Bogatyrev Struggles for Form

[Bojovnik 487]

The playoffs are on the horizon. There are only 10 games to go until the end of the VHL regular season, and to a large extent, things have been good for the Seattle Bears. The Pacific Northwest side currently sit atop of the North American Conference with a 40-20-2 record. They have a four-point lead over the Vancouver Wolves in second place and the Calgary Wranglers in third. For the second season in a row, the Bears go into the playoffs the favourites to come out of the North American Conference.

 

The Bears have been doing things by committee. They may not have a killer partnership, such as Moscow Menace have with Ronan Lavelle and Tomas Sogaard, but they in fact have two strong lines. If Hulk Hogan 2 and Tavish DeGroot aren’t going to solve things on one night, you can expect that the youth, such as Randy Bobandy and Yaroslav Bogatyrev, will be able to get the Bears over the line.

 

There are times, however, when the Bears have been screaming out for a gamebreaker who would be able to take a game by the scruff of the neck and get the victory for the Bears. Since joining the league more than three seasons ago, Bogatyrev hasn’t really been that sort of player for the Bears. He’s been a complimentary piece. He’s been able to score consistently, particularly over the past two seasons, but is he a leader? No. Is he driving play? Somewhat, but not to the extent that other players in the VHL are.

 

This has been clear over the past 10 games, in which Bogatyrev has scored less than a point per game. The Bears dropped two out of their three recent games against HC Davos Dynamo, who look to have first place in the European Conference wrapped up, and could very likely be the finals opponent for the Bears. As a result, many pundits are tipping the Dynamo to be the favourites to lift the Continental Cup.

 

“Losing to Davos was a big wake up call for us,” Bogatyrev told the press after Saturday night’s game against the Swiss side. “I think we realized tonight that we have a lot of work to do to be the team that we think we are. At times we’ve had confidence in the room high, but then we’ve turned around and laid an egg like that. Davos are a really good side. They’re tough, they come at you hard, and they roll through the lines. They have that physical edge and they made us uncomfortable out there, and then also the they have really good goaltending. They’re going to be a really strong problem for any team in the playoffs, and we know that we have to play to their level because we also want to be challenging for the title. After losing in the final the way we did last season, we simply have to be better. I have to be better, that’s a major part of it as well,” Bogatyrev remarked.