Russian goalie Alexander Georgiev is now in his second season playing professionally in Finland for TPS Turku. This past weekend he got a chance to play for the Russian national junior team, however, with a chance to show why he belongs in the World Junior Championship.
by Leo Runsas
HAKAMETSA, Finland – Russian goalkeeper Alexander Georgiev was a pleased man after Russia’s win against Sweden on Friday to open the under-20 four-nation tournament in Finland – the same country that will host the IIHF World Junior Championship in late December and early January and also the same country he plays professionally in.
“I feel great after winning this game. It was against a serious team. This was a great game and a great experience. It was wonderful to put on the national team jersey again,” the goalie happily said after his team won 3–2 in overtime.
Georgiev was pleased with his own performance for most of the game but took the blame for Sweden’s second goal. He lost the puck behind the goal to Sweden’s Robin Kovacs, who had an easy job to flip it to the empty net.
“I made some good saves but the second goal was bad. I think we need more time with the defencemen to figure out the plays. We were a little slow playing the puck,” Georgiev summed up.
Georgiev is aiming to be one of Russia's goalies at this year's World Juniors, and the 19-year-old from Moscow sees this past weekend’s tournament as a great way to get to know the teams better and as a chance to show the national team’s coaches that he is able to represent his home country in the upcoming tournament.
“This tournament in Tampere and Hameenlinna is a great way to see what the opponents are all about. I'd never played against Sweden before. Of course I am hoping to show my best here so I get a better chance to play in the World Junior Championship.”
Georgiev is in his second season with Finnish club TPS Turku. After spending most of last year in Finland's highest junior league, he has gotten some chances to play in the Liiga as the back-up to Teemu Lassila, and has played well. In seven Liiga games he has a goals-against average of 2.38 and a save percentage of 90.29. Georgiev sees Finland's top league as a great place to develop.
“The Liiga is a great league, especially for the young guys. It has smaller rinks than the ones in Russia, so there are lots of shots and lots of good chances come towards the net. I also think that all of the teams are pretty even so every game is tough.”
In the CHL, Georgiev has only played in one game so far, but it was an exciting one on 29 August in front of 6,753 frantic fans in Dusselforf – TPS won 5–4 thanks to a last-minute power-play goal by Harri Tikkanen, with Georgiev making 27 saves. Other than that, he has backed up Lassila, but Georgiev has enjoyed the chance to experience new countries and cultures and as a chance to learn the differences between the different leagues.
“The CHL is a great tournament because it's nice to compete for something more, and it's also fun to play against other teams than those from the Liiga. Travelling all around Europe is also a great thing. You get to spend time in different countries and get to know more about European hockey since you couldn’t play in all the European leagues at the same time. In the CHL you get to play against the best teams from each league. That is a great thing.”
The next place he'll get to experience is Norway, as TPS visit Storhamar on Tuesday. After their come-from-behind 4–3 victory at home, TPS have a one-goal aggregate lead with a spot in the quarter-finals at stake.