[MissTeeks]

A good article by Eric Francis about former Flame Mike Commodore living and playing in Russia.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/11/29...ife-in-the-khl

Sitting in one of his trademark robes in a university campus dorm at the other side of the world, Mike Commodore still has his sense of humour.

As part of a pro hockey journey that has seen him play for seven NHL and seven AHL teams the last 13 years, the 34-year-old defenceman has finally outdone himself by landing in a city even he had never even heard of before.
“If someone in Calgary is looking for a KHL team to cheer for, I think Vladivostok is closer to Calgary than it is to Moscow,” the former Flames defenceman said with a chuckle.
“Dude, I am in Russia but I am really in Asia. I’m 100 km from North Korea. I’m on the east side of China — Tokyo is a nice easy flight. I’m on the North Pacific Ocean, so if I went for a 10-minute jog I’d end up in the Pacific Ocean.”

They joke about sending people away to the nether regions of Siberia but Commodore easily puts in perspective just how remote a place Vladivostok is.
“Every road trip starts with a nine-hour flight to Moscow across seven time-zones,” said the man known, ironically, as Commie22 on Twitter.
“The worst part is the flight back. You’re with the wind so it’s eight hours but you lose seven hours. Your body is so screwed. We aren’t flying first-class, either. It’s commercial from here to Moscow. I’m racking up the frequent-flier miles. I will be platinum with Aeroflot in a month.”

“In some ways I feel like I’m returning to my roots as I live at the Far East Federal University,” said Commodore, who spent three years at the University of North Dakota where he was a second-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils in ’99.
“I live in a dorm. I eat at a cafeteria. It’s like I am back in college except without the parties because nobody speaks English.”

“I didn’t want to not do it, and then five years from now I say, ‘dammit,’ ” said the Fort Saskatchewan native who won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in ’06.
“If I didn’t do this, my career was over.”

“I came over here for a life experience and I’m getting it,” he said with a laugh, citing the fact his team simply forgot to file his papers while he waited endlessly in Finland.
“The drivers here are crazy — there are no rules. It snowed today but melted so I haven’t had to wear my jacket yet. People literally smoke everywhere, including restaurants … heck, I might start smoking.”

Eight games into his stay, he has yet to be paid cash via paper bag or briefcase (money is deposited straight into his bank account, much to his chagrin) and he hasn’t seen anything too unusual on the ice. Yet.
“The whole hockey mindset is different,” said Commodore, whose new city is 18 hours ahead of Calgary.
“I always wondered when Russians came over why don’t they know defensive-zone play, and now I know — it all makes sense now. The talent level is above the AHL but it’s just different hockey.
The coaching mindset is there’s no teaching. The attitude here is ‘you’re a pro, you should know.’ We don’t practise defensive-zone coverage or penalty-killing or neutral-zone play. That has led to some interesting shifts on the ice as no one speaks English and I don’t have a clue where anyone is going.”