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Rookie Duties: One Step Closer

Well, with another week in the books, it seems as if we’re continuing to inch closer to some sort of resolution with Andrey’s situation for the 2010-11 season…but we’re still not there yet.

After not hearing back from Zhamnov last week, I asked Kuchin to speak with him in person and explain that he needed to give me a call back. Alex told Andrey that he’d be available to talk this past Saturday at 8:00pm Moscow time (11:00am Central) and that he’d be waiting for my call then. Finally, it seemed like we were getting somewhere.

Meanwhile, last Tuesday I was able to meet up with former Chicago Blackhawk draft pick (2001, 4th round, 155th overall) Vlad Gusev. For the past four seasons Vlad has skated with Novokuznetsk Metallurg in the KHL (the 2006-08 seasons were in the now-dissolved Russian Super League). Currently, he has one more year remaining on his KHL contract, which he plans on playing out this coming season. After that, though, it seems as if he wants to test his abilities back here in North America. Since Vlad’s now a Free Agent, he can sign with any team interested in him. Chances are he’d end up playing somewhere in the AHL, and that’s where I would come in. At this point, there isn’t much to do, but it’s a great way to once again get our company’s name out there, and getting your foot in the door with a potential client is often the majority of the work.

As Saturday rolled around, I was definitely a little anxious to hear what Zhamnov had to say. In reality, if things didn’t go well, Andrey could be stuck playing the 2010-11 season getting limited ice time on a KHL team. He’s gone through that before, and trust me, it’s not a great option for him at this point of his career. Now’s the time where he needs to continue to develop his game, and to do that, he needs to be on the ice, not riding the bench.

I placed the call to Alex at 11:00am on the dot. Alex answered after only a couple rings but politely asked me if I could call him back in a couple hours. Since I’m really hoping Alex and Vityaz will be willing to work with me, naturally I had no problem working around his schedule. I went for a nice long run to clear my head, and at 1:00pm central, I called him back again. Once again, Alex answered the phone right away and this time he was able to talk. Overall, the conversation went very well. I asked Alex about whether Vityaz would be willing to sign another one-year transfer card to play Juniors in North America next season and he said that he didn’t think it would be a problem, regardless of whether it was for a club from the USHL or OHL. Vityaz will be holding their KHL camp starting July 23rd and Alex let me know that he thinks Andrey has a real shot at making the KHL club. At the very least, it sounds like he’d like Kuchin to be back in Moscow for the camp, and so I’m thinking if that’s the case, I’ll be heading to Russia with Kuch in July so I can meet with Alex in person.

While Alex certainly gave me some promising indications about Kuchin’s future, the team President still needs to sign off on any deal that’s made. Zhamnov is going to be traveling to Germany in the coming week, and he told me he’d discuss the situation with the President then to confirm that getting Andrey another transfer card wouldn’t be an issue. Alex and I made plans to speak again on the 27th and hopefully he’ll have some more good news for me then.

Later Saturday afternoon it was off to the Arctic Ice Arena in Orland Park, Illinois for the final phase of the First Annual USHL Pre-Draft Combine. Over the weekend, selected players from the ’94 age group competed in a showcase type tournament. A couple parents that I’d spoken with over the course of the past year had boys playing in the Combine and had asked if we could sit down and talk about my company and what we do for our clients. It turns out one of the fathers is good friends with my old coach from Ohio University – a connection that certainly gives me a little instant credibility. Overall, my meetings went very well and it sounds like I’ve got a couple more families interested in what I bring to the table.

This week is when things start to really heat up. Most NHL teams have their pre-draft meetings during the third week of May, so over the next week or two I’ll be talking with some of the scouts I know about Andrey to try and get a sense as to which teams have the most interest.

Also, in just a few hours I have a lunch meeting with the Chicago Steel coaching staff. Obviously, since Kuchin’s one of, if not the best player in the USHL, they really want him to come back for next season instead of leaving for Major Juniors in Canada. But besides just hearing their pitch as to why Kuchin should stay for another season, I’m also there to learn. The Steel coaches have been working in hockey for a lot longer than I have, and over the past year, my respect for them has continued to grow every day. While I’ve definitely picked up a lot in the past year, I still have a lot to learn and I always embrace opportunities to grow. Not everyone I talk with is going to be right, but it never hurts to listen. When making tough decisions in life, most of the time you’ll never really know what the right choice is at the time you have to make it. All you can do is gather as much information as possible and base your decision off of that. That strategy’s worked for me thus far and it’s what I’m going to continue to do. Fortunately, I’ve had guys like the Steel coaches who have always kept their doors open to me and I can’t begin to explain how much I appreciate it. In the end, we should all be working together to get the best outcome for Andrey.

After my meeting, it’s back to my office to finish up some work on Andrey’s Visa. Basically, our agency has to submit a formal letter of invitation to him explaining to United States Citizenship and Naturalization Services why he needs to come and for how long. Once I get that sent out, Andrey can begin his end of application process from Russia.

Well, as I’m sure you can tell, I’ve got a busy day and week ahead of me. As always, I’ll be sure to keep you all posted with current news throughout the week via the Rookie Duties Facebook Page and my Twitter account. I hope you all have a great week ahead of you and a special congrats to my good friend Kaitlyn who successfully completed the Cleveland Marathon yesterday – definitely something I never want to put myself through. With that and until next week…it’s time to hit the showers.