It’s no secret that Evgeny Kuznetsov is a bit of a comedian. From his famous goal celebrations, to his strange game-time banter, to his obsession with Family Feud, to that whacky post-draft photo, it’s quite clear Kuzya has a solid sense of humor.
During a Russian-language interview with NHL.com on Tuesday, Kuzya got goofy with a reporter after being asked about his recent increased offensive output.
Идеальное интервью хоккеиста "Вашингтона" и сборной России Евгения Кузнецова @kuzya92
:joy::joy::joy: pic.twitter.com/aByDKgImGD
— Молния Спорт (@molniasport) March 1, 2017
“Speaking of confidence, your game has sort of come together lately,” the reporter begins. “We see you, uhh, that you’re creating more, maybe some sort of ‘jump’ (uses the actual English word jump) has appeared, you know? So that, that extra energy, where’s it from?”
“From a camel!” joked Kuznetsov.
Let me explain. This is actually quite clever.
Kuzy’s answer in Russian is ot verblyuda, which rhymes with the question, “from where?” (otkuda). This is a reference to “Telephone”, a nonsense poem by Soviet author Kornei Chukovsky. The poem, a favorite of Russian-speaking children, is similar to works by Dr. Seuss or Lewis Carroll.
It’s a common conversational reference that, depending on the context and tone, can range from rude to, as in this case, light-hearted.
After laughing off the question about his individual accomplishments, Kuzy spoke instead about his teammates, noting that, “the whole team is playing really well right now.”
The full interview is below.
