28:50 Impactful season in Dynamo Minsk
- Let's get back to the moment you came back during covid. You play for Dynamo, but don't finish the entire season. You put up great numbers in 34 games, which is a bit more than half a season, and you score 17 goals in that span. That's amazing production, much higher than in the AHL. What do you think made you take such a step in your game?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
I think that I had a very good preseason that year. I probably didn't train as well in the previous seasons
|
- Maybe because Dasha wasn't a part of your life yet.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Yes. A relationship really helps a lot in hockey. It's easier to deal with things when they don't go your way. It also gives you confidence, because you're working hard not only for yourself
|
- I just think that if your wife is a fitness coach, then she gets to control your nutrition too, there probably are more restrictions and more guidance on a day-to-day basis.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Yes, she's also a nutritionist. We don't have any bad food at home, nothing that's very fatty, or fried. She tries to cook healthy for the both of us.
|
- It means that you always have access to healthy food
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Yes, I do. We still buy sweets, but I think everyone eats sweets, we just limit the quantity. As far as other food, we eat right, she makes sure of that.
|
- So you had a good season, a good preseason, a new coach in Dynamo, but you were familiar with him.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
I didn't know Woodcroft that well, but we had one Hockey World Championship in 2017 in France. Then Dave Lewis was the head coach, and Craig [Woodcroft] was his assistant. We weren't that close. I really got to know Misha Grabovsky and Craig Woodcroft in Dynamo. In reality, a lot depends on confidence, and if your coach trusts you. Craig, and his coaching staff, really trusted me. In contrast, in the AHL if you'd make 2–3 mistakes in a game you could be a healthy scratch for the next game. In Dynamo, that trust from the coaching staff, increased my confidence with each game, that lead to a very good season.
|
31:30 Did Sharangovich get preferential treatment in Dynamo?
- There were opinions out there that you got preferential treatment. As in you were like the coach's son. That said, I don't know of any coach's son that would score in every second game, and wear a letter as a 22-year-old. You seemed to reward that trust by quality play, and scoring goals. You didn't just get the ice time because you were a young Belarusian player. It doesn't work that way.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Yes, it doesn't. Obviously I had a good relationship with Misha, Craig, and the whole training staff. Why not? They let me play, gave me the ice time, and I was playing at the level expected of me, showing my game.
|
- Many in the post Soviet world, think that if you have a good relationship with the coach it should be frowned upon. Because then he'd be more likely to give you preferential treatment. In North America, a coach can talk to a player as an equal, hang out outside of hockey, even see you at a bar, but if you put in the work during practice no one bats an eye at that. Everyone in North America knows their job on the ice during practice, it's not as though you would hang out with the coach by the bench to take things easy.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
That's right. In North America, you can talk to your coach about things outside of hockey in the locker room. In Belarus and Russia it's a bit different. Everyone thinks that if you have a less than a strictly formal relationship, then you're trying to suck up to the coach. In North America, it's a lot less formal. For example, this year, we gave Savard a ride from the airport. He was talking to us about his son, about everything he does outside of hockey, asked about our lives. We simply shared news, there was nothing to it.
|
- I think that it's the way it should be, if you're a team, then the coaches should also be a part of that team.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Yes.
|
34:05 Moving to the NHL during the season
- You left Belarus very quickly. Almost as though you were in a rush. All of a sudden, the NHL announced their season, and started gathering its teams. How did you get the news, and what did you know in December? Did you know you would join the main squad instead of the AHL? Can you remember any of it? And how things worked out?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Dan gave me a call in the middle of December. It was about a week or two before I had to fly over. It was difficult to just pick up and go, because I was having a really great season. I think we were around 6th spot, looking towards the playoffs. We had a very good team, that was on a heater. I already built chemistry with my line mates. I also got to wear a letter. That's why I asked Dan if there was a chance I could finish the season. He told me that no, it was my only chance to make it to the main NHL squad. That's because the team was keeping an eye on me throughout the KHL season, and would give me a good shot at making it to the main squad.
|
- Did you have any doubts about it at the time? Because you had to sacrifice what really was a great season.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
You always have doubts. You sacrifice that season, you fly over there, but you know the reason you're flying. There's one goal, and no way back. It was the choice between chasing my dream and having a good season in Dynamo.
|
- Did you have a choice to go back to Dynamo in the case things didn't work out, and you were sent to the AHL?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
No, because the lease to Dynamo is over.
|
- So I would've most likely had to play in the AHL for the remainder of that season?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Yes, I tried not to think about it. I was obviously worried about making the team.
|
- Your decision in May, when you asked Dan to explore the option of leasing you from the Devils to Dynamo, was the right decision. In January, you ended up in an NHL's camp with a bunch of players that didn't have preseasons, didn't play games, and didn't get their rhythm yet. The half of year of work you put in with the team showed dividends. You were on a huge heater, and everyone else was a step behind.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Many guys practiced by themselves, at their homes or garages, looked for rinks and trained there by themselves. Canada and the US had very tough restrictions at the time. You couldn't even go to the gym. A lot of players were investing in building themselves home gyms in their garages. It was a major advantage that NJ agreed to lease me for that time period.
|
- So you had an advantage?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
NJ didn't make the playoffs in the previous year, so they finished their season very early. So guys were just stuck working out by themselves. NJ didn't even make it to the last 24 teams play-in round, so the players had a huge gap in play time. That's why I think it was a lot easier for me during the practices to show that I deserved to be in the NHL.
|
- You didn't have much of a drop-off in your production. It was a different league, but you still put up a decent amount of points in the NHL in your first year. Was it the last year of your ELC?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Yes.
|
- So you were right on time in that regard. It really was your “last chance” to quote Dan. You showed your quality to the organization. Did you know that you were getting your contract renewed in the middle of that season?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
Yes, we didn't go into details, but we were having conversations with NJ regarding term, and money.
|
- There weren't any doubts about NJ treating you as a part of the big squad from that point on?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
That's right.
|
- That was a good season for you in 2021. Let's talk about your move to North America. You didn't have any reservations about the move.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sharangovich
I still had a hard time moving and going to the AHL, especially after my first year.
|