Suit up, Z! It’s playoff time
Avalanche’s Zadorov is physical on the ice, fashionista off it
Nikita Zadorov will celebrate his 23rd birthday Monday, and the highly stylish Avalanche defenseman is bound to show off his presents by wearing them to Game 3 against Nashville at the Pepsi Center.
Zadorov, a 6-foot-5 Russian, pushes the edge of fashion like he pushes the rules of playing physical on the ice. Not every teammate agrees with his black, gold-starred Gucci shoes and no socks, but everyone has a take on Zadorov’s interesting wardrobe.
“I love it. I think he has great style,” Swiss forward Sven Andrighetto said. “I’m really into suits and stuff like that too. He dresses well, good custom suits. His shoes? Some guys think they’re questionable. I can see that. But I like them. Not many people can pull them off. He
can. They’re great shoes.”
Zadorov only hopes he is considered among the Avalanche’s best dressers. He says his competition is with Andrighetto, left wing Gabe Landeskog, right wing Blake Comeau and goalies Jonathan Bernier and Semyon Varlamov. The each tend to prefer the short pants and no socks — exposing their ankles.
Comeau, from Canada, is the only North American in that group. “Some North American guys didn’t get them right away, but it takes them time,” Zadorov said. “Little different style. Some people don’t understand that — the guys from North America.”
Zadorov declined to estimate what he pays for an outfit and how much his wardrobe is worth. But he said he doesn’t have a budget and his wife, Aleksandra, does most of his shopping. The couple has a daughter, Sophie, who turned 1 last week.
“When I started to make money it became possible to buy some stuff on my own,” Zadorov said. “My mind-set was, obviously, I want to look good. I feel better when I go to the game and I’m dressed sharply and I look at myself in the mirror and I like the way I’m looking. I feel better before the game that way.
“And hockey is different. We got more class in our sport than basketball or football. The way those guys dress — you got to have some respect for the game and dress like a pro. So you wear a suit, you wear a tie. You dress nicely. You don’t wear jeans. It’s what they’re missing in their league a little bit.”
Landeskog doesn’t like to be lumped in with Zadorov on fashion.
“The problem with Z is, he thinks the more expensive something is, it’s better — it’s nicer automatically. We try to explain to him that just because it’s expensive it doesn’t necessary means it looks good,” Landeskog said. “Obviously, style is personal and everyone has different opinions. But he’s got some different pieces. I’d love to tour his closet. He puts it together once in a while, but then he’s got days where I don’t know what happened. That’s Z for ya. He’s funny. We always harp on him, get on him for stuff. The beauty for Z is, he can take it.”
Unlike the single guys on the team, Zadorov doesn’t dress partly to impress the opposite sex. He is a devoted husband looking to become a father of four. Nikita and Aleksandra are coming up on their three-year anniversary.
“I want four kids. And I want to play with them,” Nikita said. “When my daughter is going to be a teen I’m only going to be 40. It’s not a bad gap. So I can be a really close friend to her, and she can tell me everything. I want to be close to my kids. I had a dream I had a son and maybe at the end of my career I can play with him on the same team. But we have a daughter right now and girls are unbelievable. She’s so much fun for us right now.”
Zadorov is fashionably fun.