Posted at 5:00 a.m.
It was Chantal Machabée who tipped us off. “He came to talk to me about it in French in my office! », Writes us the vice-president of communications of the CH.
Then, Sunday morning, Nick Bobrov sends us a text message to agree on the time of the interview, in French. And at the end of the line, it is in this language that the new co-director of amateur recruiting for the Canadiens starts the conversation.
“I haven’t spoken French for 20 years. It’s going to take me some time to get it back to a decent level,” he apologizes.
In the end, this Russian who has been established in the United States for nearly 30 years will manage to give more than half of the interview in the language of Richard Séguin. He will do so with the unique accent of the guy who first learned international French at school, who worked for a few months in Metz and then spent time with Quebecers from the hockey world, notably at Middlebury College, Vermont.
“I arrived at Middlebury and there were several Quebecers there,” he explains, referring to François Gravel, Martin Lachaine, François Bourbeau, Sébastien and Étienne Bilodeau who then populated the team’s locker room. “Then I worked for two years as a video coach with the Bruins [de Boston]with Pat Burns [l’entraîneur-chef] and Jacques Laperriere [son adjoint]. It was easier to communicate with them. »
The question of the QMJHL
Anyone who has vaguely followed the Canadiens in recent years is well aware of the tensions caused by the draft of QMJHL players. In fact, under Marc Bergevin, it was all or nothing: four players from the Courteau circuit drafted in 2013, four more in 2021, but only four in all in the seven drafts between 2014 and 2020, all late picks. Trevor Timmins, a former senior draft official, had become the lightning rod for critics who found the CH too distant from the QMJHL.
The Canadian now has a different structure. Bobrov and Martin Lapointe are each co-directors of amateur recruiting. The responsibilities of each remain vague.
Lapointe has lived in the Chicago area for several years, but has a base in Montreal, while Bobrov is based in Boston and owns a house in Vermont. He intends to use it as a base when he has business in town. “This work requires less time in Montreal to do it well,” he believes.
We understand the allusion to popular pressure. Asked about the particularity of the Montreal market for local players, Bobrov admits that “players who can succeed in Montreal must be resilient”.
“I thought a lot about the nuances of this market, the culture, the pressure. I understand that we cannot do certain things like elsewhere. That’s why it’s very, very important for me to fit into the culture of the province. It’s different. We run the oldest team in hockey, with the most educated fans in the world. We want to create an environment where these supporters can help us. There is a way to use this knowledge. »
Bobrov gives the example of Yannick St-Pierre, who made a name for himself thanks to his YouTube channel called Draft Dynasty, followed by more than 10,000 people. The Habs hired him as a video scout two years ago.
“He was my favorite resource on YouTube, so I was disappointed when they hired him,” he laughs. But there, I have the privilege of working with him! »
It is no coincidence that he mentions the videos of St-Pierre. He and Jeff Gorton began their NHL journey by valuing video and data analysis, two concepts he will mention several times during the interview.
Common philosophy
Bobrov landed in Boston at age 16, without his parents, when the USSR broke up. “It was like Ukraine right now, there was a lot of uncertainty, the country was falling apart,” he describes.
He had in his pocket an invitation to play in a reputable college in the region, Belmont Hill, thanks to contacts in the hockey world. His father, Sergei, was always involved in top level hockey in St. Petersburg; he is now director of the local SKA academy.
From Belmont Hill, he was recruited by Middlebury College, where Kent Hughes studied. They didn’t play together; Bobrov arrived in 1995, three years after Hughes left. But both learned under Bill Beaney, the renowned head coach who made the Panthers the best Division III program of the 1990s and 2000s.
The team has won the national championship in each of Bobrov’s four seasons at this institution.
“I don’t have enough vocabulary to describe the genius of Bill Beaney,” he said. He studied Anatoly Tarasov, Scotty Bowman and the best coaches in history. His teaching was based on the senses, space and creativity. The practices were really intellectually demanding, and the goal was to get players to see spaces and opportunities differently. »
The link with Martin St-Louis’ approach is clear. Bobrov explains it even before it is mentioned. “Right now, there is a coach in Montreal who preaches the same values. »
Bobrov believes his years at Middlebury opened doors for him. Upon leaving college in 1999, the Detroit Red Wings, under Bowman, dominated the NHL. “Pat Burns asked me to be his video coach because Middlebury practiced the left-wing lock, the same system as Detroit. Pat and Jacques were trying to understand this system, and I could help them since I had played in this system. »
His work in Boston brought him into closer contact with Jeff Gorton, executive vice-president of hockey operations for the Canadiens, who was then assistant general manager. After two years as head of video, he was transferred to recruitment. “They needed a single guy, ready to travel to Europe,” he describes.
Bobrov was involved in the 2002-2006 draft with the Bruins, years in which the team laid the groundwork for its 2011 Stanley Cup.
It was at this time that Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Brad Marchand were drafted, among others. Krejci is the only European of the lot, but in his duties as director of recruitment in Europe, he also came to spy on hopes in North America in order to vary the points of view, of the “crossover” in the jargon of the trade. By the same token, he came to frequent arenas on the continent, including those of the QMJHL.
From there, he will work for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2007 and 2008 drafts, a few years before the 2012 and 2014 championships. Alec Martinez, Dwight King and Slava Voynov, promised a good career before being accused in a disturbing history of domestic violence, were recruited during these two drafts, as was Wayne Simmonds, who was used as a bargaining chip to obtain Mike Richards.
Bobrov will reunite with Gorton at the New York Rangers beginning in 2016. New Yorkers’ draft record in those years is average at the moment, but some of those players are on the mend. The Rangers are certainly one of the powerhouses of the NHL this season, but the role of their recent draft picks is not central to it.
“I don’t know if it’s coincidence or luck, but every team I worked for ended up winning the Stanley Cup. And Rangers are strong now. I always aim to leave a team in a better state than it was when I arrived. »