Osipov one of a few imports to stay loyal
Giants stalwart in an exclusive club of Europeans to hang around
It’s going to be odd to talk about the Vancouver Giants and not mention Dmitry Osipov. It feels like he’s always been here. He’s been that kind of constant.
The 20-year-old Russian blueliner, who is in his final season of WHL eligibility, has played 227 regular season games with the Giants going into the Everett Silvertips’ visit to the Langley Events Centre Friday (7:30 p.m., TSN 1040).
The WHL doesn’t keep track of such stats, but a quick perusal of hockeydb.com shows that the only import to play more games with a single team in the league was defenceman Andrei Lupandin, a Ukrainian who got to 239 with the Brandon Wheat Kings from 1995 to 1999.
Assuming Osipov stays healthy the rest of the regular season and isn’t traded, he would end up with 269 games for the Giants. That would be the seventh-best mark in team history — although teammates Thomas Foster (248) and Alec Baer (228) are currently ahead of him on the list, too.
Mario Bliznak (183) and Michal Repik (176), who were the Euros for much of Vancouver’s spectacular run that climaxed with the 2007 Memorial Cup championship on home ice, are the only imports even close to Osipov’s longevity totals with the Giants.
Major junior hockey started designating two possible spots on teams per season for Europeans in 1992, which was the inaugural year of the CHL Import Draft. Europeans rarely opt to come over at 16 or 17, worried that it’s too big a transition at that age. And they rarely stick as 20-yearolds, since teams generally prefer to use their two Euro spots and three over-age positions on five different players.
“It’s hard to believe that it’s almost over,” said Osipov, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-handed shot.
“The time has flown by. It seems like I came here just yesterday and it’s already four years.
“I remember how those older guys (in his 2013-14 rookie year) played and how they looked and you go, ‘Man, I’m in the same spot now.’ You see the team from a different spot now.
“It’s a good feeling, being an older guy. If a guy needs something, you can help him.”
Vancouver picked Osipov first overall in the 2013 import draft. It’s not your traditional selection process: Teams choose players as much on their relationships with agents and the chances of getting them to come to North America as they do based on talent.
The Giants initially were aiming for forward Andre Burkakovsky, now with the Washington Capitals, as their top choice, but they couldn’t get a commitment from his agent on draft day.
They turned to Ritch Winter, who represented defenceman David Musil when he was with the Giants, and Winter suggested then-client Osipov. Osipov was also selected first overall in the KHL draft that year.
Burkakovsky ended up going fifth overall to the OHL’s Erie Otters and played one season. Nikolaj Ehlers was taken sixth by the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads and played two seasons before moving onto the Winnipeg Jets.
Osipov hasn’t put up the numbers hoped for, considering his heavy shot and how well he skates. He has seven goals and 28 assists in his career.
But he has become a mainstay in Vancouver’s own zone. He blocks shots, clears the slot and plays physical in the high-traffic areas.
“You know what you’re going to get every day,” Giants coach Jason McKee said of Osipov. “You know he’s going to work hard. You know he’s going to be a good teammate. “Those are important things.” Maybe the biggest change in Osipov over the years has been communication. He said precious little in English when he first arrived. Now, you rarely notice any sort of accent.
“You don’t really think of him as an import,” McKee said. “He speaks so well, and he integrated himself within our team and the Lower Mainland.”
Osipov had a free-agent tryout with the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this season and is looking to catch on in an NHL team’s system once this season ends.