Tony is gonna light up the KHL. It’ll be fun to watch. Maybe those KHL fans with blinders, will finally admit how far the quality of play has dropped in recent years.
When McLeod is penciled in as a “1st Line C” and Tony DeAngelo will likely lead the league in Dman scoring, maybe people will finally figure it out.
It’s just a different game than it used to be in the KHL. That’s what happens when all of those running Russian Hockey, all came to North America in the 90s and early 2000s to coach, leaving Russia’s minor and junior systems, in the hands of “System” coaches, who despised the wide open game. 20 years later, the game has suffered because of it.
Hopefully with so many former NHL players getting involved with Russian Hockey.. who all came from the “skills era”, they will be able to change the core beliefs of the failed system guys, and we see things get back to where they belong in Russia.
It’s a great example of how closed minded Hockey needs to be a thing of the past. It’s funny cause I remember when both Hockey Canada and USA Hockey fought against skill development too. There was a ton of hate for these Russian coaches who came over to America. Then all of a sudden these Russian coached teams, started lighting leagues up and producing top players for Junior hockey. Took Canada another 5 years to accept it after USA Hockey did, but it’s been the best thing for ice hockey in North America in generations. Where Russia went the other way. Lol. Back to old school systems.