THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511100626
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 155 lines
Last summer, Sergei Voronov and Alexei Krivchenkov decided to take the plunge. Driven by dreams of NHL fame and salaries that would be considered obscene back in Russia, they packed up their families and moved half a world away.
Voronov and Krivchenkov, the first Russians to play for the Hampton Roads Admirals, had tasted Western life before as members of Russian international hockey teams. But digesting it is another ballgame. The culture and language differences are overwhelming.
Two months after arriving in America, Voronov and Krivchenkov remain isolated. They speak almost no English; the Admirals' coaches, front-office personnel and players speak no Russian.
``Once we understand the language, a majority of our problems will disappear,'' Voronov said through an interpreter.
They do not yet regret leaving the comfort - relatively speaking - of their homeland. Voronov, 24, is from Moscow; Krivchenkov, 21, is from Novosibirsk, the capital of Siberia.
Voronov and Krivchenkov are not in Hampton Roads by choice. They signed with Pittsburgh of the NHL last summer, and spent a month in the Penguins' camp before being being shipped to Cleveland of the International Hockey League. Three weeks ago, the Lumberjacks optioned them to the Admirals.
``They're still just feeling their way,'' said Admirals coach John Brophy. ``They don't know where they are or how they got here. How long they'll be here, I don't know.''
Brophy and assistant Al Mac-Isaac communicate with gestures and, as Westerners often do, by speaking slowly and loudly. Usually, the message doesn't get through.
Thank heavens for Leonid Volynsky, an immigrant from the Ukraine who speaks fluent Russian and was asked by MacIsaac to serve as an interpreter.
Volynsky is their only outlet for communication. He calls Voronov and Krivchenkov regularly and visits often at practice. Everything they want and need must be communicated through Volynsky.
``This is a very difficult time for them,'' Volynsky said. ``We will introduce them to other young people from Russia. We want to make them feel as at home as possible.''
He helped the Voronov and Krivchenkov families move into apartments on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, introduced them to members of the Hampton Roads' Russian community and plans to ask Old Dominion University professors to teach them English in their spare time.
Volynsky knows what Voronov and Krivchenkov are going through. He arrived with his wife, seven family members and just $200 in his pocket six years ago from Belya Eserkov, Ukraine.
He was aided by relatives, local Russians and, most importantly, the area Jewish community, which helped him find a job, enrolled him English lessons and took him to a place to worship, Temple Israel in Norfolk.
Volynsky never went to temple in his hometown because Judaism is frowned upon in the former Soviet Union.
``It wasn't the people,'' he said. ``It was the government. Not until I come to Norfolk do I learn what it means to be a Jew.''
He began working construction, saved what he could and after a few years began his own business, Integrity Furniture Installation. Now he's trying to help some lonely Russian hockey players as he was helped.
``It is impossible for someone who has not been in a foreign land, not knowing the language, to understand how difficult it is,'' Volynsky said.
In Russia, Krivchenkov played for the famed Red Army hockey team and Voronov played for Moscow Dynamo. They traveled abroad for tournaments, but their families - Ekaterina Voronov and 5-year-old Tanya; Helena Krivchenkov and 15-month-old Anna - had never before been outside Russia.
Volynsky said the families have been amazed by the highways, cars, sprawling suburbs and especially American grocery stores, which are void of the shortages and long lines so common to Russia. He recalled Helena's first car trip in Hampton Roads.
``We stopped at a grocery store on the way to Virginia Beach,'' Volynsky said with a laugh. ``She was so shocked. She couldn't believe how much food there was. You should have seen her face.''
Although Voronov and Krivchenkov like the area, they hope not to be here very long. They expected to playing in Pittsburgh - or at least in Cleveland. In fact, they're still paying on leases they signed in Cleveland for homes and furniture.
Hampton Roads wasn't mentioned until shortly before they were put on a plane to Norfolk three weeks ago. Though they signed six-figure contracts to play in Pittsburgh, they are being paid considerably less in Hampton Roads. How much less they wouldn't say.
``I'm not sure they know how they feel,'' Volynsky said. ``This is not what they expected. They were told they would be here two weeks only. Now, they expect to be here longer. They know now they could be here the rest of the year.''
Regardless, the Russians have been humbled by the response from the Admirals.
``The players accept us very well,'' Krivchenkov said. ``They take care of the families, take care of us very well, better than Cleveland. We have received more attention from the team and the coach here than we expected. We have been surprised at how well they treat everyone.''
Which is evident in the locker room and on the ice. Though they can't communicate meaningfully, most of the Admirals horse around with the Russians in the best spirit of detente. Each time one of the Russians passes by the bench, he is smothered with pats to the head, back and behind. As they walk through Scope's hallway, they receive friendly nods and handshakes.
When he scored his first goal in a 4-3 victory over Charlotte two weeks ago, Krivchenkov was mobbed by fellow Admirals as if he'd just won the Stanley Cup.
Brophy, the white-haired old Cold Warrior well-known for his bark and his bite, has done his best imitation of a Russian Santa Claus. Each time one of the Russians looks his way, Brophy grins widely and utters words of assurance.
``You can tell they're good guys and that they're having a tough time,'' Admirals defenseman Chris Phelps said. ``Sometimes you know about people without talking to them.''
On the ice, the Russian defensemen have only begun to hit their stride. That's in part because they're unfamiliar with North American hockey, which is played on smaller rinks and with more gusto than the European game. At times they look timid and perplexed by the hard body checking and fighting.
In Russia, a fight can lead to a yearlong suspension. Krivchenkov (6-foot, 185 pounds) hits the boards with his fist as he makes a point about fans at Scope, who cheer a hard body check much louder than a skillful pass or a diving save.
``We are surprised by what the fans cheer for,'' said Voronov (6-2, 200). ``We do not yet understand.''
Yet they've begun to adjust. With three defensemen on the bench in the second and third periods of a game with Columbus two weeks ago, the Russians were forced to play most of the game's last 40 minutes. And they played well, knocking down opponents with all the ferocity Brophy demands of all his players.
``It will take time for them to adjust to the game, to a new way of living,'' Brophy said. ``But they're very, very talented players. They're great big guys who make you stand up.''
In their brief time here, they have discovered at least one area attraction. When informed that they would be living on the beach, their faces lit up.
``Can we go to the beach?'' Krivchenkov asked.
Volynsky told them, yes, they could even swim, and both smiled broadly.
``The water may seem cold to you,'' he said, ``but to them, the water here is warm.''
For Voronov and Krivchenkov, that plunge would be nothing next to the one they took two months ago. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Bill Tiernan/The Virginian Pilot
Defensemen Sergei Voronov. left, has learned the hard checking North
American game, as he demonstrated against Rick kowalsky at a recent
practice.
Color photo
Back home, Alexei Krivchenkov played for the Red Army.
Map\ The Virginian Pilot
A long way from home.
[shows home towns of Russian players]
by CNB