Pat Mullane cut across the middle with the puck on his stick and tried to create a scoring opportunity. Waiting for him was defenseman Dmitry Orlov, who expertly hip-checked the forward to the ice and stopped that chance cold.
Blueliners can get lost in the shuffle during rookie development camp. There’s no replay and the games themselves don’t matter. Unless a player makes an egregious mistake he’s probably not going to stand out. But that second-period play during Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage showed some of Orlov’s skill set. The 6-foot, 197-pounder isn’t the biggest defenseman around. But he reads the play well and has a booming shot, too, ripping a few pucks high and wide during the final scrimmage of the week.
It may not be enough to earn Orlov a spot in Washington to start the 2011-12 season. There are eight defensemen under contract right now. But that’s fine with the 19-year-old Russian – he turns 20 on Saturday – who showed his determination to learn the North American game by joining AHL Hershey at the end of last season. Orlov may have to ply his trade with the Bears again in October, though he says he won’t concede anything during September’s main training camp. But if he does go down to the minors it shouldn’t be for long.
“If I end up in Hershey, so be it. That’s where I’m going to have to prove myself,” Orlov said through an interpreter after Saturday’s game. “I’ll just try to do my best. I have plenty of room to grow as a hockey player and if I do end up in Hershey I will just try to prove to them that they were wrong in sending me back there and try to work my way back here.”
Orlov doesn’t lack confidence in himself, that’s for sure. He was a key piece on Russia’s World Juniors championship team last spring – along with Evgeny Kuznetsov, another Caps prospect – and fought his way through a rough season for the KHL’s Novokuznetsk Metallurg, which won just 12 games last season. Tough for Metallurg, but not really for Orlov. He had enough left in the tank after landing in Hershey to post two goals and seven assists and see action in six Calder Cup playoff games.
“You go on the ice, you try your best, but nothing good happens and you’re kind of stuck in a rut,” Orlov said of his difficult experience in Novokuznetsk. “But when I went to Hershey towards the end of the season, the atmosphere was completely different. Pretty much when you go prepare for the games, you feel very excited about it, the atmosphere is very positive and it’s just a winning atmosphere. That’s where I learned a lot about playing North America.”
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