Lineup spot in jeopardy for Kuvaev
Giants winger struggling
The Vancouver Giants had a roster spot vacant for an import player earlier this season and when Russian winger Alex Kuvaev was available at no cost to them, other than his room and board, they bit.
Kuvaev had already been drafted into the WHL by the Lethbridge Hurricanes — second round, 2010 — but was released at the end of last season. He was an 18- yearold, 6- foot- 3, 190 pounds and scored 11 goals for the ’ Canes in his rookie campaign. Nonetheless, there were reservations about his skating and ability to get it done. In other words, he was no rushin’ rocket.
“A bit of a wild card,” Giants head coach Don Hay admitted Wednesday. “But he was a ‘ free player’ who had been in the league. He had experience, size and the ability to create some offence — and he hasn’t lived up to that.”
Ouch. The stats tell the story, however. In his first game as a Giant on Dec. 27, Kuvaev scored a goal and the shootout winner in a 4- 3 victory over the first- place Kamloops Blazers. Since then, he’s managed one goal in 24 games.
“He’s been very inconsistent,” explained Hay, whose boys entertain the Blazers in their next outing Friday night. “I think some of that had to do with the culture and expectation but, having said that, he played a full year in the league. So he should know what to expect and it shouldn’t be a big shock to him. We’re getting healthy now and it’s at the point where he’s got to find a way to contribute or else he’ll be out of the lineup.”
Kuvaev has drifted into Hay’s bottom six and was skating on the Giants’ fourth line at practice Wednesday. With two forwards returning from suspension — Marek Tvrdon and Anthony Ast — and another returning from injury — Dalton Sward — the coach will be scratching two healthy forwards Friday.
“Kuvaev is just like any of the other guys,” Hay said. “You can’t go long periods of time without finding ways to contribute. He wants to please and he wants to help out. We’re working with him to understand it’s not only about scoring and getting points. He’s 18, he’s played in the league and he should understand that.”
Despite his time in North America, Kuvaev is unable to do media interviews in English. Giants captain Brendan Gallagher says the team is doing all it can to help the Russian along.
“He obviously made the decision to come to our group so I think he’s happy to be here,” Gallagher said. “Even though he’s been over here before with Lethbridge, we’re still aware of how difficult it probably is. He just kind of jumped in mid- season, he didn’t go through training camp and learn our systems, so there is a learning curve.”
Tvrdon, meanwhile, was contrite Wednesday in discussing the completion of his second suspension in three weeks. He received a two- game sit- down for abuse of officials Jan. 27 in Red Deer and three games for a spearing incident Feb. 15 in Spokane.
Tvrdon, a Slovak and the Giants’ other import player, said he apologized to his teammates. He is Vancouver’s second leading scorer with 59 points, nine behind Gallagher.
“This last suspension so stupid for me,” Tvrdon said in his improving English. “I miss three games. That’s stupid. It hurt myself and it hurt the team. So no more suspensions for me.”