Bogatyrev searching for form

[Bojovnik 487]

MALMO, December 1, 2023 (Shaiba.ru) – We’re just a week away from the start of the S91 playoffs, and it’s far from certain how the European Conference will look. At the time of writing, the Riga Reign sit five points clear of second place HC Davos Dynamo, although the latter have two games in hand to make up the difference.

Sitting below the Swiss side are the Malmo Nighthawks and London United, both tied on 83 points apiece. The battle for third place, and avoiding a potentially tricky wild card clash against either the Helsinki Titans or Prague Phantoms, is truly on.

After briefly topping the conference, the Nighthawks have come back down to earth. A 10-game win streak was snapped, and the Swedish side have been struggling for consistency. Their scoring wings appear to have been clipped, as despite strong play from goaltender Ash Starks, the Nighthawks are struggling to find the back of the net as they were doing earlier in the season.

One player whose form has cooled off is Yaroslav Bogatyrev. The Russian forward looked to be potentially in the hunt for the scoring title 20 games ago. Since then, Bogatyrev has only added six goals over this spell.

“It’s been a bit of a frustrating period for us, I won’t lie. Of course, we’re not expecting to win every game that we go into, and you can’t expected to go through the whole season undefeated, but it’s certainly the case where we feel we’re dropping some games that we should be winning. It’s been frustrating because we thought we had figured things out, but once again it shows that you always have to be working, always chasing that extra 5 or 10 percent in order to stay at the top of the tree” Bogatyrev told Shaiba.ru via Zoom call on Friday.

Some media rumours had linked Bogatyrev’s nose dive in form to his recent signing of a two-season extension with the Nighthawks. However, the Russian forward, who has 35 goals this season to date, said that he was still highly motivated to make a significant contribution for Malmo.

“I’m trying to block out all that external noise because it doesn’t help matters in any way. To suggest that I’ve cooled off because I’ve signed a contract, with a specific salary, for the next two seasons doesn’t understand how hockey players are wired. My core motivation is to win a Continental Cup, and I feel that I can do that here in Malmo. That is why I signed here, and I’m grateful to the team’s management that they have trusted me to be a core part of the team going forward.

I’m going to be continually working flat out on my game to bring the Nighthawks the success that these fans deserve. We’re looking forward to the run in and the opportunity to secure third place, or even rise up the table depending on how the results go. The European Conference is a tough contest, but we’re up for the fight,” Bogatyrev remarked.