Yushkevich remembers a kid who played ?high-risk junior hockey? and could barely get on the ice as a result.
?The first thing I told him was, ?You don?t know anything,? ? Yushkevich said.
Yushkevich said he was happy to discover Zaitsev was a quick and willing learner whose best asset ? along with inherent gifts as a strong skater unfazed by rough play ? was his ?intelligence.? As Zaitsev kept listening and improving, his playing time kept increasing. Upon his return from the 2011 world junior championship, where Russia won gold with a stunning third-period comeback over Canada in the final game, Yushkevich said Zaitsev went ?from a boy to a young man.?
?Nikita was pretty much my first project. And I definitely wanted to help him like my son,? Yushkevich said, speaking over the phone from his hometown of Yaroslavl, where he is spending the current season as an assistant coach with the tragedy-touched Locomotiv club.
Yushkevich?s guidance extended to finding an off-season training home for the teenaged Zaitsev who, though he?s now six-foot-two and about 200 pounds, needed to add muscle mass. Yushkevich said he could only recommend Roberts. When they first met at teammates in Toronto, after all, Yushkevich, then 29, said the training and diet tips dispensed by Roberts extended his career.
Zaitsev willingly made the long trip from Siberia to the GTA, even though the bill for airfare and Roberts? services was relatively steep.
?I talked to Nikita?s father, and he told me Nikita saved all his money, all his contract. He didn?t buy anything. He spent all his money to go and train with Gary Roberts,? Yushkevich said.
Yuskevich figured Zaitsev would have been earning about $20,000 (U.S.) at the time, or loose change compared to the one-year deal he signed with Toronto in May that can pay him as much as $1.8 million in salary and performance bonuses.
[...]
Roberts saw his former prot?g? play in person for the first time at the World Cup. He hadn?t spent time with Zaitsev in a few years after visa problems halted those off-season training voyages. Roberts said he could immediately tell Zaitsev had taken his lessons in lifestyle to heart. (?He?s in good shape. He?s really disciplined and committed, which I love,? Roberts said.) He also saw on-ice qualities in the young Russian that reminded him of Yushkevich, high praise considering Roberts refers to Yushkevich as ?one of the best warriors I ever played with.?
?Yeah, 100 per cent there?s a comparison. Right-hand shot. Not afraid to block a shot. Got a little bit of an edge to him. Nikita is maybe a little more offensively gifted, but what kid isn?t nowadays??
