The good folks at Russian Machine Never Breaks have proved themselves to be an indispensable resource, and they came up big again today by publishing an interview with Alexander Semin, which took place at the team's breakdown day yesterday, before Semin jetted off to Stockholm for the final days of the World Championships.
Three days in to the Capitals' offseason, Semin is proving to be their most talked-about player and the interview, done by Igor Kleyner, is a good look at a man who is at a crossroads in his career.
You should read the whole thing, but a couple of the most interesting quotes are after the jump.
Semin on Dale Hunter's system:
Of course, personally, I like to play the open style hockey more, the one we used to play. It's more fun -- open, creative passing, creating things off the rush. That's the style of hockey I enjoy playing, but I understand, like it or not, in the playoffs you win if you play defensive hockey.
And Semin on the media:
I try to stay away from reading the newspapers, because often it's just total nonsense. Sometimes you grab a newspaper after the game, try to read about the game I played in, and it's just ... I don't even know how it's possible, which game did this reporter watch? He watched the game, why does he need to invent stuff? Yeah I understand, to keep people interested ... but I played in that game, so I don't need to read this.
Like we said, read the whole thing.