Former NHL legend and recently appointed SKA St. Petersburg
coach Igor Larionov made some waves in his first official press conference as
reported by RG.org. The man who took over from Roman Rotenberg said he wants to
bring Ivan Demidov back to the KHL for one more season.
The 19-year-old forward finished the last year of his
contract with SKA in April before signing an ELC contract with the Montreal
Canadiens. Still, the bench boss say he would love to speak to the organization
to plead his case.
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Saying he knows both Kent Hughes and co-director of scouting
Martin Lapointe, the former centerman explained that if he could talk to them,
he would say that sometimes in life you have to take a step back to move three
step forward.
While Larionov may well believe this would be good for the
youngster’s development, there’s no way the option would even be entertained by
the Canadiens. Montreal played by the rules and let the youngster honor the
last year of his contract with SKA, but he’s now under the Habs’ control and
needless to say the team has big plans for him.
After making his NHL debut in two regular season games, the
youngster played five playoffs’ games with the Habs and has already showed that
he belongs. Still, the winger is serious about becoming an impact player for
his new side and he’s decided to spend the Summer in town where he’ll be able
to train under the watchful eye of the Canadiens’ staff while also polishing
his language skills in both French and English.
That kind of program is not at all compatible with Larionov’s
wish and while he may dream of getting to work with as talented a youngster as
Demidov, it will remain just that, a dream.
Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
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