[gvitaly]

01:08:12 Leaving New Jersey, moving to Calgary

- Which side decided that you won't be renewing your contract in NJ?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

The writing was on the wall. It was obvious at that point that I wasn't going to be with the team.

- It was mutual then. The coach didn't have a role for you since it changed, and you didn't see yourself in that role either.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes, pretty much.

- You just had different ambitions?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes, but it's still difficult. Changing something even after such a season. I've been with the organization for 6 years, or maybe 5. When you're familiar with everything, it's very hard to just change it.

- The fans really loved you over there.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

I liked it over there as well.

- In my opinion you had a very good relationship with the city, with the organization

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes, with all the staff. Sergei Brilin for example, he's a coach over there, I had a very good relationship with him. I liked it over there, but I needed a change after the season. That season was the most difficult for me psychologically. Even Dasha saw that I was frustrated. You can play well, but you still only get to play on the 3rd or 4th line. The amount you spend on the ice is completely different. I was playing for 17–18 minutes a night for 2 seasons, and then it dropped to 9–10 minutes a night.

- So at some point mid-season you realized that you were ready for a change.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes.

- The season was over. Dan [Milstein] was probably looking for options. What options did you have? Which serious inquiries were there?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

In reality, there weren't too many rumors. At some point, Dan mentioned Nashville, and the Islanders. It never evolved into serious offers, though.

One night, Dan calls me around 3 or 4 am. He tells me that there's an option to go to Calgary. Then about an hour later, I get a call from the GM of the Devils. He thanks me for the job I've done, and everything I've done for NJ, and tells me that I've been traded to Calgary.

- He personally called you?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes, and Dan called me. The [NJ] GM called me first, then Dan, then the Calgary GM. So I got a bit of a sleepless night. Then we got the contract done right away. You can say that I was traded with that contract already in place.

- So you realized what you were getting yourself into.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes.

- Many don't really want to go to Calgary, because of the cold, and the large distances. How did you approach it?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

First of all I wanted the change. Change the entire atmosphere after the season, because I knew I couldn't stay there any longer.

The cold is definitely a factor. We felt it this season, but we really love it over there. Even when there's snow, it's different from NJ. We also live in a house in Calgary [like we did in NJ]. We could just leave the house and take our kid for a walk, there are many parks around. It's a very family friendly city.

- It's quiet/safe

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes. In NJ, we always had to drive 20–30 minutes just to go for a walk in the park.

- Based on your personality, Calgary seems like a better fit.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes. We like it over there.

- And Dasha's personality is probably more suited to NJ

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

I wouldn't say so. She does get a bit bored in Calgary, but you always have to sacrifice something.

- Is it true that your house comes with an elevator?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

It had. *awkward laugh*

- How many floors is it? Is it a 2-story home?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Come on, I won't be able to live it down.

- Are you actually concerned with people giving you ####? Do you read the comments?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

I don't read the comments.

- Do your parents or wife read them?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

My friends, sometimes send me quotes.

- Let them. Wait, so you don't deserve to live in a house with more than one floor? You're an elite athlete, and you're not the only one on the planet. It's very normal for that league. And let's be honest, that's the most modest league in NA when it comes to compensation. Especially when we compare it to basketball, and it doesn't bother anyone there. So why should it bother you?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

It doesn't.

- So how often did you use the elevator?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Honestly, a couple of times. To move the couch or other heavy furniture.

- So you don't use it to get up to the 2nd floor. I think it would be faster walking.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes, of course. I don't know why the previous owners installed an elevator. Probably so they could move heavier things. For example a heavy armchair, and just push the button, but yeah we never really use it.

- It just sounds cool, a home with an elevator. Like a mansion. We organized the entire move from Belarus.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes. We realized that I was going to get traded. We packed all our things in boxes at the end of the season, and put them in storage. Whenever a trade happens, the team hires a moving company.

- So when you arrive, your things wait for you in your new house?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

When we got to Calgary, we still had to wait for our things. There were a couple of questions with customs.

- How do you move things, do the moving trucks drive across the border?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

The way I understand it is that your stuff gets loaded into one truck. It goes all the way to the border, then they take everything out, let customs check everything. Once it passes customs, they load it up onto a different truck on the other side of the border, and drive it all the way to our house.

- What about your cars? How did you move them?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

I only had 1 car over there. We didn't renew the lease on the other. I asked Mikhail Grabovski, he had an acquaintance that was willing to drive it across.

01:15:01 Free cars for hockey players

- When it comes to cars, in Canada, hockey players can get cars from dealerships. How true is it? And how does it work?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes, that's true. You can't find those types of deals in the US. In Canada, you can approach a dealership. We have a person in our organization, Gold Star, whose job it is to call various dealerships and inquire about a free car. Ilya Solovyov drives a Hyundai, can't remember the model. This year when Zadorov got traded, he left me his Cadilac Escalate

- Is that what you drive now?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

I was driving it in the winter. Then I returned it. I did it because after returning from an away game, probably it was Florida or somewhere warm, and there was a snowfall in Calgary. I ended up drifting on a turn.

- Did you drive off the road?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Dasha even warned me that it's very slippery in Calgary. My other/previous BMW had better traction in turns. The Escalate is heavy, and I pushed the gas pedal a bit, and it drifted. As a result, I broke the brake rotor (disc).

- That's not too bad.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Also, one of the airbags deployed.

- No one was, injured, so that's okay

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yeah, we thought the car was going to be fine, but we went home and changed cars anyway. When we got home a few hours later, the suspension was all the way down, and the disc was broken. I called the dealership, told them that I hit the curb by accident. They fixed everything for free, I just gave them a couple of signed jerseys.

- Is it connected to the fact that everyone loves hockey in Canada

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yeah, they really love hockey in Canada. For example, I was getting a phone plan for myself and Dasha. As soon as I told the employee my name, he asked me if I was traded for Toffoli. After I told him it was me, he even gave me his 20-30% friends and family discount.

- So you feel it in Canada more than in the US?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Yes, people really love it.

- Do people recognize you?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

Not so much, but sometimes.

- You also don't go outside for hours at a time to be as recognizable.

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

That's true. With all the away games, you get tired, so you spend a lot of time at home resting. Aside from that, you go shopping.

- How does your day off look like?

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

It depends on the weather. When we just got to Calgary in September, the weather was really nice. We were going with the baby to Banff and Lake Louise every couple of days. On a typical day off, we have a nanny, so Dasha and I can go somewhere, either shopping, or eat out somewhere.

- Yes, you just want to rest, because you don't get many days off in the NHL. I think that the NHL is quite a hard league because an 82 games regular season is too much, and you get back to backs, and have to fly over the border

Originally Posted by Sharangovich

That's one thing I felt this season. Calgary is far away from all teams except Edmonton, which is a 30-min flight. All other flights take at least an hour and a half, two hours. That's pretty different from when I played in NJ, when you had 10 teams that are an hour flight away. The flights from Calgary, are not exactly harder, but definitely longer.