After One Game, Loktionov is AHL Player of the Week
The hat trick put up by Manchester Monarchs center Andrei Loktionov in the season opener against the Albany River Rats earned him American Hockey League Player of the Week honors for the period ending Sunday.
In his pro debut Saturday, Loktionov, 19, helped Manchester to a 6-3 victory with his three goals and an assist. He finished with a plus-4 rating and a game-high six shots on goal.
A native of Voskresensk, Russia, Loktionov is the second-youngest player in the AHL, according to the opening-night rosters submitted to the league last week.
Helene Elliott: No lock, but watch Loktionov
Keep an eye on 19-year-old center Andrei Loktionov, a fifth-round pick in 2008 whose stock rose as he helped lead Windsor to the Memorial Cup championship last season. He followed that with a strong performance in the Kings’ summer development camp and enhanced his status Sunday with displays of skill and consistently tenacious efforts. No wonder, really: he is being mentored by Igor Larionov, the great Russian center. Larionov knows Loktionov’s father from their common hometown, Voskresensk and Loktionov has spent time at Larionov’s California home. ”We are talking about game, how I play,” Loktionov said in his rapidly improving English. “It’s different. Not like Russia. He helped me all the time. . . . He watch me and then we talk what I’m doing right, what I’m doing not right.”
There isn’t much he’s not doing right.
Murray said he saw a little bit of Larionov in Loktionov, and that’s quite a compliment. ”Puck skills, confidence with the puck, making plays, attacking, an attitude, again, that fierce competitive look in his eyes. It’s there,” Murray said. “Wow. What a comparable.” He sees a new determination in Loktionov’s game and pointed out a moment on the ice Sunday to support his point. ”The one drill we did in the second session here where he had the puck in the far end and the job is to take the puck off him. Two guys were on him,” Murray said. “He didn’t want to give it up. ‘That’s my puck and you’re not having it,’ kind of attitude. That’s sheer determination. ”The year in junior has been wonderful for him. Confidence. He’s got a little bit of strut in his stride. You can see the focus, the determination in his eyes. I really am impressed by, I don’t want to say the wrong stuff here, but I’m very impressed in what he’s shown from the development camp all the way through till today.” For him to make the Kings this season would be a big leap. ”I can play in Windsor, but I want to play [for the] L.A. Kings. I want to stay here,” he said.
Murray is giving him every chance to do that. ”We’re going to play him in lots of exhibition games, and we’ll get a good look at him,” Murray said. “Last year I didn’t play him except maybe one [game], later. This year I plan on getting him in there.”
Rookie Camp Notes: Very VERY Short
Loktionov: Looks bigger. Wouldn’t be surprised if he makes it this year. Moller/Loktionov/Purcell? Probably too much to hope for.
Dwight King: still big.
Brandon Kozun: speed and scoring touch.
Mikus: doesn’t look like a kid, but I didn’t see him do anything exciting.
Hickey: looks bigger and stronger. Wouldn’t be surprised if he made it either.
Teubert: looks like he’s halfway more grown-up than last year, when he was clearly a kid.
Campbell: still kind of dorky.
Clifford: kept noticing him. He looks young, but was stronger than most of the kids out there on the puck.
Schenn: works his ass off. Seems a year or two away and that’s fine.
Wudrick: appendicitis. Had surgery on Thursday or Friday.
From LAKINGS.COM MAILBAG: Jim Fox on Voynov/Voinov and Jimmy Neutron
“If everything goes normal and the Kings suffer a normal amount of injuries, not too high, not too low, I would expect them to not spend any time with the Kings this year,” Kings television analyst Jim Fox said. “With Voynov, the Kings already have a lot of young defenseman, and to add another one into the mix, would be a lot to ask. With Loktionov, it is a similar situation, the Kings had Wayne Simmonds and Oscar Mollerjoin the team last year and were the third-youngest team in the league, so to have someone without any professional experience join the team, that would be a huge jump for him to make.”When Loktionov gets to the NHL, it will be as a top-six forward, so he would have to displace one of the current top-six on the team and I don’t think that is highly likely at this point.” Voynov, 19, recorded 23 points (8-15=23) and 46 PIMs in 61 games with the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings AHL affiliate. “All of the reports that I get from Manchester is that he is no doubt an NHL player and excels in many, many areas of the game,” Fox said. Voynov, most likely, will again join the Manchester Monarchs for the 2009-10 season, as will Loktionov, also 19, who recorded 66 points (24-42=66), 16 penalty minutes and a plus-28 rating in 51 regular season games with Windsor (OHL). “Loktionov excelled at the Junior level,” and should be ready to make the step up to Manchester this year.
via LAKINGS.COM MAILBAG – Los Angeles Kings – News.
Go Jimmy! Wait, who is Jimmy?
Windsor OHL Champs, Loktionov 2nd in playoff scoring, 1st among rookies
In Windsor, Taylor Hall capped an incredible playoff run by scoring the winning goal 2:09 into overtime to lift the Spitfires to a 2-1 win over the Brampton Battalion and give the Spitfires their second OHL championship and first in 21 years. Hall, who won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the Most Valuable Player in the OHL playoffs as selected by the media covering the championship series, capitalized on a powerplay early in overtime to give the Spitfires a 4-1 win in the Rogers OHL Championship Series. The Spitfires win the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL champions and will represent the OHL at the MasterCard Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec starting next Saturday against the champions from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. After a scoreless first period, Dale Mitchell opened the scoring with a powerplay marker at 13:06 of the second period. The Spitfires looked like they might escape with the regulation time win before Matt Kang tied the game with 3:46 left in the third period. “I think we jumped on them early and getting that first goal was key,” said defenceman Ryan Ellis. “They got one back but fortunately we’re a pretty good team in overtime.” For Ben Shutron, Scott Timmins and Josh Unice, it’s their second straight OHL championship after helping the Kitchener Rangers win the title last year. “The feeling hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Shutron said. “I’ve won two in a row and I’m just so lucky to be a part of this team and be part of this group of guys. To win this is just amazing.” Windsor goaltender Andrew Engelage was the first star of the game after making 37 saves in the win. Thomas McCollum made 34 saves for the Battalion.
via Ontario Hockey League ◊ Official Website Spitfires soar to OHL championship.
Windsor/Brampton Game 4 Highlights: Jimmy Neutron Nets Two in the Third
The two Loktionov goals were clutch, but frankly the best goal of the game was the Cody Hodgson breakaway goal that came right on the heels of an amazing save at the other end by Thomas McCollum. Really, I don’t think you will ever see a nicer sequence (brilliant save at one end leads directly to brilliant goal at the other).
[scroll down for video interface -- it's at the bottom of the post, for reasons I can't control...]
Windsor Star: Loktionov, Grachev make their respective marks
It’s been this way for years for Andrei Loktionov and Evgeny Grachev. Passing the puck together on the ice. Passing the time together off the ice. Halfway around the world, battling for the right to play for the Memorial Cup, things have only changed slightly. They still turn heads with their unbelievable skills, but now, they do it at opposite ends of the ice. Each is a key element for their respective teams in the Ontario Hockey League final – Loktionov, at centre for the Windsor Spitfires and Grachev, on left winger for the Brampton Battalion.
In Wednesday’s series opener, Loktionov stole the show, dancing through the Brampton defence and around netminder Thomas McCollum to launch Windsor’s 10-1 rout, steering home Windsor’s first two goals. “He played an amazing game,” Grachev acknowledged. Used to be that Grachev would revel in such a performance by Loktionov. They were teammates in their native Russia on Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s junior team. Fast friends who moved in even faster company when carrying the puck toward the opposition goal. “We played the last two years on the same line,” Loktionov said. “We talk to each other all of the time.”
With eight goals and 27 points, Loktionov is among Windsor’s playoff scoring leaders. Ditto for Grachev, who’s contributed 11-13-24 totals to Brampton’s cause. “He’s been huge for us this year,” Battalion captain Cody Hodgson said of Grachev, voted the OHL’s rookie of the year after his 40-40-80 totals shattered the mark for a first-year Brampton player previously established by ex-Spitfire Jason Spezza. About as huge as Loktionov’s been for Windsor. When fans flock to the WFCU Centre, many are attracted by the chance to see such future stars as defenceman Ryan Ellis, certain to be a first-round NHL draft pick this spring and left-winger Taylor Hall, likely to be the 2010 No. 1 overall choice. By the time they’ve exited the building, many depart talking about the magic the young man wearing No. 90 for Windsor can work with the puck. Some fans have taken this love affair to a point where it’s landed Loktionov a North American handle.
Around the Windsor dressing room, Loktionov is simply known as Jimmy by his Spitfire teammates. As in Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, a popular cartoon character. “The fans started that because he’s such a smart player on the ice,” said Spitfires right-winger Dale Mitchell, often Loktionov’s linemate and always his road roommate. “They put the comparison together with the cartoon.” With his deft moves, lightning speed and precision puckhandling, like the animated Jimmy, Windsor’s Jimmy often appears to be light years ahead of the rest. “He’s a great player,” Grachev said. “He can find you with the puck.”
At first, almost completely bereft of English, Loktionov’s ever-present smile was his main form of communication. “He’d have to point things out and try to explain things to you,” Mitchell recalled. “His English is really good now. He makes sense of a lot of things now. It’s a lot easier than it was at first. “He’s come a long way.” Among all of Loktionov’s achievements, this may be the one that wows his teammates the most. “If I could learn Russian in a year, I’d be pretty impressed by an accomplishment like that,” Mitchell said. Among all the friends they’ve made this season, Grachev and Loktionov still treasure their shared bond, but at this most important time of year, there’s no side bets about who will contribute most to the outcome.
“I want to win,” Loktionov said. “Not to be better.”
So far, his wish is coming true.
via Lotionov, Grachev make their respective marks .
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