Igor Zamula knows how difficult it is for the young Russian player to realize his hockey dream in North America.
Because he went through it.
Through the language barrier, through loneliness.
So he’s happy to be there for Matvei Mechkov, the Flyers’ top prospect who is making the jump to the NHL at just 19 years old.
When Zamula was 17, he made his way to North America to play Canadian junior hockey. Before his second team claimed WHL import waivers, he was struggling with the transition process.
“It’s very difficult when you come home after good or bad games, and you want to talk to someone and you talk to your TV or your chair,” Zamula said three weeks ago in training camp. “It’s very difficult. Now I have a number of Russians, it’s fun. We have Russian dinners, we spend time together, so it’s always fun.”
“It’s not difficult for me to help him because I know that when I came to Canada, it was difficult for me [first] For three months, I was on the verge of tears because I didn’t have any Russian men. “I tried to do my best and never gave up.”
With the Flyers, Russian goaltender Ivan Fedotov joined Zamula in late March. Then, the two saw the arrival of Myshkov this summer, giving the Flyers three players from Russia on their roster.
The 2023 first-round pick expressed his appreciation for the support of his teammates and the fan base.
“I’m very grateful to all the fans,” Mechkov said with Zamula and Fedotov as his translators in an interview with NBC Sports’ Philadelphia’s Ashlyn Sullivan. “I feel the emotions of the fans, it gives me energy.”
Mitchkov, Zamula and Fedotov recently visited the Rocky statue and its steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. From their Russian dinner to season forecasts, discuss that and more with Sullivan.
You can watch the interview in the video above and get more coverage of the season opener on Flyers Pregame Live at 9:30 p.m. ET. The team begins the 2024-25 campaign on the road against the Canucks (10 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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