ПРЕССА:
22 января 1993 года.
Ankle keeps Bourque out Chervyakov steps in,
makes NHL debut in veteran's place // Boston Globe
As expected, defenseman Ray Bourque was on the sidelines last night
when the Bruins faced the Flyers.
Bourque suffered a slash to his right ankle Tuesday against the Islanders,
and the bruise, while better, wasn't improved enough to allow him to play.
Denis Chervyakov, called up from Providence Wednesday, joined the lineup,
making his NHL debut and turning in a steady performance.
The 22-year-old defenseman from St. Petersburg, Russia, had two goals
and eight assists in 31 American Hockey League games.
Bourque has missed three games this season with injuries. If he's back
for the next six, he will play his 1,000th regular-season game at home
against the Edmonton Oilers.
14 октября 1992 года
More down time for Chervyakov // Boston Herald
The Bruins yesterday returned Russian rookie defenseman Denis
Chervyakov to their American Hockey League affiliate in Providence.
Chervyakov had been sent down for one game and then recalled for Monday
night's game against Ottawa, presumably as insurance for captain Raymond
Bourque. But Bourque played despite a bruised right eye, which he sustained
Saturday.
"We knew he'd be going down," said B's assistant GM Mike Milbury yesterday.
"What's the point of keeping him around if he isn't going to play regularly?
In that sense, he's like (Czech winger) Jozef Stumpel. Let them go down
there and skate. They are both going to be NHL players."
Milbury was impressed with the improvement he saw in Stumpel from last
spring, when he reported to Boston and didn't dazzle in four games, to
his September arrival at training camp.
"He got himself into very good condition and skated much better," Milbury
said. "Maybe bringing him here last season helped."
Well-Traveled Chervyakov Finds Role In Sweden
Interview by Mark Maloney - 21 September,
1999
Denis Chervyakov, seemingly a man for all cities on the North American
minor-league scene last season, is also something of a man for all countries.
A year ago, Chervyakov was with Baton Rouge of the East Coast Hockey League.
Before the season was over, though, the Russian-born defenseman hopped
to Portland of the American league to Cincinnati of the International league
and finally to Orlando, where he and the Solar Bears reached the Turner
Cup finals. Now, he is the new guy on the blueline for Vasteras, which
opened play this past week in the Swedish Elitserien. Chervyakov, a 29-year-old
native of St. Petersburg, has played for teams in four other countries:
Russia, Latvia, Finland and the U.S. He reached the NHL for a couple of
games with Boston during the 1992-93 season.
Here's what Chervyakov had to say about his first week in Sweden, as
told via e-mail to Mark Maloney, beat writer for the American Hockey League's
Kentucky Thoroughblades in Lexington, Ky., where Chervyakov played during
the 1996-97 season.
Question: How do you like Sweden? Any pleasant surprises?
Denis Chervyakov: I have only been here for a week, but what I have
seen and experienced of Sweden so far, I like. Because it is Scandinavia,
I was expecting it to be more like Finland, but it is very, very different
-- good different. Most people here speak English, and most of the TV programs
are from the USA. I think that was the biggest surprise we [including American
wife Lauren] have had. That is very helpful. The climate here is not as
harsh as Finland, and the weather here has been great this week. Vasteras
(is) a beautiful city. We like the nature here … lots of trees, clean air,
wildlife. It is situated on Lake Malaren, which is one of the largest lakes
in Sweden. Naturally, there are a lot of great places to fish! It is a
medium-sized city (pop. 125,000), so it is just the right size. Not too
big for us to manage, and not too small that there is nothing to see or
do.
Q: What do you miss most about the States and/or Russia?
Chervyakov: Well, my parents and my brother still live in Russia, and
I do miss them. But my life is in the USA. I have lived there for seven
years now, and my wife is American. I think we will both miss our friends
and family from the U.S. Later on, I think I will miss the food -- like
a big lobster from Rhode Island.
Q: What have you learned about your new team -- the players, coach,
fans, etc.?
Chervyakov: The team I am playing for, the Black Eagles, has a big
tradition in hockey. This is the team where Tommy Salo and Nicklas Lidstrom
came from, so you have to respect that. Our president, Curt Lundmark, is
an important man in Swedish hockey. He is a former player and coached the
Swedish Olympic Team to a gold medal in Lillehammer [1994]. He is a very
funny guy, too --always making me laugh. Our head coach is Goran Sjoberg.
He is also a former player and is the biggest coach I have ever seen --
like 6-foot-5, I guess. Most of his career he played in Vasteras, and in
Brynas -- another team in the Swedish Elite League. He is a very easy-going
guy and he trusts the players to play their own style of game. Our assistant
coach, Roland Eriksson, is a former Minnesota North Star, Vancouver Canuck
and Winnipeg Jet. He speaks good English and realizes what a big adjustment
it is to move to a different country to play there, so he has kind of taken
me under his wing. I get a lot of support, too, from my agent, Leif Nillsson,
who is also Swedish. It is nice to have him close by. It was very difficult
for my wife and I to decide to leave the States and come to play in Europe,
but all of these guys have done a great job to make us feel welcome and
at home here. … Our home arena holds a little more than 6,000 people, and
I am told that if we are winning, it will be full. The people here want
a winning team. My partner is another Russian, Andrei Lullin, who is playing
his fourth season here. We have two guys who have played in North America
here. One is Arto Blomsten, who played some games for Winnipeg Jets and
for Moncton Hawks. We also have Daniel Rydmark, who was a Phoenix Roadrunner
[IHL]. The majority of our team is pretty young, and we have some guys
who can play and may be future draft picks.
Q: Is it much of an adjustment going from the IHL to Sweden? If so,
how so?
Chervyakov: It is a big adjustment. … For one thing, half shields are
mandatory for players born after 1965, and neck guards are mandatory for
all players, so I have to adjust to some new equipment. I understand it
is for more protection for players, which is smart, but I am not used to
this extra equipment yet. The ice surface is bigger here, but that is the
size that I learned to play hockey on, so that is not such a big problem.
Because the ice surface is bigger, the game is a little less physical.
The guys here are all fast, and all have good hands, and the play is faster
and more technical than in the IHL. There is no red line, so two-line passes
are allowed, and icing is automatically whistled -- nobody needs to chase
the puck. Fighting is not allowed here. The penalties are much tougher
if you fight. You get automatically suspended for a fight, and each time
you fight you get a longer suspension. Clearly, the league doesn't want
the fighting here. I am going to try to stay out of trouble. [Oops! Too
late...Chervyakov found himself in one with Niklas Sundblad in Vasteras'
second game.]
Q: For readers not familiar with you, can you describe your style
and describe some of your strengths and weaknesses?
Chervyakov: I am pretty much a stay-at-home defenseman, and I think
Vasteras brought me here to add to the physical play and add stability
to the blueline. That is what I am here for, and I intend to do exactly
that. If I can help offensively, great. I hope I can contribute there as
well, but my priority really is to play solid defense.
Q: What else can you share with your new fans about yourself?
Chervyakov: My wife Lauren and I spend part of our summer in Kentucky
on a thoroughbred horse farm, and the other part on the ocean in Rhode
Island. We both enjoy animals and horses, so the farm life appeals to us.
Rhode Island and all of New England is really a great area and has so much
to offer. We spend our summers in some unbelievable places. I am an avid
fisherman and I spend a lot of time fishing anywhere I am.
