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Evgeny Saidachev has had a circuitous route to Fort Wayne, one that took him from his family and friends to a land in which he didn’t speak the language.
But the 22-year-old rookie professes no regrets about his improbable path to professional hockey.
“Every time I’ve got an opportunity,” he said, “I’ve taken it instead of looking back.”
Saidachev, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound right wing with the Komets, grew up in Khabarovsk, Russia. As a 10-year-old aspiring hockey player, he received communication from a team in Washington state, which was looking for players for its youth team. It was an invitation that had been declined by others in his area, but one he didn’t hesitate to accept.
“I was young, and when you’re young, you don’t really think about whether your parents will get sick of (having you away from home),” said Saidachev, adding they wouldn’t have been able to stop him from going anyway, even at that tender age.
“Hockey’s my dream, and they knew I’d make any sacrifice, even though it unfortunately had to be them. When you’re that young and you’ve got your mind-set, you can’t stop (someone).”
Saidachev, who left behind two sisters and a brother, still didn’t imagine his stay in America would be so lengthy.
After three years in Gig Harbor, he’d enrolled in school and learned English. After his freshman year of high school, he got an invitation to come to Indiana’s Culver Military Academy, whose team has produced 22 NHL draft picks and seven NHL players, including Gary Suter, Aris Brimanis and John-Michael Liles.
Saidachev’s stint at Culver propelled him to a spot on the team at Middlebury College in Vermont, where he won three conference championships, scoring 31 goals and 85 points in 111 games.
From there, his agent, Stephen Bartlett, arranged for a tryout with the Komets this fall.
“He was a guy we had never seen play and didn’t know if he was going to make the team or not,” said general manager David Franke, whose International Hockey League-leading Komets are 9-3-2 heading into tonight’s game against the visiting Port Huron Icehawks (9-8-0).
But teaming up with linemates Mathieu Curadeau and David Hukalo, Saidachev has tallied two goals and 11 points in 14 games, spending much of the season as the Komets’ leading scorer.
“He certainly has the speed, the desire and the skill,” Franke said.
Unlike most rookies, Saidachev has been relied upon by coach Al Sims in key situations, and it’s paid off.
“(Success) all depends on who you’re playing with,” Saidachev said. “I’ve had a good line to play with, with Hukalo and Curadeau, and that helps out. It’s been a better start than Al and I thought it would be, and it’s been nice. … It’s really nice not having to think, ‘When am I going to get that first (goal).’ I got it early and got the monkey off the back. It’s been good so far.”
Despite his European lineage, Saidachev doesn’t play a finesse game; the harder-hitting North American style of play has rubbed off on him, after so many years in the U.S, and Saidachev said that has made him a better player.
He hasn’t been back to Khabarovsk in about 10 years – he was an economics major in college – but hopes to return soon. Such a time would be emotional, for he could return having become a star hockey player.
“The sacrifice has been worth it,” Saidachev said. “Hopefully, one day I’ll go back and repay (my family).”
jcohn@jg.net
