I like to see Tre get Zadorov and Gudbransson signed before they hit free agency. Zadorov is definitely very mobile for a big d-man and counters the stay-at-home-type from Gudbransson. They've been a great 3rd pairing for the Flames, something that was missing for a good 10-12 years.
Way down the list of priorities though, and re-signing these two players is likely a luxury that the team won’t be able to afford next season if the top of the roster players are going to be retained.
Which just means Tree has to find the next Zadorov/Gudbranson.
It is also psychological , If you are friendly terms with other players you are more likely to play down to thier level. Sutter's approach makes it so it is not the player running the roost but they are playing for the coach. I like his approach if you have 2 bad games you are sitting, otherwise you get players with all sorts of lazy and bad habits. Flames need to raise expectations if they are going to go all the way. Every player is being conditioned to know what it takes to win and Sutter has this team on the fast track. If there are no lazy players on the roster we are going to beat the teams that are not conditioned or that have players with bad habits. Flames are improving over stats for a reason. Flames are all business they put it in the other teams head that they are going to lose before they even start the game.
Z 2nd Interview Part 2
Moving to Calgary
starting @ 25:20 - 29:45
Interviewer: Nikita we didn't see each other since the summer. A lot has happened in your life, a lot has happened in my life, tell us how are you doing?
Zadorov: Everything's good. I moved, back then I was still with Chicago, so we were discussing my contract with them. I ended up in Calgary. It's a different country. The last time I lived in Canada was 8 years ago when I was playing junior. Canada and the US are similar, but also quite different, so I can feel the difference here(slightly paraphrased on my part).
I: You have 6 points in 27 games this year vs. 8 points in 55 games last year. This year you have 2 goals out of which one is an absolute masterpiece. Can we say that you are acclimated in Calgary?
Z: Yes, the beginning was a bit difficult. It took me time to adjust to the new system, the new coach, and the new team. Now you can say that I'm already acclimated. I'm enjoying the game, and playing rather consistently.
I: What can Calgary brag about about?
Z: Calgary as a city?
I: Yes. As a city, as a team, in general.
Z: In general, I don't even know. The people here are awesome. I think that's the most important part. Everyone is pretty easy going and don't seek to confront you over crossing their path. People rather quietly live down their lives walk away and avoid confrontations, so it's a more of a calm and quiet life.
I: Yeah we even had a saying that if you hit a Canadian he would be the one apologizing to you.
Z: There's something to it, because people here are calmer, and more good-natured.
I: We all have an inner voice inside our heads or an intuition, that tells us when we're doing something right, or wrong. What was your inner voice telling you when you learned that you had to move from the US to Calgary, Canada. What was the first thought you had when you heard about the trade?
Z: I don't know. Probably that I have to exchange US dollars into Canadian. Seriously, I was thinking about that possibility(of playing in Canada) even before the trade. Moving all our possessions is quite a difficult process. We had an apartment in Chicago, so we had to hire the movers, and the trucks, package everything and transport it. Then we had to look for a house. We had to look for the right real-estate agent, the right house. It was all remote, when we were looking for this house we were never here.
I: Doesn't your agent take care of that stuff?
Z: Your agent helps you with it, but you are still dealing the the real-estate agent directly. A team that trades you before you turn 27, as an RFA, has to pay for your moving costs and all that. They are the ones responsible for finding the real-estate agents and everything, and then they cover it. In contrast, if you get traded as a signed UFA(he just said free agent but I think that's what he meant), you are responsible for the moving costs.
For example, if I were to change teams next year, with all our furniture and two cars moving would cost me around $20,000. In addition, the whole process of moving is far from fun, you have dust everywhere. You hire one company that gathers all your stuff, and packages everything in far from an optimal fashion. We had a couple of things broken, a couple of rather expansive paintings scratched and so on. It's all a part of the process of moving, adding extra stress you have to deal with. That's probably the biggest negative of moving. Also, moving from city to city within the US was easier. I had my car delayed for a month at the border because I didn't have my car history report(PTS in Russian). I had all the documents for the car, all the registrations and so on. That wouldn't have been an issue in the US, so I ended up having to email them the car history report. However the truck(I'm assuming the transport vehicle for his car) has left by then so had to arrange a different pickup. Anyways, we had to wait for a while because of it. So there are those little nuances when crossing the border, and passing customs.
Last edited by gvitaly; 02-20-2022 at 11:44 AM.
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Based on the comment about having 6 points in 27 games, this was shot in mid-January between the Ottawa and Florida games.
He's now at 13 points in 41 games.
Yes, it was right after the Ottawa game. Somewhere in the video they showed the score with Ottawa as the previous game. Also, they had the Ottawa Calgary game-sheets laying around when the youtuber was walking around the rink.
Thank you! Avoiding the covid/political talk, can you translate what the section was where they are talking about comparing different cities?
Like they talk about Moscow and Toronto and Calgary and Vancouver. Can you explain what the are saying? It seems to be about the character/qualities of the cities, architecture, etc.
There's a section at 59:18 about this and also at the end summarizing the cities at 2:58:00
Thank you! Avoiding the covid/political talk, can you translate what the section was where they are talking about comparing different cities?
Like they talk about Moscow and Toronto and Calgary and Vancouver. Can you explain what the are saying? It seems to be about the character/qualities of the cities, architecture, etc.
There's a section at 59:18 about this and also at the end summarizing the cities at 2:58:00
I will do the section from 53-1hr mark next. As a quick summary though the youtuber brings a Russian saying that "Moscow is not Russia", and asks Zadorov if we could say the same about Toronto and Canada. The idea is that the lifestyle and sheer volume of entertainment and places to go is much larger than in most cities within the countries. Zadorov was saying that Calgary is like Texas that way, that's the bulk of America is similar. As for Vancouver he said it was more of an asian city because it had a majority of an asian population, was built on the water, had mostly rainy weather and so on.
The section at 2:58:00 lists the cities that the youtuber(not Zadorov) has been to on this trip. He lists some similarities and says that it's harder for cities to surprise you after visiting Toronto. He says that all the Canadian cities had this in common: Amazing nature, and landscape, the best hockey in the world, a built downtown with high risers, homeless people, fast food, a completely dead city after 9pm, and huge COVID restrictions. Essentially they didn't notice many differences between the cities so far. Finally he says that cities like Calgary and Edmonton are a lot less exciting/simpler than a city like Toronto, that's why if his viewers want to go to Canada then they better start of from these smaller cities to get the Canadian way of life and only then visit Toronto.
Last edited by gvitaly; 02-20-2022 at 07:28 PM.
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Z Interview Part 3
Starting @53:00 - 1:01:00
The Dome Being Quiet
Interviewer: We were at your game last night, and it was very unusual and strange how quiet it was. We even caught ourselves trying not to speak too loudly because then everyone would hear it. It was dead silent. Yes, I understand COVID, and half capacity.
Zadorov: When we had 18,000 it was similar.
I: Why is that? Why are the fans so bad at cheering here?
Z: From my understanding, Calgary is a business city of rich people. There are many companies - Oil companies, hedgefunds and so on. They essentially bought out most of the season tickets. They give those tickets to their employees, some get to go to one game, others to another. That way we get a lot more white collar fans than hardcore fans. Also, like I was saying, Canadians understand the game of hockey, a lot more than Americans.
I: They also love it a lot more.
Z: They love it, but they also understand it. They understand the game. Why yell for no reason if you went to watch the game.
I: That's true, they yell only when something is happening.
Z: They understand the ebbs and flows of the game. Americans come to enjoy the show. They come to drink, have fun, dance, appear on the jumbo-tron. It's all a part of the show. Here, in Canada, the people come to watch the game of hockey.
I: Where do hockey players prefer to play?
Z: Obviously, when everyone is yelling and screaming it creates a better atmosphere, at least for me. The playoffs here have an amazing atmosphere though. When we were playing in Calgary with Colorado, it was absolutely crazy.
I: What's the difference? The white collar crowd doesn't show up to the playoffs?
Z: Playoffs are just different, nothing even comes close to the playoffs. That's why you want to play in the playoffs each year, because it's such a high, and so much fun.
Flames losing money, arena talk, moving to Houston
I: A lot of the talk I read on the internet before coming here was saying that: First of all, Calgary was a club that's losing money right now. Second of all, that the owner of the club is quite disappointed by all the COVID restrictions, because he's losing money from people not being able to go to games. Third, that you have the oldest arena in the league. I believe it was built in 83, and hasn't been modernized since. Moreover the city doesn't want to do anything in order to build a new arena. I even heard the owner threaten to move the club to Huston.
Z: Yes I heard. There were talks, there was even an agreement in place regarding a new arena. They agreed to a 50/50 split between the city and the owner. Eventually, they couldn't agree over $15M, that were meant for pedestrian routes towards the arena. I think that the owner simply got tired of all the COVID restrictions in Canada. I think that his business here has taken a hit, because the Flames are not his main business. As far as I heard he flew to Switzerland for the time being. So yes there was talk about moving the team. The talk of moving happened a while back though. I can't remember when, but I believe it happened in 2013 when they were signing the initial arena agreement with the city. At that time I believe that if an agreement would not have been struck they would've moved the team to Houston. All the way back in 2013, at least as far as I heard. I don't know how much of it is true and how much is speculation.
The club is definitely losing money at the moment. We have 50% capacity, combined with the inability to sell beer, hotdogs, or anything. So yes, I think they are losing money on it. That's why we moved half our games for now. We're waiting to see if the Omnicron wave lessens in Canada in the next 2-3 weeks. I hope as it all works out and we will get back to the same restrictions like in the beginning of the season.
I: Well if Calgary disappears from the NHL map, it would be disappointing.
Z: Yes, that would be quite the hit. It's not like moving Arizona or Florida. You have quite the history associated with the Flames.
COVID regulations in Canada
I'll put it here, since he doesn't really say anything earth shattering in this section, but if you think you might get offended by Z's opinion simply skip this section.
NSFW!
I: Canada is quite strange with COVID, you have different regulations in each province.
Z: It varies from state to state in the States as well. Alberta is more like Texas that way. It's more republican. That's why it's usually the last province to adopt any nuclear measures when it comes to restrictions. That's because the people here are more normal(sane). Take Quebec for example, as soon as something happens they have a lock-down, police in the streets, curfew, they even added a tax for unvaccinated people.
I: Romanov was telling me that they have a curfew after 9pm over there.
Z: That's right, after 9pm, the cops come out, and they can detain you for breaking curfew.
I: Whaaaat?
Z: They same thing is happening all over Europe, in Austria, the Netherlands. In Australia there are riots between cops and rioters for over two years now. I just think that the countries were not prepared for a pandemic at all. There wasn't a plan in place from the start, so they were unsuccessful in dealing with it.
I think the US is a little more advanced in dealing with it because it's more open, and almost everything is controlled by commercial businesses. That's why everything is developed faster unlike here where the government controls everything. Everything is developed/constructed a little slower - hospitals, medicine, and so on. The hospitals themselves are not commercial, they are owned by the government. In the US everything happens faster - tests, vaccines - bang bang and you're done.
Canadian Texas, and other cities
I: We arrived to Calgary after Toronto. Toronto was the first city we visited in Canada. Then we went to Edmonton, Calgary, after we'll visit Vancouver. We have a saying in Russia that "Moscow is not Russia", can we say the same about Toronto? That "Toronto is not Canada" because it's a completely different city and when you get to say Calgary, you are a little underwhelmed. As in there could've been more. I was expecting more, and it seems as though it is an awesome city, lots of nature and amazing landscapes, Banff is beautiful nearby. In reality though something is missing, don't you have that feeling?
Z: Well like I was telling you, if you're going to go to Texas it's going to be the same. This is simply America. They have Cowboys, we have the same cowboys. It's really the Canadian Texas. When you go to Vancouver next, you'll also get the feeling that "Vancouver is not Canada".
I: Vancouver isn't Canada?
Z: Not at all, it's more like an Asian city.
I: Vancouver?
Z: First of all, you have about 70% of the population from an Asian ethnicity. The city is right on the water, you get a lot of rain in it. It's almost like St. Petersburg in terms of weather. Anyways, you will think of Vancouver as quite different from the other cities you've seen. As for Toronto, it's a big megapolis, so it's different. That said you have yet to visit Montreal either.
I: Not yet.
Z: Montreal is a bit cold in the winter, but really awesome during the summer. It's like Europe, France. You get very small narrow streets. One and two floor houses. A very old beautiful city, with pretty architecture. Montreal is also similar to Toronto. Canada has many faces/views/cities. However the city I would associate with Canada the most would be Calgary.
Last edited by gvitaly; 02-20-2022 at 08:58 PM.
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Zadorov is incredibly well-spoken and truly knows his stuff.
Doesn't speak out of his a** and shares his thoughts with great info backing it up.
Love it.
A couple facts gotten wrong but at least interested in things. The moving stuff was a bit overblown and I wonder if that’s a view among players - that Calgary is at risk of moving.
His house on the hill is pretty damn impressive, must be a high priced rental?
I liked the talks about how hockey players in other countries drive Ferraris but Zadorov drives a GMC SUV because a dealership gave it to him for free for a promotion and most players here drive winter vehicles. There was something about Backlund and a Mercedes though?
He was brought in to be the #4D, quickly fell to #7D, but has worked his way up to be a highly effective #5D. If Gudbranson ever had to miss time I'd love to see a Zadorov-Kinnvall pair, they seem like such a natural fit together.
__________________
"May those who accept their fate find happiness. May those who defy it find glory."
A couple facts gotten wrong but at least interested in things. The moving stuff was a bit overblown and I wonder if that’s a view among players - that Calgary is at risk of moving.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he confused 2013 with 2019/2020. That said I figured it’s better to not edit those things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
His house on the hill is pretty damn impressive, must be a high priced rental?
I liked the talks about how hockey players in other countries drive Ferraris but Zadorov drives a GMC SUV because a dealership gave it to him for free for a promotion and most players here drive winter vehicles. There was something about Backlund and a Mercedes though?
I’ll try to get to the cars discussion, but I think I will do it tomorrow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandman
Can't get enough of your posts, gvitaly. Truly awesome, thank-you!
I’m glad you’re enjoying it. That’s why I don’t mind putting in the work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coach
Don’t really think he said anything controversial about the Covid scenarios. More just describing how it was going down in different places.
There was more COVID talk in other sections. Especially discussing symptoms, restrictions, and if games should be canceled. Why Canada is struggling with COVID more than the US in Z’s opinion and so on. That’s why I said there was nothing earth shattering in this section. I just know it can be a touchy topic for some.
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