HERSHEY, PA — Five days before the start of the Hershey Bears’ Atlantic Division Semifinals series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Ivan Miroshnichenko and his wife Karisha visited with Alex Alexeyev and his wife Kate.
The Alexeyevs had just welcomed their second child, Eva, on April 17 — a month prior. At their place, Miroshnichenko was photographed by Kate with their young son Ivan adorably sitting on his shoulders, smiling from ear to ear.
“Is Miro like an uncle in your family?” I asked Alexeyev after Game 2 at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
“Yeah, sure,” he said.
The moment showed an incredible kinship between the two Washington Capitals’ first-round draft picks four years apart, who now play opposite each other and frequently go up against one another in the I-81 Rivalry playoff series.
“Obviously, in playoffs, there’s no friends,” Alexeyev said, “so I just play my way. Just play hockey.”
After six seasons in the Capitals organization, Alexeyev left the club last summer as Caps brass chose not to offer him a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent. Days later, he signed a one-year, $775K contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a UFA. Alexeyev then spent the entire 2025-26 season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, posting 12 points (3g, 9a) in 38 games while missing time due to injury.
“My wife and he wife, good friends,” Miroshnichenko explained. “And he, he big help me when I just come my first year (in 2023-24). He all the time text me, drove me everywhere. And I think it’s a memory for my first time here, you know? He’s good guy. And he have good wife, kids. Good guys.”
“I was at his wedding this summer, and, yeah, we spent a lot of time together,” Alexeyev said. “Yeah, our wives are really good friends.”
Many Russian-speaking players are already familiar with one another through national teams they’ve played on or past run-ins in Russian leagues, such as the KHL, MHL, or VHL. When many of these prospects first arrive in North America, there’s a big adjustment to learning a new language, culture, and way of life. Having someone else to lean on for help or support during those difficult moments — especially in their native tongue — can not only help them problem-solve but also give them a sense of comfort during uncomfortable times, creating powerful bonds.
“I think in every team who have a lot of Russian guys, it’s good for everybody,” Miroshnichenko said. “And your wife, your kids, who talk. Maybe every weekend, barbecues are talking, and locker room talking. If you’re born in different county, it’s hard for you to all season talk with English. You want to talk with your language every time.”
The relationship between Miroshnichenko and Alexeyev is one of many that the popular former Capitals defenseman made during his time in the organization.
“For me, [Alexeyev] is a special guy because when I was first time here, he and Big Pro (Aliaksei Protas) always helped me on the ice and outside,” Bogdan Trineyev said. “It was great time.”
When I asked Alexeyev who he was closest with on the Bears, he replied, “Pretty much everyone.” He then cracked a wry smile. “Except the new guys.”
While the friendships between Alexeyev and Hershey are vast, you’d never be able to tell on the ice during the series. In Game 1, for instance, Miroshnichenko frequently matched up against Alexeyev, throwing hits on the Penguins’ first-pairing defenseman and exchanging post-whistle shoves and face washes. The scrums got the attention of Bears head coach Derek King.
“This is playoff hockey,” Bears head coach Derek King said. “And even Trineyev, I think at the end, or Pro, one of them had him in a headlock. And, you know, that’s fine. They know each other, but they’ll still play physical on each other.”
“Yeah, now it’s playoff game. We don’t have friends on ice,” Miroshnichenko said. “We’re good friends outside the rink in Russia, but on ice, I have friends in my locker room and nothing more.”
When I asked Alexeyev which one of his former friends and teammates he’d like to hit most, he smiled big and said, “Bogey.”
“I don’t think about it,” Trineyev said laughing after I notified him. “I just have a [defensive] position after score.”
Trineyev later added, “Play against him, for us, doesn’t matter because we want to win every game, we want to win every series. It doesn’t matter who playing against us.”
Alexeyev has been one of the best players in the second-round series, registering three points, all assists, in three games. He’s tied with two Penguins forwards for the team lead in points, while his seven shots rank second among the team’s defensemen. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton currently leads two games to one and will look to close out the best-of-five series at Giant Center on Thursday night.
“He’s a good player, but no friends on the ice,” said Ilya Protas. “He’s just a regular guy on the ice.”
