Vasily Podkolzin | #92 | RW

[Captain Canuck #12]

Fascinating.  Thank you Stierlitz!

[Rollieo Del Fuego]

11 hours ago, Stierlitz said:

Well, I am going to break the interview because it is so large. This is the first part about the draft:

 

Q: How has your life changed after the draft?

A: Nothing really changes much. I get about 5,000 more followers in Instagram, that’s about it. We just visited Canada, the whole family and got a great show, memory for the rest of my life.

 

Q: We asked Nikita Zaitsev – he was not recognized in Ottawa at all. But people in Vancouver did recognize you everywhere.

A: Yeah this happened, people recognized me. But I was walking in the Canucks jersey. Later I took the jersey off and some people recognized me, some did not. This was nice, you could feel that this is a hockey city.

 

Q: My colleagues from Vancouver said that you were recognized in the stores without any identification marks.

A: This happened in a store and also in a restaurant which my whole family and my agent visited after the draft. This was the euphoria day. Well, the home draft for Canucks, that’s probably the reason that people knew about me.

 

Q: Elias Pettersson said that he could not go shopping without cashiers asking to take picture with him. Are you ready for this?

A: Perhaps this would mean that I am doing quite well. Someone could find this annoying for sure, but Elias deserves with his play to be recognizable everywhere. I think this is great when people come to you.

 

Q: You were contacted by 17 NHL clubs during the pre-draft tests. And you said that one of them was especially attractive to you. Which one?

A: I liked interviews with Vancouver, Detroit, Washington and Chicago. I am not going to say anything about the pre-draft preference, let’s keep this in the past. I was drafted by a very good team. Regarding the development plans and my playing style – this is exactly what I need.

 

Q: Did that “one” team draft high?

A: No. I just like them on a personal level.

 

Q: Were there some clubs that you did not like?

A: Yes. Coming for an interview you see right away how they look at you, how they feel about you. What questions are asked. One thing when they are talking to learn something new about you, and different one when they try to “poke” you.

 

Q: How did they poke you?

A: I could get some provocative questions. For instance, I was shown video with my mistakes. I said: ”Why don’t you also show my good plays?” And they said: “Well this is it”.

 

Q: But this is just stress test.

A: I understand this. And they look at your reaction. Basically my reaction to everything was very calm, I don’t think any team has bad impression about me. Overall this was excellent experience. All those interviews were very interesting, even not very pleasant ones.

 

Q: Did they ask about vodka?

A: Not at all, I was surprised because I was prepared to such questions.

 

Q: You said that interview with Washington was very positive. How was that?

A: Their attitude to Russians was pretty evident, I felt very comfortable. They asked me to sing and play music. I asked them to choose which songs to perform. This was not a joke, I told them that I could play piano a bit (Podkolzin’s mom is the piano teacher). I can play Beatles, can play notes.

 

Q: Your physical tests were quite average.

A: The most important is how you pass interviews. How you represent himself, how you talk to the staff. Tests… The best guy in those tests – I don’t even know what round he was drafted, if he was drafted at all.

 

Q: Last year Liam Foudy was outstanding during the tests and got to the 1^st round from the initial 3-4^th round of the draft.

A: Maybe. I did not even prepare myself to the tests. Came a week before, visited gym three times. I came after vacation, did something but not much. This was the first time I tried bicycle with oxygen mask. This was awful, very hard, I did throw up afterwards.

 

Q: How many pull-ups did you do?

A: Four. In fact, I am not good in pull-up, I don’t know why. But in the draft day I did ten pull-ups in total.

 

Q: What happened on the scene during your draft ceremony? This was not quite clear from TV coverage.

A: Ou this was… I was shocked by the public's reaction. That was very loud, and my selection was met with ovation. I was very pleased. There was announcement and I immediately heard cheering. Extremely happy. Home draft!

 

Q: You sure expected to go in the first ten picks…

A: No.

 

Q: You were invited to the media day. Only ten players are usually invited – those who are expected with very high possibility to be drafted in the first ten.

 

Q: I did not think about this. There was funny moment a day before the draft. My agency organized some kind of alcohol free party. And I said: “What if I am not drafted in the first round?” Everyone was laughing. But they did not understand how I felt. Before that party I did not care much – what round, what draft pick overall. I did not think about this during pre-draft tests, just wanted to look at everything from inside, hang out with people, learn something new.

But the day before the draft and the draft day – those were the most nervous days in my life. Wild pressure. It seems - why worry, the cool show, everything is nice. Americans know how to do it, well done. And you think to yourself – just in the first round would be very good. You are sitting, waiting, three minutes to each team for selection, another three minutes for the selected player to show up on the scene. And each three minutes like an hour.

The first three selections – not that bad, I played games in cell phone. Applauded, right guys were chosen. Starting with the seven’s selection, I watched closely. My hands were shaking, I could not hold my cell phone properly. When the Vancouver team went to the scene, my agent said: “Take off your jacket”. Maybe he had some feeling. And I started panicking. I went to the scene, shook hands with everyone, Quinn Hughes gave me jersey and hat. I put the hat on first, then realized that the jersey would not work with the hat. For some reason I was going to walk to the middle of the scene and Quinn told me: “Where do you go, stay here, put this on”. I felt so nervous, so embarrassing. But my nervousness quickly disappeared and I participated in various media events during next hour.

 

Q: How did you sleep after the draft day?

A: My roommate was Ilya Konovalov who was drafted next day. Ilya fell asleep but I could not until 3 am. First, replied to all congratulations, then was just thinking about what just happened. I thought about my life in Podolsk, how I played in White Bears as a kid. I did not even think about myself to be here even though watched TV coverage (of NHL drafts). And here I am – selected in the first round. I was happy.

 

Q: Did you get to know other top 10 picks during media days?

A: I did already know many of them. I was not familiar with Kakko only, even though we played against each other. Yes, I talked to Kakko, just couple of phrases. I talked to Jack Hughes a bit. We also talked with Jack in the world junior championship during the captains meeting despite my broken English. We hate each other on the ice but normally communicate in life.

Q: How did you sleep after the draft day?

A: My roommate was Ilya Konovalov who was drafted next day. Ilya fell asleep but I could not until 3 am. First, replied to all congratulations, then was just thinking about what just happened. I thought about my life in Podolsk, how I played in White Bears as a kid. I did not even think about myself to be here even though watched TV coverage (of NHL drafts). And here I am – selected in the first round. I was happy.

 

That is the telling answer...we have a player here, with heart and grounding....thank you JB!

 

If this were Laine or Tchapuke they would have been up all night ....playing Fortnite or whatever it is called....

[Stierlitz]

More about the draft from the interview:

 

Q: And how did you sleep the night before the draft?

A: Not bad. I also had two interviews in the draft day – Vancouver was first and Florida second. Good conversations. That was pretty interesting with Canucks. I met a psychologist, very nice lady. I was given paper and pencil and asked to draw church, construction and house. I did my best, spent about an hour. She divided the paper with my drawing in three parts and said – this is past, present and this is future. And it did not matter at all how good my drawings were ha-ha. I don’t even remember which drawing was in which place. I don’t believe in this anyway. They said that if drafted, more tests would come. But my play on the ice is what is important after all.

Later we went for dinner with my family. After dinner I said: “That is it, I go for a walk”. I was in suit, feeling nervous since morning, all those thoughts were swirling through my head – I was ready in 2.5 hours before the draft. So I went for a walk on my favourite route in Vancouver which I had chosen earlier during the world junior championship. Just walked in familiar places. And had weird feeling, pleasant and unpleasant at the same time. Because from one side, everything is cool, just enjoy the moment. Many people would love to be in your place. On other side, you don’t know what to expect. I had no idea which club would take me. Later sitting in the stands I realized that I was not alone, other players were also shaking. Only Jack Hughes was extremely calm, he probably knew since the season opening that he would go first overall.

 

Q: You had meeting with Canucks owner Francesco Aqualini and general manager Jim Benning. What did they say?

A: Congratulations. They said they were very happy that I became part of Canucks. And they will be waiting. I was very surprised that they praised my English because I practically did not speak English. I understand what I am told but not able to reply fluently. Small vocabulary. We discussed a bit about English because I would need in future to talk to players and give press interviews.

 

Q: Do you study English?

A: Yes, for one hour three times a week. Still not enough. I am confused with large volume of new words I am getting. I need to live in some English speaking environment to learn all this naturally. Anyhow, I will be moving forward in little steps. I am going to study English during the regular season as well.

[Smashian Kassian]

On 8/15/2019 at 5:39 PM, Stierlitz said:

Finally, there is large and very interesting interview with Podkolzin about Vancouver, NHL draft, world junior championship, SKA... I have been waiting for such interview since June:

https://www.sport-express.ru/hockey/khl/reviews/bolshoe-intervyu-novogo-forvarda-talanta-vasiliya-podkolzina-o-drafte-nhl-o-vankuvere-yuniorke-ska-i-mchm-1574665/

 

I will try to translate this interview, this would take some time, Vasily uses a lot of natural Russian idioms that are not easy to paraphrase into English... Man, you are gonna love this interview, it answers so many questions about Podkolzin.

 

 

[Smashian Kassian]

I love this part about J. Hughes. 

 

"We hate each other on the ice but normally communicate in life."

 

Seems like a confident & dedicated kid. Can't wait till he's playing in Vancouver.

[Stierlitz]

This is Part 2 answering the most popular question: Why did his performance drop so much in the second half of the last season (before the draft)..?

 

Q: You seem to play too much last season. And probably because of that the world junior championship (WJC) has not been successful for you. What moment did you realize that it got tough for you?

A: My fatigue was coming gradually. Unfortunately, it affected my play in the worst possible time. This happened during playoffs of WJC. I could not do much in the preliminary round. And in the quarter-final game against Belarus I had a hard time. Next, everyone gave his all in the semi-final against the USA. We talked before the final that this would be the last game of the season. But all players were clearly tied, that was difficult for us even to sit. Probably that was the reason we did not have enough power in overtime. We could win in the 3^rd period though, we scored in the first shift of that period.

 

Q: That is not the point. You practically did not practice on the ice in training camp before the WJC. Because, as the head coach said, your heart rate would go up to 150 per minute as soon as you get to the ice.

A: That happened. I don’t know if I have played too much. This means I have not been ready physically, maybe did something wrong while preparing for the season. Hope this would never happen again.

 

Q: At the same time, how would you prepare to play more than 80 games in the season considering that you had played in the Vityaz system before?

A: I actually had more hard time mentally than physically. Although I am young and should be ready for everything. The most difficult period was in April.

 

Q: What would you refrain from playing now: MHL, VHL?

A: I would not reject anything, I always enjoy hockey.The problem by the season end seemed to be that other players were fresh and I was not. But this preseason I have had intensive training camp with SKA laying the foundation for new season. Based on this and my hard work, I will try to keep my optimal form to the season end.

 

Q: You just returned from WJC and played game in MHL. And got injury. Was there any way to avoid this situation? At least explain coaches that this could be dangerous.

A: How could I refuse to play? And I did not mind. Just acclimatization affected my play and I got dumb injury. I would avoid this if I was fresh. In some way this was deciding moment because I did not play for two weeks afterwards. And my play went down after that break.

 

Q: This is what I am talking about. Did not the club staff check your physical conditions? Take your heart rate, other health parameters?

A: That’s not the problem. After the challenge cup in Bonneville I came to the junior national team to prepare for WJC (U18). This was interesting, new players, everything new. I felt energized, got powers. After return from U18 championship I was immediately sent to another national team (U20). Again new players, different hockey. In moments like this I badly want to play. And sometimes your health does not match your desire.

 

Q: You cannot get through the entire season based on just emotions.

A: Unfortunately no. This has played a dirty trick on me.

 

Q: Your hockey schedule last season did not probably let you even go to movie theatre with friends.

A: We counted some time ago – I spent just two months in total in Saint Petersburg in the last season. But that season gave me a lot regarding my hockey development. I have changed both as a person and as a player comparing to the last year.

Edited August 17, 2019 by Stierlitz

[Derp...]

Interesting about his fitness and heart rate. I imagine once his training helps him prepare for those grueling parts of the year a bit better we will see a more consistent player and producer. I wouldn't have thought he was in as rough shape as he was considering his will to win on the ice. Good to know that he has some considerable gains to be made on the conditioning side of things. 

[Where's Wellwood]

I hope his heart rate isn't a congenital problem. Brings to mind Alexei Cherepanov and to a lesser extent Craig Cunningham

Edited August 17, 2019 by Where's Wellwood

[Captain Canuck #12]

22 minutes ago, Where's Wellwood said:

I hope his heart rate isn't a congenital problem. Brings to mind Alexei Cherepanov and to a lesser extent Craig Cunningham

Just what I was thinking.  And also that the last time we drafted 10th overall, I believe, was for Luc Bourdon.  Let's just hope that this is the last we hear of Podkolzin's heart issues!

[deus.ex.makina]

the reference to his heart rate episode has eclipsed the whole text.  i really really hope this is just a high excitation consequence and not a deeper disease. 

[nux_win]

On 8/14/2019 at 10:28 PM, Goal:thecup said:

This bottom picture is incredible.

He must have 90% of his mass under 3 feet, on skates.

Protecting the puck and looking ahead to where the puck is going to be.

Thanks again Stierlitz, and again and again, these updates and pics are great.

Good insight.  I also love his body position.  He's demonstrating great flexibility and strength.  Also thanks to Stierlitz for the updates.  This kid is going to be a beast.  I'm so looking forward to seeing him in a Canucks jersey.  Thanks for the pick Jim.  Go Canucks Go!

 

P.S. - I'm not too worried about the heartbeat thing.  Conditioning can be worked on and with an NHL training staff they can keep an eye on that.  Attitude is much harder to work on or teach and this kid seems to have it in abundance.  I'd much rather have a slightly less fit guy with a never-say-die attitude than a top-of-range guy who floats around and is disinterested (even Podkolzin himself mentioned that the guy who did the best in the draft fitness testing wasn't even drafted in the higher rounds and maybe not even drafted at all).

Edited August 17, 2019 by nux_win

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

 

[theo5789]

On 8/15/2019 at 10:49 PM, Stierlitz said:

Well, I am going to break the interview because it is so large. This is the first part about the draft:

 

Q: How has your life changed after the draft?

A: Nothing really changes much. I get about 5,000 more followers in Instagram, that’s about it. We just visited Canada, the whole family and got a great show, memory for the rest of my life.

 

Q: We asked Nikita Zaitsev – he was not recognized in Ottawa at all. But people in Vancouver did recognize you everywhere.

A: Yeah this happened, people recognized me. But I was walking in the Canucks jersey. Later I took the jersey off and some people recognized me, some did not. This was nice, you could feel that this is a hockey city.

 

Q: My colleagues from Vancouver said that you were recognized in the stores without any identification marks.

A: This happened in a store and also in a restaurant which my whole family and my agent visited after the draft. This was the euphoria day. Well, the home draft for Canucks, that’s probably the reason that people knew about me.

 

Q: Elias Pettersson said that he could not go shopping without cashiers asking to take picture with him. Are you ready for this?

A: Perhaps this would mean that I am doing quite well. Someone could find this annoying for sure, but Elias deserves with his play to be recognizable everywhere. I think this is great when people come to you.

 

Q: You were contacted by 17 NHL clubs during the pre-draft tests. And you said that one of them was especially attractive to you. Which one?

A: I liked interviews with Vancouver, Detroit, Washington and Chicago. I am not going to say anything about the pre-draft preference, let’s keep this in the past. I was drafted by a very good team. Regarding the development plans and my playing style – this is exactly what I need.

 

Q: Did that “one” team draft high?

A: No. I just like them on a personal level.

 

Q: Were there some clubs that you did not like?

A: Yes. Coming for an interview you see right away how they look at you, how they feel about you. What questions are asked. One thing when they are talking to learn something new about you, and different one when they try to “poke” you.

 

Q: How did they poke you?

A: I could get some provocative questions. For instance, I was shown video with my mistakes. I said: ”Why don’t you also show my good plays?” And they said: “Well this is it”.

 

Q: But this is just stress test.

A: I understand this. And they look at your reaction. Basically my reaction to everything was very calm, I don’t think any team has bad impression about me. Overall this was excellent experience. All those interviews were very interesting, even not very pleasant ones.

 

Q: Did they ask about vodka?

A: Not at all, I was surprised because I was prepared to such questions.

 

Q: You said that interview with Washington was very positive. How was that?

A: Their attitude to Russians was pretty evident, I felt very comfortable. They asked me to sing and play music. I asked them to choose which songs to perform. This was not a joke, I told them that I could play piano a bit (Podkolzin’s mom is the piano teacher). I can play Beatles, can play notes.

 

Q: Your physical tests were quite average.

A: The most important is how you pass interviews. How you represent himself, how you talk to the staff. Tests… The best guy in those tests – I don’t even know what round he was drafted, if he was drafted at all.

 

Q: Last year Liam Foudy was outstanding during the tests and got to the 1^st round from the initial 3-4^th round of the draft.

A: Maybe. I did not even prepare myself to the tests. Came a week before, visited gym three times. I came after vacation, did something but not much. This was the first time I tried bicycle with oxygen mask. This was awful, very hard, I did throw up afterwards.

 

Q: How many pull-ups did you do?

A: Four. In fact, I am not good in pull-up, I don’t know why. But in the test day I did ten pull-ups in total.

 

Q: What happened on the scene during your draft ceremony? This was not quite clear from TV coverage.

A: Ou this was… I was shocked by the public's reaction. That was very loud, and my selection was met with ovation. I was very pleased. There was announcement and I immediately heard cheering. Extremely happy. Home draft!

 

Q: You sure expected to go in the first ten picks…

A: No.

 

Q: You were invited to the media day. Only ten players are usually invited – those who are expected with very high possibility to be drafted in the first ten.

 

Q: I did not think about this. There was funny moment a day before the draft. My agency organized some kind of alcohol free party. And I said: “What if I am not drafted in the first round?” Everyone was laughing. But they did not understand how I felt. Before that party I did not care much – what round, what draft pick overall. I did not think about this during pre-draft tests, just wanted to look at everything from inside, hang out with people, learn something new.

But the day before the draft and the draft day – those were the most nervous days in my life. Wild pressure. It seems - why worry, the cool show, everything is nice. Americans know how to do it, well done. And you think to yourself – just in the first round would be very good. You are sitting, waiting, three minutes to each team for selection, another three minutes for the selected player to show up on the scene. And each three minutes like an hour.

The first three selections – not that bad, I played games in cell phone. Applauded, right guys were chosen. Starting with the seven’s selection, I watched closely. My hands were shaking, I could not hold my cell phone properly. When the Vancouver team went to the scene, my agent said: “Take off your jacket”. Maybe he had some feeling. And I started panicking. I went to the scene, shook hands with everyone, Quinn Hughes gave me jersey and hat. I put the hat on first, then realized that the jersey would not work with the hat. For some reason I was going to walk to the middle of the scene and Quinn told me: “Where do you go, stay here, put this on”. I felt so nervous, so embarrassing. But my nervousness quickly disappeared and I participated in various media events during next hour.

 

Q: How did you sleep after the draft day?

A: My roommate was Ilya Konovalov who was drafted next day. Ilya fell asleep but I could not until 3 am. First, replied to all congratulations, then was just thinking about what just happened. I thought about my life in Podolsk, how I played in Polar Bears as a kid. I did not even think about myself to be here even though watched TV coverage (of NHL drafts). And here I am – selected in the first round. I was happy.

 

Q: Did you get to know other top 10 picks during media days?

A: I did already know many of them. I was not familiar with Kakko only, even though we played against each other. Yes, I talked to Kakko, just couple of phrases. I talked to Jack Hughes a bit. We also talked with Jack in the world junior championship during the captains meeting despite my broken English. We hate each other on the ice but normally communicate in life.

A few things of note. Sounds like Vancouver wasn't his top choice, but that doesn't matter as long as he's committed to the team. He seemed to list most of the teams known to Russian players though and likely was hoping to join Washington based on this interview.

 

He didn't like when teams would show his mistakes only. This could be a similar feeling to when Tryamkin was here. I guess you have to praise the positives along with the criticisms.

 

Lastly, I'm disappointed the interviewer didn't follow up on the vodka question after he said he had stuff prepared if he got that question.

 

Most of his answers seem to demonstrate a character guy that is down to earth and passionate for the game. This heart thing is going to be the stand out thing though and I hope it's nothing too serious.

[dpn1]

I have been wondering if Podz experience in the KHL over the next 1 or 2 years could be considered his AHL experience of development.  When he comes here there will be no AHL to get up to speed.  Just straight to the NHL with no developing time in AHL but able to contribute right a way.  I know some say he is ready now but the time for development can only help in the long run.

Edited August 17, 2019 by dpn1

[Alflives]

12 minutes ago, dpn1 said:

I have been wondering if Podz experience in the KHL over the next 1 or 2 years could be considered his AHL experience of development.  When he comes here there will be no AHL to get up to speed.  Just straight to the NHL with no developing time in AHL but able to contribute right a way.  I know some say he is ready now but the time for development can only help in the long run.

Podkolzin is NHL ready now.  I think it was Hughes, Kakko, and Pods who were the three guys ready from this draft.  In 2 years Pods is going to step in to our top six, and make an immediate impact.  

[RetroCanuck]

43 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Podkolzin is NHL ready now.  I think it was Hughes, Kakko, and Pods who were the three guys ready from this draft.  In 2 years Pods is going to step in to our top six, and make an immediate impact.  

Yep,

Pearson, Sutter and Baertschi will be gone and Podz can step right into our top 6.

 

Man our future looks exciting!

[Alflives]

5 minutes ago, RetroCanuck said:

Yep,

Pearson, Sutter and Baertschi will be gone and Podz can step right into our top 6.

 

Man our future looks exciting!

And Podz will be on his ELC, but contributing way more.  

[RetroCanuck]

20 minutes ago, Alflives said:

And Podz will be on his ELC, but contributing way more.  

In 2 years you can easily imagine a forward group of

 

Hoglander-Pettersson-Podkolzin

Miller-Horvat-Boeser

Ferland-Gaudette-Lockwood

Virtanen-Beagle/Madden-MacEwen

 

[Putgolzin]

50 minutes ago, RetroCanuck said:

In 2 years you can easily imagine a forward group of

 

Hoglander-Pettersson-Podkolzin

Miller-Horvat-Boeser

Ferland-Gaudette-Lockwood

Virtanen-Beagle/Madden-MacEwen

 

Poor Jake just never gets a chance to move up the lineup? He keeps regressing while hoglander and Lockwood rocket up the depth chart?

[AV's Coin]

I hope if a Canuck employee reads the interview and sees the part about his heart rate accelerating that they do some background research with iPods team at that time to see what was really going on. Is there an issue or was it just conditioning as stated? Although you think that after playing so much last year he would be in top shape.

 

Probably the story is lost in translation but depending on the results of the inquiry with the team I would run some further tests on this kid. I would hate to see something happen. Probably nothing but better to be safe.