Quote:
Originally Posted by gargamel
I agree that it's unfortunate, but you can't hold that against him. Also, as noted in the last poll, he was planning to come to the Flames developmental camp this year but couldn't get a visa. I understand why he's under the radar, but I think he'd be ahead of Mattson and Hickey if he were from anywhere but Russia.
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After getting to watch Rafikov the last two days (pleasant surprise) I cannot find a reason why he is not on Wotherspoon's level of ranking outside of the Rusky factor. Seriously. Very identical in their style of play.
Maybe the tinted glasses were on and maybe they weren't but he was Russia's best D man consistently for both games. Galiev was close but Rafikov was steadfast both games.
I'm even more intrigued how his NHL future pans out now because at this point, it looks like a massive steal in the 7th round for the Flames. For a team that's shyed away for Russians for a very long time, they may have found a good egg.