Igor Chibrikov

Not a recent Canadian import, this tall Moscow native family has been in North America for seven years so no worry of culture shock, or homesickness that leads to a departure to the motherland. Started as forward (and has seen an occasional shift with Owen Sound up front) but his growths to a towering six foot seven moved him to the defense, where he continued to work on his foot speed and balance so that he now looks quick and decisive on his pins. Has developed into high hockey IQ rearguard who plays with some edge, mostly channeled through hard stick work, strong net front presence and corner work. He works hard on improving his stop/starts and important aspect when you feel surrounded by tiny swarming opposing players. Of course, he uses his wingspan and size to his advantage, and reads the ice and plays quick and calm. An although the 6 goals and 13 points might suggest he is a defense first rearguard, he protects the puck well near his body on his carries in transition and up ice. He has good hands and puck skills, and head fakes the times he gets involved on offensive. NHL teams will look at that and the facts that lead us to teams tend to stay away from his side in chip and chases because he covers so much ground, is very good one on one, and is calm under forechecking pressures, and has good presence to know where his outlets are and not throwing the biscuit away. He makes the outlet pass and stays within his strengths out there. What NHL team isn’t going to desire a guy this big that they can develop?

--Bill Placzek--