DID GLASS SAVE BEST FOR LAST?
Goalie’s journey to NHL included several interesting seasons in Russian league
Jeff Glass never got paid with a bag of rubles, nor was he ever approached by a Russian mobster proposing he throw hockey games.
However, while overseas he was fined by the KHL for his positioning during the national anthem, and traded across town when his team ran out of money.
Such was life in Russia, where you could complain all you wanted, or simply shrug it off as an experience.
Glass chose the latter while on an unorthodox path to the NHL that has made him the league’s feel-good story of the year.
“I got fined my first year in the KHL because I used to stand in the crease, or maybe slightly above, during the national anthem like I did here,” the 32-year-old Calgarian — who made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks late last month — said with a chuckle.
“International rules say all six players have to be standing across the blue-line. I won the first five games, so the team was scared to tell me to move in case I was superstitious. I was getting a fine every night until finally I lost and they told me you’ve got to go to the blue-line. I said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ and they said, ‘You were on a heater so we didn’t want to wreck that.’”
Four years after his debut in Kazakhstan, and a year removed from a stint in Siberia, his time with storied Moscow Spartak came to an abrupt end late in the season when a bizarre team meeting took place.
“They told us, ‘The head sponsor shut down for fraudulent banking so we have no sponsor or money, so you’re playing for free now,’” said Glass, who was named major junior’s goalie of the year in 2005 after backstopping Canada to world junior gold for the first time since 1997.
“One option was to trade a player for cash compensation and I was that player. They traded me to the other Moscow team for cash so the rest of the boys could get some salary back. Their rink was actually closer to my apartment and they were in a playoff hunt, so it worked out.”
It worked out because Glass had the open mind to roll with whatever punches were thrown his way in hockey outposts he hoped would one day lead him to the NHL.
“I could have focused on the fact I’m out of cash and I had a comfortable two-year contract ripped up, but I tend to look at the positives and saw the opportunity in it,” said Glass, a third-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2004, who tried the KHL after four years in the AHL and ECHL. “You have to be open to the fact that some people see things differently. It is the second-best league in the world. ... All the fun stuff that comes with it is exciting. You kind of learn we don’t always do things the right or wrong way, it’s just a different mentality there. I can respect their opinions and I think that got me further ahead in the long run.”
So did his play, which earned him lucrative offers year after year to prolong his Russian expedition for seven years.
“It’s funny, when you get over there the money is good and life is better than you’d expect,” said Glass, a fierce defender of the KHL.
“I thought I’d be the guy saying ‘get me out of here.’ But that was never me. My wife came and we had our dog and you made friends over there. It felt normal. I didn’t ever think I’d say the things I’m saying about it.”
Glass returned to his southwest Calgary home each summer where the couple runs a yoga/ barre/spin studio called the Sweat Lab with former Calgary Hitmen player Matt Kinch and his wife — a business they’re in the midst of expanding to North Vancouver.
Two summers ago, at age 30, Glass decided it was time to pull the plug on Russia to take a final stab at satisfying his NHL dreams. A risky move, given the security Russia gave him.
“I’d been trying to leave for a long time, not because I was sick of the league, but it was never my intention to stay that long in the first place,” Glass said.
“When I first went over it was a one-year contract and it was just to change things up and learn the international game and then come back and carry on over here. Next thing you know I’m getting extensions and I’m over there a while. It’s interesting how your perspective changes.
“But I felt like if I didn’t do it (leave), it would be too late.
“People can handle a 31- or 32-year-old goalie but I don’t know if NHL teams are willing to take on a 35-year-old rookie. You get forgotten pretty quick over there. So I had to start at the bottom with a PTO (a professional tryout) and go from there.”
The Toronto Maple Leafs gave Glass a no-strings attached tryout, which translated into a brief AHL stint with the Toronto Marlies before being released.
Things seemed bleak until Chicago’s affiliate in Rockford, Ill., signed the six-foot-three, 200-pound Kootenay Ice grad.
An injury to Blackhawks starter Corey Crawford at Christmas led to his magical debut in Edmonton on Dec. 29, when a large crowd of family and friends watched him cap his dream night with a win.
“Everything that came with playing against Connor McDavid and getting the win and having my family there was a pinch-me moment,” said Glass, who played in his hometown two nights later and has since gone on to post a 3-2-1 record with a 3.18 GAA and .910 save percentage.
“People are telling me how great a story it is, but I’ve kind of been living it. I’m excited about the opportunity — it’s been great. Awesome. All those cliches. But I’m just trying to make this last.”
It looks like it will last at least a bit longer, as a report Tuesday said Crawford may miss the rest of the season with vertigo-like symptoms.
“I want to prove I can play at this level,” Glass said. “I’ve been preparing for this, obviously, for a long time. I think I’m ready.”
People can handle a 31- or 32-year-old goalie but I don’t know if NHL teams are willing to take on a 35-year-old rookie. You get forgotten pretty quick over there.