Post by Score on Apr 24, 2007 16:03:40 GMT -3
Younger brother of Habs' Andrei also shows he can play at defensive end of the ice
PAT HICKEY, The Gazette
Sergei Kostitsyn was disappointed when the Canadiens decided not to send him to Hamilton last fall.
Next fall, he may be disappointed if the Canadiens do send him to Hamilton.
The other Kostitsyn - he's the younger brother of Andrei Kostitsyn, who finished the season in Montreal - said yesterday that he'll be going to the Canadiens' camp next September with the idea of staying in Montreal.
"We'll see what happens, but I'm going to try my best to make the NHL," Kostitsyn said last night before the London Knights' 5-2 loss to the Plymouth Whalers in an Ontario Hockey League playoff game.
"I've played two years here in London and I think that I've gotten better," said Kostitsyn, who was the Canadiens' sixth-round draft choice (200th overall) in 2005. He was at camp in Montreal last fall.
While Kostitsyn still had a year of junior eligibility, he was eligible to join the American Hockey League Hamilton Bulldogs last fall because the Canadiens drafted him out of his native Belarus.
He was anxious to play with his brother and fellow Belarusian Mikhail Grabovski, but Montreal general manager Bob Gainey had a different idea.
Gainey felt that Kostitsyn would benefit from another year at the junior level. He thought that Kostitsyn would get more ice time and would have a chance to dominate at the junior level.
He also thought that Kostitsyn would get a chance to polish his English.
"Sergei's English is better than mine,"Andrei Kostitsyn noted this year. "I have other players (in Montreal) who can speak Russian, but he has no one, so he has to speak English."
As for dominating on the ice, Kostitsyn has done that. He had a slow start as he dealt with the disappointment of spending another year in junior, but he proudly noted he scored 80 points in the second half of a season that saw him rack up 50 goals and 131 points.
The points aside, London coach Dale Hunter believes that he has one quality which might allow him to stick with the Canadiens next season.
"He's a skilled player, but what makes him different is that he plays with an edge," Hunter said. "I've used him a lot, maybe too much sometimes, but we use him up top on the power play and also to kill penalties."
In the first period last night, Kostitsyn's stamina was on display as he was on the ice for a full two minutes killing a penalty, and he was still on the ice a minute later when he scored London's first goal.
He also assisted on the Knights' other goal.
While an OHL poll credited Kostitsyn with the best shot in the league, Hunter believes his defensive skills give him a chance to make the jump to the NHL.
He compared Kostitsyn with Jordan Staal, who went from junior to the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.
"Staal got an opportunity to play at the beginning of the season because he could kill penalties," Hunter said. "As the season went on, he had an opportunity to play a larger role, but he got his start killing penalties. Sergei could do the same thing.
"The toughest part of making the jump from junior to the NHL is the defensive aspect of the game," Hunter said. "Sergei has worked on that part of his game."
PAT HICKEY, The Gazette
Sergei Kostitsyn was disappointed when the Canadiens decided not to send him to Hamilton last fall.
Next fall, he may be disappointed if the Canadiens do send him to Hamilton.
The other Kostitsyn - he's the younger brother of Andrei Kostitsyn, who finished the season in Montreal - said yesterday that he'll be going to the Canadiens' camp next September with the idea of staying in Montreal.
"We'll see what happens, but I'm going to try my best to make the NHL," Kostitsyn said last night before the London Knights' 5-2 loss to the Plymouth Whalers in an Ontario Hockey League playoff game.
"I've played two years here in London and I think that I've gotten better," said Kostitsyn, who was the Canadiens' sixth-round draft choice (200th overall) in 2005. He was at camp in Montreal last fall.
While Kostitsyn still had a year of junior eligibility, he was eligible to join the American Hockey League Hamilton Bulldogs last fall because the Canadiens drafted him out of his native Belarus.
He was anxious to play with his brother and fellow Belarusian Mikhail Grabovski, but Montreal general manager Bob Gainey had a different idea.
Gainey felt that Kostitsyn would benefit from another year at the junior level. He thought that Kostitsyn would get more ice time and would have a chance to dominate at the junior level.
He also thought that Kostitsyn would get a chance to polish his English.
"Sergei's English is better than mine,"Andrei Kostitsyn noted this year. "I have other players (in Montreal) who can speak Russian, but he has no one, so he has to speak English."
As for dominating on the ice, Kostitsyn has done that. He had a slow start as he dealt with the disappointment of spending another year in junior, but he proudly noted he scored 80 points in the second half of a season that saw him rack up 50 goals and 131 points.
The points aside, London coach Dale Hunter believes that he has one quality which might allow him to stick with the Canadiens next season.
"He's a skilled player, but what makes him different is that he plays with an edge," Hunter said. "I've used him a lot, maybe too much sometimes, but we use him up top on the power play and also to kill penalties."
In the first period last night, Kostitsyn's stamina was on display as he was on the ice for a full two minutes killing a penalty, and he was still on the ice a minute later when he scored London's first goal.
He also assisted on the Knights' other goal.
While an OHL poll credited Kostitsyn with the best shot in the league, Hunter believes his defensive skills give him a chance to make the jump to the NHL.
He compared Kostitsyn with Jordan Staal, who went from junior to the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.
"Staal got an opportunity to play at the beginning of the season because he could kill penalties," Hunter said. "As the season went on, he had an opportunity to play a larger role, but he got his start killing penalties. Sergei could do the same thing.
"The toughest part of making the jump from junior to the NHL is the defensive aspect of the game," Hunter said. "Sergei has worked on that part of his game."