Ex-Capital and everyone’s favorite enigmatic Russian Alexander Semin will make his return to big-league hockey next season. Semin will play for the KHL’s Vityaz, which roughly translates as “The Knights”.
Former Capitals forward Alexander Semin, who has been playing this season for Sokol Krasnoyarsk of Russia’s second-tier Vyschaya Khokeinaya Liga (VHL), has taken a leave of absence of unspecified duration from the club to return to the United States following the birth of his second child, Danil.
Although over the summer he enrolled in Siberian Federal University, former Capital Alexander Semin has resumed his hockey career, playing for HK Sokol Kransoyarsk, a team in Russia’s Vysshaya Khokeinaya Liga, or VHL.
The VHL is Russia’s second professional hockey league, the rough equivalent of North America’s AHL. Semin, who grew up in Krasnoyarsk, previously played four games with Sokol in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
On Tuesday, former Capitals 40-goalscorer Alex Semin spoke to Championat’s Darya Tuboltseva. He answered questions about his move to graduate school and how he hopes he lands a contract offer from the NHL or KHL soon.
He also was asked about some of his past detractors in the NHL such as NBC’s Pierre McGuire.
“This is not a great teammate,” McGuire said on July 1, 2012 when Semin was an unrestricted free agent. “I’ll tell you that right now, not a good guy to have around your group unless you have unbelievably great leadership and rely on that. He’s the ultimate coach killer, that’s what he is.”
Semin, who signed a one-year deal that summer with the Carolina Hurricanes, admitted he had heard about the quote.
Over the summer, former Capitals young gun Alex Semin surprised the hockey world when word leaked out that he would pursue a master’s degree in the Theory and Technology of Non-Ferrous Metallurgy.
In late August, Semin passed his entrance exam and was officially accepted into Siberian Federal University, receiving a state-funded position in the university’s Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Materials Science program. He begins classes on September 1st.
But in a recent interview with Championat’s Darya Tuboltseva, the 33-year-old star was adamant that his hockey career is not over.
In July, former Capitals forward Alex Semin applied to a college graduate program in his hometown of Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
On Monday, sibnovosti.ru reported that Semin passed his entrance exam and was accepted into a master’s degree program at Siberian Federal University. Semin received a state-funded position in the university’s Theory and Technology of Base Metals and Alloys program. He will officially become a student of the University on September 1st.
His hockey career appears over.
Has the first player from the Caps’ Young Guns retired from hockey? No, but it appears likely soon.
Former Capitals forward Alex Semin has applied to be in a full-time master’s degree program in Metallurgy of Non-Ferrous Metals at Siberian Federal University. The Russian website Newslab.ru was the first to report the news.
Semin’s main focus will be on the Theory and Technology of Non-Ferrous Metallurgy. The university says that students in this program work with both resources at the school and with employees currently working in the metallurgy industry. Metallurgy, just like any specialty field in Materials Sciences, is a very challenging and difficult area of science and technology.
Dmitry Orlov wasn’t the only Capitals representative at Alex Ovechkin’s wedding.
Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov was there. And so was longtime, huggy Ovechkin teammate Alex Semin. The duo was captured onstage by an onlooker during the wedding reception. The group, which included Orlov, Ilya Kovlachuk, and several others, awkwardly danced and laughed.
On Friday, former Capitals forward Alex Semin, now a member of the KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk, scored a spectacular goal against Amur Khabarovsk. Reminiscent of Ovechkin’s magical goal against the Phoenix Coyotes in 2006 (okay, we’re stretching things just a little bit), Semin completely befuddled Amur defensemen Jan Kolar before firing a shot past goaltender Juha Metsola while falling over.
It was brilliant.
After he was put on waivers by the Montreal Canadiens in December, former Capitals forward Alex Semin flew home to Russia and completed the 2015-16 season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Semin scored five goals and nine assists in 20 regular season games. In the playoffs, Semin did even better, notching seven goals and eight assists in 23 playoff games. Semin and Magnitogorsk won the Gagarin Cup as league champions.
Despite spending 11 seasons and playing 650 games in North America, Semin will not test the NHL free agent market. Instead, last Tuesday, Semin agreed to terms with Magnitogorsk. Sports.ru was the first to report the news.
