Saint John Sea Dogs forward Stanislav Galiev struggled at the National Hockey League’s Draft Combine yesterday at the Westin Airport Hotel in Toronto, Ont.
“More to hockey than upper body strength, but Stanislav Galiev only completed 13 pushups and one rep on bench press,” reports Bio Steel Sports on Twitter, who partnered with TSN for a live blog yesterday afternoon.
Galiev began the day at 8:30 am local time, participating in a group with Cam Fowler, Eric Grudbanson, Patrick McNally, Jonathon Merrill, Brock Nelson, Mark Pysyk, and Jordan Weal.
The draft combine rarely has a great affect on draft positions, but it allows teams to check out top end prospects without skates and sticks.
Galiev is picked to go late in the first round or early in the second by most publications. The Hockey News draft preview recently named the Russian 37th overall among those eligible for this year’s draft.
“You watch him play and you say, ‘Wow, is he ever talented,’” one scout said in the preview. “But he only had 15 goals and that’s not a lot for a guy in the Quebec league who is supposed to be that talented and playing on the top line. It kind of makes you wonder.”
The first overall pick in the 2009 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft scored 15 goals and recorded 45 assists in 67 games for Saint John in the regular season. In the post-season, he registered eight goals and 11 assists but failed to get a single point in the league final.
Galiev recently did a question and answer session with Open Ice Hockey, where he was asked about his personal life.
JM: Girls in Russia compared to where you’re playing now.
SG: I don’t know really. I don’t have a lot of time for girls. Obviously Russia has the hotter girls.
One player that did impress at the combine was former Moncton Wildcat and fellow Russian Kirill Kabanov. Many believe that after today’s combine and by having JP Barry as his agent, Kabanov may have worked himself back into the first round of the draft.
“It was my mistake,” Kabanov admitted to The Hockey News when asked about Moncton. “I was stupid and I recognize that now.”
Following his departure from Moncton, Kabanov was also booted off a Russian team. The once highly touted prospect said that he was tossed off the team after taking a peanut off the coach’s desk without asking.
“I took one peanut!” Kabanov said incredulously. “It wasn't even his office, it was just a room in the dressing room.”
Kabanov also claimed the coach referred to him as “American bubblegum,” a Soviet-era slur dating back to the Cold War when Russians couldn't get the confectionery, but talked about how great it was.
Needless to say, Kabanov prefers North America.
“I want to be a star, I want to play in the NHL,” he said. “Next year I'll play wherever my NHL team tells me. CHL, AHL, I don't care.”
Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin – who are battling for the first pick in the draft – both had eventful days. Hall pulled out early, saying he was a little banged up from the Memorial Cup. Seguin had a great day, producing results well above average.
Besides physical tests, players are also run through a number of metal examinations by being asked a series of questions. Here are few of the bizarre questions asked as stated by The Hockey News and Yahoo! Sports:
- If you were to entertain yourself for a day would you choose to do so with a handgun or a well written poem?
- What's the largest river in Canada?
- If I shipped you off to Iraq today would you consider yourself a sniper, helicopter pilot or a medic?
- If your hometown was invaded by North Korea and you had to leave one of your family members behind, who would it be?
- You have to climb Mount Everest, and you need to choose eight people (from a list) to take with you, who do you take and why?
- If you saw a hundred dollar bill on the ground would you pick it up?
- What's your favourite beer?
The NHL Entry Draft will be held in Los Angeles on June 25-26.
NHL.com recently posted a draft profile of Galiev.
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