SPITS’ PHENOM MISSES HOME
Sergachev picked OHL over Russia
Playing with his younger sister Anna. Getting sound advice from his father Alexander. Devouring the traditional Russian dishes that his mother Ludmilla prepares so exquisitely.
Mikhail Sergachev missed all of these wonderful things from his life and it was getting to the point where it was overwhelming him.
“Yes, it was two weeks ago and I was a little bit (homesick),” admitted Sergachev, the Windsor Spitfires’ rookie defenceman from Nizhnekamsk, Russia. “I was missing my home, my parents.
“I was thinking about it every day and I couldn’t play hockey. I don’t know why.”
Rocky Thompson knows exactly why. The Spitfires’ coach has seen it countless times with kids away from home for the first time, whether they’ve arrived from across the province or from across the Atlantic Ocean.
“Being the first time away from home, there’s always a tough time in November,” Thompson said. “It always seems to be November.
“You’re close to Christmas, but it’s not there yet and they get a little homesick, they start missing their parents.”
It’s different for Sergachev compared to the majority of his teammates. Their parents can jump in the car and drive to Windsor to see a game, or meet their son at the rink on a road trip that comes close to home. There is no such luxury available to Sergachev. He is 8,321 kilometres away from home.
Committing to play in the OHL, which Sergachev believes offers him the best chance to make his dream of playing in the NHL come true, he’s completely abandoned his comfort zone, cast aside all that he knows for a new life on the other side of the hockey world.
“I left my family in Russia, and my friends — everything in Russia,” Sergachev said. “But I needed to leave my family to play in the NHL.”
As much as he knew it was a step he had to make, it wasn’t a step Sergachev wanted to make.
“It was tough,” he said. “I was thinking about it for one month. I didn’t want to come to Windsor.
“I wasn’t prepared. I was thinking about it, about the OHL, and I didn’t want to go because it would change my life, a big sacrifice.”
Ultimately, it was those who would miss him the most — his family — who convinced Sergachev he must go to Canada and don a Spitfires jersey.
“I think it’s my parents,” Sergachev said as to who finally provided him with the strength to take this difficult and yet important step in his life. “I was talking with a lot of people who were playing right now in the OHL and they said it’s so much better for me if I want to play in the NHL.
“I was talking a lot about the OHL, about Canada, about the language. I was learning the language just a bit. I didn’t know the language. “This choice was tough, yeah.” Known as Misha by his Windsor teammates, Sergachev has come to the realization that it may be the best decision he’s ever made in his life.
“I think it’s good for me because it’s my dream, playing in the NHL,” Sergachev said.
“Yes, this is a big step for me, but I want to play in the NHL.”
The homesickness has since subsided. Sergachev may not be able to hug his family, but thanks to Skype and FaceTime, he’s at least able to see them.
“Right now, I’m good,” Sergachev said.
“Every day for one hour I talk to my family.
“I’m talking to my mom every day and it’s helping.”
These days, it’s the rest of the OHL that wish Sergachev, 17, would go home.
The 6-3, 206-pound defenceman leads all OHL rearguards with nine goals.
Heading into Thursday’s game against Mississauga, he’s scored four times in Windsor’s last three games.
Physically mature, passionate about the game, eager to learn and highly skilled, NHL scouts salivate at the thought of adding Sergachev to their talent pool. Already rated as a first-round choice for the 2016 NHL entry draft, his play of late definitely has Sergachev trending upward on many draft lists.
“He’s very mature out there in the game perspective, a guy who has poise with the puck,” Thompson said. “His intensity level without the puck is starting to come up too, which is something that we’ve worked on with him. That’s going to be important at the next level, his defending without the puck.
“He’s big and he’s strong and he does have bite to his game. That’s starting to come out, which is great.
“From a prospect’s perspective, he’s outstanding. It’s everything every NHL scout wants to see.”
Off the ice, the transition Sergachev has undergone in such a short time is nothing short of astonishing.
When he first arrived in Windsor, Sergachev was placed in the Tecumseh home of longtime Spitfires billets Brian and Michelle Reid of Tecumseh. Originally, Russian teammate Daniil Vertiy was also billeted there to aid Sergachev with his assimilation into North American culture.
“He helped me a lot with the language, with my billet family, and with the hockey on the ice,” Sergachev said. “He’s a good friend.”
By the time Vertiy was dealt to the North Bay Battalion in midNovember, Sergachev was ready to go it alone.
“He was excellent with him and helping him through that transition phase. Now Misha is stepping up and being on his own, which is good,” Thompson said.
The same passion to improve that Sergachev brings to the ice he carries into his lessons off the ice. He works regularly with a tutor to learn English and encourages the Reids to correct his mistakes, and he’s proving to be a quick learner.
“There’s been times when he’s corrected our grammar,” Michelle Reid laughed
Always smiling, friendly and outgoing, Sergachev’s disarming personality allowed him to quickly become one of the guys in the Windsor dressing room.
“I’ve played with European players their first time over from Europe and I’ve coached them, and a lot of times, the Russian players, they’re guarded,” Thompson said. “They’re great guys, but they’re a little guarded.
“Misha’s been great, very open. He has a great personality and is really funny, so he let his guard down very early, which was great.
“He was able to learn the language, which has helped us as coaches communicate the details of the game to him and I think it’s helped him improve himself at a quicker pace because of the language not being so much of a barrier.”
While allowing that he’s developed a passion for carbonara, Sergachev acknowledges that he longs for his mom’s home cooking.
“I miss my food,” he said. “My mom is a good cook.
“All the food my mom cooks, they are my favourites.”
The good news is he won’t go much longer without sampling some of his mother’s tasty fare. The Sergachevs will visit Canada for the first time later this month.
“They are coming New Year’s Eve,” Sergachev said, his smile widening. “I’m so excited because I don’t see them in probably like five months.
“It’s the longest time in my life when I didn’t see my family.”
If you can’t be home for the holidays, ringing in the new year with your family and proudly showing them around your new home isn’t a bad substitute.