Sergei Kostitsyn Playoff Performance

[Peter Puck]

Now that the OHL playoffs have started, Sergei Kostitsyn is on fire. He is third in league scoring with 7 goals and 11 assists in 8 games (and 22 PIM).

5 of his 7 goals have been even strength so its not just due to his being on the high powered London powerplay. His goals include an overtime goal and another game winner.

[JMMR]

That is awesome, not a day passes that I do not pray he is going to be a diamond in the rough.

[kaos]

Maybe the next Svatos. Him or maybe Grabovski. That would be sweet

[CerebusClone]

Matt D'Agostini is also having great playoffs right now, and in his case, he's the leader of the team (with Callahan), and doesn't have the big overagers like Schremp, Bolland, and Hunter to boost his stats.

We definitely picked a lot of interesting players in the later rounds of the last entry draft. Mathieu Aubin came out of the shadow of Alex Bourret to establish himself as a genuine Q superstar. D'Agostini has had a fantastic season. Nobody knew what S.Kostsitsyn could do, but he impressed many people in London. Mikus was a good gamble, but unfortunately he was very disappointing this year. And I'm intrigued with the potential of Philippe Paquet; it will be interesting to see what he'll do as a sophomore for Clarkson.

[Tony]

Wow, Sergei is on fire. Let's hope he can translate those numbers in the AHL and NHL

[Peter Puck]

Sergei got another 4 assists tonight in a 6-5 overtime win. He assisted on the overtime winner which was scored during a delayed penalty call when he drew a penalty late in the first overtime period. He also seems to be killing penalties.

[Athlétique.Canadien]

That is awesome, not a day passes that I do not pray he is going to be a diamond in the rough.

Diamond in the rough?

No way. I feel very confident that he is the real deal. I base this on 3 facts.

1) WJC performances

2) He's a rookie in the CHL

3) His general overall play. HE IS ONE NASTY CHECKER TOO

Team Belarus will be in the WJC under 20 tourney in Vancouver next year. Here's why:

GP5 G4 A5 PTS9 PIM43 +6

Compare that to Evgeni Malkin:

GP6 G4 A6 PTS10 PIM12 +5

Yes, I know. Sergei was in a lesser pool but every other player on Belarus was not even on the radar. These numbers may be argued to be insignificant but on the other hand, surely there must be some legitimacy to these numbers. Belarus will be Heading to Vancouver thanks in large part to Kostitsyn.

Also, anyone recall the 2005 U20 in North Dakota? I tuned in to watch Andrei Kostitsyn play. I wanted to see what he was made of.

To make a long story short. I remember saying to my friends how I wished Montreal would draft Sergei too. I was that impressed. What we've seen on the highlights out of London is what I saw him do while in North Dakota.

So, Belarus considers him to be one of their best. Two U20 appearances already and most likely a 3rd next New Years to boot!

Yes, he has Schremp, Bolland & Hunter with him. But remember, he's a ROOKIE in the CHL. The fact that he's a rookie is very significant.

Edited April 20, 2006 by ATHLÉTIQUE.CANADIEN

[montreal]

Stats can be tricky though. Andrei Kostitsyn at the U-18's right before the draft. He was lights out in the top division, racked up the points with 15 in 6 games. When Andrei was Siarhei's age in terms of his 2nd to last U-20's, he put up 5-5-10 and was a +5 12 pims, both in div 1 pool B. The difference was that Siarhei was named top forward of the tournament.

That said I've become a big fan of Siarhei's, one of the main reasons are, he works hard, skates hard, will take the body and one of his better assets is that he is willing to drive to the net with the puck and take a big hit to make a play. He doesn't seem to have any fear when playing, just goes out there, works hard and gets the job done. On top of that he has a good amount of natural skills, passes the puck well, good shot and good vision with speed and good skating. I'd like to see him get stronger, but the Habs seem to have a very decent prospect who might continue to improve over the next couple of years.

[Peter Puck]

Here is some good news we could all use.

Segei Kostitsyn won the playoff showdown with Matt D'Agostini.

The London Knights tonight defeated the Guelph Storm 4 games to 1 in the OHL semi-final.

In the final game the Knights won 5-4 in OT with Kostitsyn getting 2 goals and 3 assists including scoring the overtime winner. The Knights tied the game on a powerplay with their goalie pulled with 15 seconds left in the 3rd when Kostitsyn's shot was tipped in.

Sergei has 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points in 15 playoff games. This puts him third in CHL playofff scoring behind his teammate Robbie Shremp (5g + 33a = 38pts in 15 games) and Alexander Radulov of the Quebec Remparts (12g+21a = 33 pts in 14 games).

D'Agostini is 6th in CHL scoring with 8g + 20a = 28 pts in 15 games.

Both these guys are doing much better than expected and have really raised their games for the playoffs.

Its only CHL but we couldn't ask for more.

Edited April 29, 2006 by Peter Puck

[Athlétique.Canadien]

Stats can be tricky though. Andrei Kostitsyn at the U-18's right before the draft. He was lights out in the top division, racked up the points with 15 in 6 games. When Andrei was Siarhei's age in terms of his 2nd to last U-20's, he put up 5-5-10 and was a +5 12 pims, both in div 1 pool B. The difference was that Siarhei was named top forward of the tournament.

That said I've become a big fan of Siarhei's, one of the main reasons are, he works hard, skates hard, will take the body and one of his better assets is that he is willing to drive to the net with the puck and take a big hit to make a play. He doesn't seem to have any fear when playing, just goes out there, works hard and gets the job done. On top of that he has a good amount of natural skills, passes the puck well, good shot and good vision with speed and good skating. I'd like to see him get stronger, but the Habs seem to have a very decent prospect who might continue to improve over the next couple of years.

By the way, I've been wondering. Is it "Siarhei" or "Sergei"?

[Peter Puck]

By the way, I've been wondering. Is it "Siarhei" or "Sergei"?

I don't know. I tried to find out but couldn't get any info. He seems to be using Sergei since he came to North America.

[MAK]

I think it's Siarhei but he pronouces it sergei

[BTH]

I think his actual name is Siarhei but he changed it to Sergei when he came to North America. Just like lots of players do with their last names. Many Euros (Czechs and Russians for example) make slight changes to their names when they play for North America. When they play for their national teams they will have a different name on their back. I can't think of any examples at the moment though.

I guess it's the same thing with SK's last name. Some say Kastsitsyn and some say Kostitsyn. I would make the same guess that Kastsitsyn is his rela name but in NA he is known as Kostitsyn.

So Siarhei Kastsitsyn or Sergei Kostitsyn, it's your choice. But either way, we've got a talented young hockey player in the organization.

[montreal]

By the way, I've been wondering. Is it "Siarhei" or "Sergei"?

It's both. Siarhei is the Belarussian way, Sergei is the Russian way. Just like when Andrei came over it was Kastitsyn, now it's Kostitsyn. Someone that's Russian might be able to clear it up better.

[shortcat1]

I'm not a Russian and can't speak it worth beans but I slept at a Best Western last night.

:king: :hlogo: :king:

[Tony]

Sergei has a point in all goals last night (2 goals, 3 assists).

[JMMR]

Sergei is amazing!

What is the record for points in one playoff year for a CHL player?

And when he does finish any chance of him playing in the IHWC??

Edited April 30, 2006 by JMMR

[Athlétique.Canadien]

So, do all in the house agree with me that the "Canadiens Prospect of the Year" should be Sergei Kostitsyn?

What's your take on this?

[CerebusClone]

So, do all in the house agree with me that the "Canadiens Prospect of the Year" should be Sergei Kostitsyn?

What's your take on this?

Hard to tell, this was a very good year for Habs prospects. Sergei Kostsitsyn came out of nowhere to almost beat the near-phenom John Tavares for OHL rookie of the year. Mathieu Aubin and Matt D'Agostini had huge breaktrough years. Kyle Chipchura captained Canada to the gold medal at the WJC. Alexei Emelin was perhaps the best defenseman of the WJC, and Trevor Timmins even hinted that he could have been the best defensemen in the Russian Elite League. Latendresse had ups and downs, but was a monster in the last quarter of the season. Ryan O'Byrne established himself as a leader, and one of the most relaible defensemen in the NCAA. Grabovsky had a very good year, and was huge at the European Champions Cup. Andrei Kostsitsyn seems to have adapted to pro-hockey, and finished very strong for the Bulldogs.

Of course, that means absolutely nothing until they prove they can take the last step to the NHL, but it was a very exciting year prospect-wise for Montreal fans.

[Athlétique.Canadien]

Hard to tell, this was a very good year for Habs prospects. Sergei Kostsitsyn came out of nowhere to almost beat the near-phenom John Tavares for OHL rookie of the year. Mathieu Aubin and Matt D'Agostini had huge breaktrough years. Kyle Chipchura captained Canada to the gold medal at the WJC. Alexei Emelin was perhaps the best defenseman of the WJC, and Trevor Timmins even hinted that he could have been the best defensemen in the Russian Elite League. Latendresse had ups and downs, but was a monster in the last quarter of the season. Ryan O'Byrne established himself as a leader, and one of the most relaible defensemen in the NCAA. Grabovsky had a very good year, and was huge at the European Champions Cup. Andrei Kostsitsyn seems to have adapted to pro-hockey, and finished very strong for the Bulldogs.

Of course, that means absolutely nothing until they prove they can take the last step to the NHL, but it was a very exciting year prospect-wise for Montreal fans.

I should have said, "most improved" or "The Quantum Leap Prospect of the Year". And, what a bad problem to have. That is, argue about who is the Prospect of the Year.

[kaos]

and Trevor Timmins even hinted that he could have been the best defensemen in the Russian Elite League.

Sorry but I don't want Trevor Timmins saying that. I want to hear somebody with knowledge who's an outside party to the Montreal Canadiens organization, who didn't draft him, say that about Emelin.

Having him say that is like me saying my '86 Buick Regal T-type is the maybe the fastest North American Sports Car to come out of the 80's. NOt necessarily true

[Athlétique.Canadien]

Sorry but I don't want Trevor Timmins saying that. I want to hear somebody with knowledge who's an outside party to the Montreal Canadiens organization, who didn't draft him, say that about Emelin.

Having him say that is like me saying my '86 Buick Regal T-type is the maybe the fastest North American Sports Car to come out of the 80's. NOt necessarily true

Looking at Timmons resume makes me feel that this is probably an accurate account of Emelin.

Anyway, we will agree to disagree

[CerebusClone]

Sorry but I don't want Trevor Timmins saying that. I want to hear somebody with knowledge who's an outside party to the Montreal Canadiens organization, who didn't draft him, say that about Emelin.

Having him say that is like me saying my '86 Buick Regal T-type is the maybe the fastest North American Sports Car to come out of the 80's. NOt necessarily true

I agree with you. Timmins saying that Emelin is great means very little. However, I'm sure it wouldn't be very hard to find people in Russia thinking that he was one of the best this season. Actually, he must have done something right to take that sorry bunch all the way to the semifinals, where they even managed to win the first game against Malkin - they didn't last long once Emelin got suspended. Besides, Emelin in defense, rookie Bumagin in offense, and the spectacular goaltending of Vasily Koshechkin (Tampa Bay needs to invite him to their camp), that team had nothing.

[Komisarek the Cruncher]

Sorry but I don't want Trevor Timmins saying that. I want to hear somebody with knowledge who's an outside party to the Montreal Canadiens organization, who didn't draft him, say that about Emelin.

Having him say that is like me saying my '86 Buick Regal T-type is the maybe the fastest North American Sports Car to come out of the 80's. NOt necessarily true

Agreed, but Emelin was mentionned by many people as being the best D at the last WJC, so the guy as definetly some talent.

I hope that talent will be in Hamilton next year, but I heard that he wants to play another year in Russia.

[BTH]

I would say Sergei Kostitsyn is our Canadiens Prospect of the Year. Some would argue Latendresse I'm sure but that I would rank several othres ahead of him. Price also had a great season on a weak team.