whether they will join them at the 2012 World Juniors in Alberta.

The SUBWAY Super Series game in Ottawa can be seen live on Sportsnet One at 7:00 pm November 10 with the game in Sault Ste. Marie available live on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific, at 7:00 pm Eastern. Both OHL games will also be available online through Sportsnet Radio The Fan 590.