Ex-director “Tractors” Andrey Balandin expressed the opinion that the striker of the Chelyabinsk team Maxim Shabanov It’s too early to leave for the National Hockey League.
Shabanov, 23, played 39 regular season matches for the club this season, in which he scored 31 points (15+16).
— I was one of the first to pay attention to Shabanov and say that he had prospects. After that, they started putting the guy in the lineup and he got open. But I think it’s too early for him to go to the NHL. He has not yet matured and become a stable player. Shabanov plays some matches well, but there are also some bad matches. Not ready either physically or psychologically. At the moment he is one of the leaders of Traktor, but overall he has not shown anything in the KHL yet.
Nikita Gusev even surpassed Shabanov in talent and left as the leader of SKA, but he did not achieve success in the NHL. There are many examples. Vitaly Kravtsov even tried three times, but it didn’t work. First, hockey is different in the NHL. Second, many local players also want to make money. Who wants a Russian to come and take your bread? Shabanov has good speed, understands the game, can score – but this is still not enough. In the NHL, you need a fighting spirit and a healthy sense of purpose. It is not yet clear whether Shabanov possesses these qualities. But if he goes there, then God grant it works,” Balandin said, as quoted by RB Sport.
RB Sport
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
