Rise of the Tan Line

[BeanSobie 91]

 

Babiy and Nezhmetdinov celebrate one of their many goals together

 

It can be scary coming into a new league as a rookie, especially when you are joining a team far away from home and with no body you know.  For two teenage VHLMers, Wesley Babiy and Evgeny Nezhmetdinov, that anxiety was quickly replaced by a new friendship.

 

The two were fast friends, as they were able to speak to each other with relative ease as they both spoke Russian, albeit with unique dialects that would make any true Russian tilt their head.

 

During the final week of training camp the team went to a local beach to partake in a team Iron-Man style event.  The youngsters were given the tail leg of the event, which consisted of mostly sitting on paddle boards waiting for their team to finish the race.  It was a bit chilly on the lake that day so both rookies were wearing t shirts as they waited, but the sun one out either way.

 

At the end of the event Babiy and Nez were cooked with some of the worst tan lines their teammates had ever seen; months later when the coach put their numbers next to each other on the lines board one of their teammates quickly joked that the Tan Line has returned.  The name stuck.

[Victor 10,940]

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