Prospect Info: Ivan Demidov (2024 5th OA): SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)

[417]

Yeah, Bergevin didn't put anything in place to help the kids. It's part of why Galchenyuk failed.

Galchenyuk was beyond the help that any team could provide.

if someone doesn't want to help themselves, it's hard to do anything to help them.

Thankfully, I think we're dealing with some more mature kids in Montreal and the support system around them is stronger.

That's really all you can ask for.

if Demidov wants to come to Montreal to piss away his career by doing stupid things on the ice, you can build a bunker if you want, it's not going to stop him from doing what he wants.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Galchenyuk was beyond the help that any team could provide.

if someone doesn't want to help themselves, it's hard to do anything to help them.

Thankfully, I think we're dealing with some more mature kids in Montreal and the support system around them is stronger.

That's really all you can ask for.

if Demidov wants to come to Montreal to piss away his career by doing stupid things on the ice, you can build a bunker if you want, it's not going to stop him from doing what he wants.

He wasn't though.

When he was drafted, he was in the gym the next day. They didn't insulate him at all, he fell into a bad crowd, they brought worse people like Kassian in, and it all de-railed from there.

Later in life, yes, he made things worse and didn't help himself. But Bergevin didn't insulate him at all and unfortunately he had a penchant to go after the things Montreal can provide when you are young, attractive, and a face of the Montreal Canadiens.

I have no concerns about Demidov because he's driven, already has a girlfriend, and is already exposed to some of the temptations in Russia that he'd get here and has avoided them. And he's coming into a room of good veterans, no bad influences, good kids around his age that are similarly focused on improving and winning, and a management team taht knows how important it is to surround their kids appropriately.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

A bunch of posts have been moved to a newly created thread: Generational players. OT: - Generational Players

If you want to talk about that some more, please visit there.

Thanks!

 

[ahmedou]

@jaffy27! My favorite Russian HFHabs member! From Russia wth Pain!

Show yourself more on Demidov's topic!

I'm missing your posts!

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Ivan is coming over with his long-term girlfriend and is very hyper dedicated to hockey. I would imagine he would have similar status in Russia, too. They love their hockey and he plays for SKA.

Not worried about that type of shit. Plus the culture is really good, Suzuki, Caufield, etc are here to insulate and help him on the right path.

Let's face it, if they are able to keep the top on Juraj Slafkovsky, and his movie star jaw line, they should be able to help Ivan.

I am not following gossip or all these talks outside hockey so I might be off but I remember seeing Slafkovsky dating a model or barmaid from Montreal. (I could be off though)

Onething for sure IMO, him moving in with his girlfriend is a good positive IMO if it's true. Being single in Montreal as a Montreal Canadien young superstar is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Team_Spirit]

They already have something similar for Laval players no?

For NHLers there's only a couple rookies per year and it's usually one of those scenarios;

1-Already used to pro life (Slaf)
2-A Parent move in with them (Hutson)
3-A vet take them in (Caufield)

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Galchenyuk was beyond the help that any team could provide.

I don't agree with this at all. He proved it too when he got the chance. You don't get to misuse prospects and then blame them for not reaching their potential.

That doesn't mean he didn't have flaws. But the team absolutely limited what he could've been.

if someone doesn't want to help themselves, it's hard to do anything to help them.

Thankfully, I think we're dealing with some more mature kids in Montreal and the support system around them is stronger.

That's really all you can ask for.

if Demidov wants to come to Montreal to piss away his career by doing stupid things on the ice, you can build a bunker if you want, it's not going to stop him from doing what he wants.

Right. If a player is hellbent on destruction, there's no stopping him. But I don't think that was the case with Galchenyuk. I think he had some of that in him but at a minimum, we didn't help him. And the roster management was horrific. There's nothing he could do about that. Therrien decided to go with Desharnais as a number one. That's out of the player's hands.

Fortunately, MSL has a completely different approach. Yes, he's working with more mature players and it's a better culture here. But he's responsible for that culture. Demidov's walking into an ideal situation. The team's already winning. So if he falters a little bit, it's okay. Others can pick up the slack. That wasn't the case for guys like Paccioretty and Galchenyuk. EVERYTHING was riding on them because we couldn't score. And Therrien mismanaging them didn't make things any easier.

 

[waitin425]

From Russia wth Pain!

 

[WeThreeKings]

I am not following gossip or all these talks outside hockey so I might be off but I remember seeing Slafkovsky dating a model or barmaid from Montreal. (I could be off though)

Onething for sure IMO, him moving in with his girlfriend is a good positive IMO if it's true. Being single in Montreal as a Montreal Canadien young superstar is a recipe for disaster.

Price getting back with Angela and settling down was massive for his career. He too was going down a bad path and even with Angela, the pressures and everything eventually got to him where he needed assistance.

 

[WeThreeKings]

 

[Kennerback]

I am not following gossip or all these talks outside hockey so I might be off but I remember seeing Slafkovsky dating a model or barmaid from Montreal. (I could be off though)

Onething for sure IMO, him moving in with his girlfriend is a good positive IMO if it's true. Being single in Montreal as a Montreal Canadien young superstar is a recipe for disaster.

I

Day after Shayne Corson involved in a fight downtown. Pat Burns: “He can go and eat shit”.
Pat Burns would physically patrol Montreal bars. Habs Players still would get in all kinds of trouble.

For the 86 Cup. Habs Players were locked up in a hotel during the whole playoffs. They called it Alcatraz. Otherwise players would party too much. Some are Hall of Famers. No cameras back then.

Montreal is not Buffalo or Columbus. Town is much fun. Players are demigods here.

 

[417]

He wasn't though.

When he was drafted, he was in the gym the next day. They didn't insulate him at all, he fell into a bad crowd, they brought worse people like Kassian in, and it all de-railed from there.

Trust me WTK...going to the gym every day does not mean you're not a goof off the ice too. He had issues way before the Montreal Canadiens even drafted him, Kassian didn't poison him.

There are far greater things that were troubling the young man.

Professional teams have a job to do by insulating their young players and trying to shelter/mentor them, but they're also paid professional athletes, they have a personal responsibility.

Some understand that better than others.

I know for a fact Galchenyuk was into some...anyways, maybe over a beer one day lol

Later in life, yes, he made things worse and didn't help himself. But Bergevin didn't insulate him at all and unfortunately he had a penchant to go after the things Montreal can provide when you are young, attractive, and a face of the Montreal Canadiens.

Had a penchant for that before he ever got to Montreal.

I have no concerns about Demidov because he's driven, already has a girlfriend, and is already exposed to some of the temptations in Russia that he'd get here and has avoided them. And he's coming into a room of good veterans, no bad influences, good kids around his age that are similarly focused on improving and winning, and a management team taht knows how important it is to surround their kids appropriately.

He seems to have a head on his shoulders...Galchenyuk did not.

 

[417]

I don't agree with this at all. He proved it too when he got the chance. You don't get to misuse prospects and then blame them for not reaching their potential.

That doesn't mean he didn't have flaws. But the team absolutely limited what he could've been.

That's fine...I happen to know otherwise and things we've seen happen after just confirm what I know for a fact.

Right. If a player is hellbent on destruction, there's no stopping him. But I don't think that was the case with Galchenyuk. I think he had some of that in him but at a minimum, we didn't help him. And the roster management was horrific. There's nothing he could do about that. Therrien decided to go with Desharnais as a number one. That's out of the player's hands.

The issues are far greater than you'd ever suspect. Not saying it was his fault, but this kid definitely put the mask on/off when he was a hockey player and when he wasn't.

Fortunately, MSL has a completely different approach. Yes, he's working with more mature players and it's a better culture here. But he's responsible for that culture. Demidov's walking into an ideal situation. The team's already winning. So if he falters a little bit, it's okay. Others can pick up the slack. That wasn't the case for guys like Paccioretty and Galchenyuk. EVERYTHING was riding on them because we couldn't score. And Therrien mismanaging them didn't make things any easier.

Players aren't angels, they all have vices...some, rather most, manage it better than others.

 

[ahmedou]

The GM visit was a key point! The GM gotta visit our prospects abroad!

There's a Demidov before the GM visit.

And there's a new Demidov after the GM visit.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

People worried about him coming to Montreal obviously have no idea what St. Petersburg is like lol

He will 100% be fine

 

[Jabba11]

Did Celebrini play wing or center last year with Boston Univ?

I really do think we have our 2C with Demidov. At the very least, we have a star puck possession winger for Dach to work with.

I think we have our franchise winger that can create from the wing. He’s not a center and why give him more responsibilities and pressure at a position he’s not even player in right now.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Trust me WTK...going to the gym every day does not mean you're not a goof off the ice too. He had issues way before the Montreal Canadiens even drafted him, Kassian didn't poison him.

There are far greater things that were troubling the young man.

Professional teams have a job to do by insulating their young players and trying to shelter/mentor them, but they're also paid professional athletes, they have a personal responsibility.

Some understand that better than others.

I know for a fact Galchenyuk was into some...anyways, maybe over a beer one day lol

Had a penchant for that before he ever got to Montreal.

He seems to have a head on his shoulders...Galchenyuk did not.

I was as big of a Galchenyuk fan around and followed him in his D-1 hoping the Habs would get him. There was not a sniff of off-ice or character concerns on the player. They all emerged when he got to the NHL and fell into circles, circles that were populated by some of the people that Bergevin brought into the organization himself.

If there were any prior character concerns, it wouldn't have mattered to Bergevin either. Nor would he have put anything in place to help mitigate them.

He took on Drouin, someone who had character and off-ice issues in the QMJHL that was known pre-draft, post-draft, and attitude issues that surfaced with Tampa Bay specifically. He just traded our best prospect, gave him the keys to the city, gave him a fat contract and put him at center game 1. Drouin was terrible for us and had to get mental health and substance abuse help at the end of it all.

We don't have to worry about that with the new regime because they care about it. Bergevin didn't and he got what he paid for.

 

[BJCOLLINS]

Broken Mario paced for 145 pts in 2001 and 111 pts in 2003 but yeah he’d be in tough today against Alex Kerfoot, Ethan Bear, and Cayden Primeau

Did you see Ovi at the Gretz museum(?) in Edmonton yesterday before the game? When asked about the great ones wooden twig he’s like I don’t know how he could use that thing. lol, it’s like me looking at my grandfathers persimmon golf clubs.

Sorry off topic……..
Go Demidov Go.
Say what you want but Kucherov is an offensive monster and if Demidov is bringing that level of talent???? We are in for a game breaker like we haven’t had for years. Cheers

 

[montreal]

 

[417]

I was as big of a Galchenyuk fan around and followed him in his D-1 hoping the Habs would get him. There was not a sniff of off-ice or character concerns on the player. They all emerged when he got to the NHL and fell into circles, circles that were populated by some of the people that Bergevin brought into the organization himself.

I mean, not publicly sure.

Doesn't mean there weren't any off-ice issues. They emerged publicly when he got to the NHL.

If there were any prior character concerns, it wouldn't have mattered to Bergevin either. Nor would he have put anything in place to help mitigate them.

Sure, maybe or maybe not...I know it's vogue to put everything on him but I don't think there's anything they could have done other than just plain not draft the kid.

They're running a hockey club after all, there's a form of support but they're also no babysitters either.

He took on Drouin, someone who had character and off-ice issues in the QMJHL that was known pre-draft, post-draft, and attitude issues that surfaced with Tampa Bay specifically. He just traded our best prospect, gave him the keys to the city, gave him a fat contract and put him at center game 1. Drouin was terrible for us and had to get mental health and substance abuse help at the end of it all.

We don't have to worry about that with the new regime because they care about it. Bergevin didn't and he got what he paid for.

I'm not aware of what off-ice issues with Drouin pre-draft...I didn't know with Galchenyuk either, all this came to the surface after and it made everything make sense to me.

Either way, hope he's got his life together now.

 

[waitin425]

"The name Vanya is a Slavic name that means "gift of God." It is a popular name in Russia, Ukraine, and other Slavic countries. The name is derived from the Russian word "vaniya," which means "gift." Vanya is a strong and meaningful name, and it suggests that the bearer is someone who is loved and cherished."


Indeed

 

[montreal]

 

[Kennerback]

People worried about him coming to Montreal obviously have no idea what St. Petersburg is like lol

He will 100% be fine

If you would be living vicariously like Demidov is your own child like me, you would understand the worry. I just want the best for Ivan.

 

[ReHabs]

People worried about him coming to Montreal obviously have no idea what St. Petersburg is like lol

He will 100% be fine

I made some friends from St. Petersburg, we were at a wedding and got on very well, and they invited me to visit and said we'd have a good time etc. My wife came in and very firmly said there is no way she would allow me to go party in St. Petersburg without her. The only place in the world she'd veto is the City on the Neva. I find that adorable in a way.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I made some friends from St. Petersburg, we were at a wedding and got on very well, and they invited me to visit and said we'd have a good time etc. My wife came in and very firmly said there is no way she would allow me to go party in St. Petersburg without her. The only place in the world she'd veto is the City on the Neva. I find that adorable in a way.

I am sorry that you did not go, it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Your wife is not wrong though lol

Even for a middle class, non hockey superstar like me (though still extremely good looking) it is a city of pure temptation