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Evgeni Nabokov - Sept. 5, 2022 – Vol. 76, Issue 3 - Curtis Pashelka
THE HOCKEY NEWS: What do you remember about being drafted by the Sharks in 1994?
EVGENI NABOKOV: It was 1994, and I just joined Dynamo Moscow. Obviously, we had a training camp, and all my thoughts were with that team. I had no idea that I had been drafted. Then all of a sudden, somebody brought the paper and told me that I was drafted. I had no idea.
THN: Had you thought about the NHL before that?
EN: No, not right away. I just jumped from being in my hometown in Kazakhstan at 19 and going to Moscow to one of the premier teams in Russia, and then a lot of guys, including Sergei Gonchar, Viktor Kozlov, Darius Kasparaitis, Alexei Yashin and all those guys, they left. And it was a new opportunity for the younger guys. I took that opportunity, but all my thoughts at that time were about Dynamo, to be honest with you. I wasn’t thinking about anything else.
THN: Your first NHL start came against the Colorado Avalanche and Patrick Roy on Jan. 19, 2000 – a 39-save shutout in a 0-0 tie. Do you remember what you were feeling?
EN: No, to be honest, there was just so much focus and concentration on how I’ve got to play and what I’ve got to do. I was young and didn’t know enough about what team I’m playing or who I’m playing against. So I didn’t really worry about that too much. But now, as much as I know now about the NHL, obviously, it was something. But I was worried about myself. That’s about it.
THN: How big was that game from a confidence standpoint and being able to play at the NHL level?
EN: It was huge. Not because it was a shutout, not because of who I played against, but once I could get my feet wet and I felt like I could read the game really well and I can move well with the speed, that’s when I kind of got comfortable to where I really did say, “OK, I probably can do it.” But I always say, anybody can do it once, in my opinion. But it was, “Can I do it again, and then do it again?” That was the challenge, and at the time, I had no idea when I will have the next opportunity.
THN: You won the Calder Trophy in 2000-01. What led you to win that award?
EN: The team was great. Darryl Sutter was the coach, and he was unbelievable. Anytime you win any individual award, especially as a goalie, you’ve got to win it with a good team. Sometimes maybe you’re playing well, but you’re not going to win any games if guys aren’t going to score. If you’re going to give up too many goals, even when you play well, you’re never going to get any awards anyway. So the combination of our organization and the team taking it to the next level was huge.
THN: How was Darryl Sutter to play for?
EN: I loved it. I loved everything about him. It reminded me a lot of what I faced in Russia. He’s a straight-shooter. He was honest, he was tough, not necessarily with me, but with the team. The biggest thing is you always knew where Darryl stood, in terms of, if he didn’t like something, he will let you know. Again, it’s as a team, he always will be preparing for the game. It’s never loosey-goosey. The environment, I really, really liked it.
THN: What do you remember about scoring a goal against Vancouver in 2002? Had you thought about trying to score?
EN: No, I didn’t actually. Up to that point, I never really thought about scoring. I never even tried. My main focus always was to stop the puck. I think they dumped the puck in, and I stopped it right before the crease. I was going to leave the puck for Brad Stuart, and I think there was actually a little bit of miscommunication between us. Then I kind of looked, and I’m like, “OK, I gotta go.” Just get the puck out of the zone, and try to shoot it over and as hard as I can. I got lucky.
THN: You played 77 games during the 2007-08 season, which included 43 straight starts. Looking back, how amazed are you by that?
EN: Maybe now, yeah. But back then, again, you try to enjoy the wins and games as much as possible, and you’re into such a process of just playing the season. Your goals are to win the game and get the points, so you don’t think about it much. You go and you love every second of it and enjoy it. You only can do this, again, on good teams, and when you’re winning, it’s easy to recover, it’s easy mentally. But if your team is not that good, it’s impossible, to be honest, if you don’t have the right support from your teammates.
THN: You mentioned how you played on some quality teams. How tough was it, though, for those teams not to get to a Stanley Cup final?
EN: Well, that’s probably the biggest thing – I can only speak for myself – that you regret. You had a great opportunity but either you had Detroit, Colorado, the one year we played Anaheim when they had a powerhouse, and they were a No. 8 seed. So it sucks, there’s no other way to put it when you have such a great opportunity and you’re playing with such great players. But again, certain things, you just can’t control.
THN: How tough was it to have to leave San Jose after the 2010 season after you and GM Doug Wilson didn’t come to terms or didn’t see eye to eye on a contract?
EN: I was 35 years old that year, and when you’ve been here for so long, and things don’t work out, you kind of – I don’t want to say you expect it, but you understand what the Sharks were doing. But it sucks, man. You feel like s--- the whole time. I don’t know what else to tell you.
THN: Is it hard to believe you’ve been a coach in the Sharks organization now for seven years after you retired from playing following the 2014-15 season.
EN: I know. The time is flying by. But again, when you’re in that environment, and you like what you do and you enjoy what you do, it’s a pretty good feeling, I’m not going to lie