Russian hockey teams visit Culver

Skaters from both countries see differences in sport during competition

By JENNIFER MACK
Tribune Staff Writer

CULVER -- In Russia, hockey is played with finesse and little physical contact.

In America, the goal of hockey sometimes seems to be to see how many teeth you can knock from the mouth of your opponent.

"The hockey is different," said The Culver Academies’ hockey coach and Athletics Director Al Clark. "Their skills are better -- puck control, passing, regrouping," Clark said Friday in reference to two young hockey teams visiting The Culver Academies from the city of Omsk in Russia.

Omsk is a city slightly larger in population than Indianapolis.

The Culver Academies boys Varsity A and B teams squared off against the two Russian squads Tuesday and Wednesday and got a wake-up call.

The Culver teams, which consistently win state championships in Indiana, most recently in 2000, lost both their games to the Russians earlier in the week.

"They don't play a physical style of hockey like in North America," Clark said. "It's less physical. They're a very well-conditioned team. They're very strong."

Clark said he has learned that his team has a ways to go before it has reached his ideal. He said they need to start making effective use of practice time to work on their skills.

Igor Tuchinsky, vice president of operations at Capital Tours and Travel in Illinois, acted as interpreter for the Russian players and coaches who could not speak English.

He said five Russian hockey teams from Omsk spent a week in Chicago playing in a tournament, then two of the teams came to The Culver Academies while the three other teams went to Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota to play hockey.

Clark said Shattuck St. Mary's is The Culver Academies hockey team's biggest rival.

Kachesov Oleg, coach for the younger Russian hockey team with players about 14 and 15 years old, agreed with Clark that the style of hockey is different.

He said the Culver team is more aggressive and focused on making shots and scoring goals, as opposed to the Russian team, which is more interested in control of the hockey puck.

"They're doing better in passing," Oleg said, in reference to his own teams.

"He believes they (the Russians) are more inventive in the rink," Tuchinsky added. "The Americans are better in checking."

Tuchinsky said Oleg also mentioned Culver's team spirit, saying Culver team members support their teammates.

Did the Russians learn anything from the Culver students?

Oleg said that the younger team would likely take the experience and learn from it, incorporating some of the American style into their own form of play. Oleg said the older team members, ages 16 and 17, already have their game style set and likely would continue to use the Russian style of play.

"It was a better experience for the younger players," Oleg said.

Besides the different hockey styles, the players were impressed with The Culver Academies’ facilities. Dmitriy Ageev, 17, said he was struck by the opportunities The Culver Academies students have.

He said he couldn't believe students would go to school in such an isolated area, yet have so many facilities and also live away from their parents.

The Culver Academies are private boarding schools to which parents from all over the world send their children.

Ageev noted that in all of Omsk there are only two hockey rinks, while hockey players at Culver have two hockey rinks in one facility.

Ageev, who visited the United States last year too, said he doesn't know of any similar schools in Russia.

Evgeny Saidashev, 16, a junior at The Culver Academies, is originally from Khabarovsk, Russia, but now lives in Gig Harbor, Wash. He's lived in the U.S. for six years.  Saidashev said he's been playing hockey since he was 3 years old and plays on the Culver varsity A hockey team.

He acknowledged that American style hockey is much more aggressive than the finesse style of European hockey; however, he has not been able to help taking on the characteristics of American hockey because of coaching style and merely by playing with American players.

He said he's tried to incorporate the two styles but has had little success.

The Russian hockey players, he said, also take more time to practice than in America. Saidashev explained that in Russia, players typically practice about four hours per day, while his team practices about an hour to an hour and a half each day.

That extra practice and the style of play evidently made a difference in the wins over Culver.

"They were a pretty good team, so I couldn't do much against them," Saidashev said. "From my point of view they showed us how to play here in Culver."