Thanks once again to our friend Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport for passing along yet another translation of an interview from the pages of his newspaper. Today, we have a conversation between Sovetsky's Bay Area correspondent, Mikhail Bykov and San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov. The following conversation took place immediately following last Thursday night's game between the Sharks and the Ducks in San Jose that the Sharks won, 2-0. Nabokov had the shutout.
Evgeni Nabokov (EN): "Anaheim is a very difficult opponent for us. We have a constant struggle with them. The second goal helped us a lot, after that we secured the victory."
Mikhail Bykov (MB): Before the game I was listening to a radio broadcast where hosts talked said they were expecting lots of fights. Do you and Anaheim players plan them well ahead?
EN: "Of course not. But everyone knows that the Ducks play on the brink of foul showing a very physical and rough game. That's why fights are almost impossible to avoid. Here we had our tough guy Jody Shelley fight their tough guy George Parros."
MB: What's the Sharks' secret? 24 wins in 29 games. This is a phenomenal result.
EN: "We really got our defense a lot stronger during the offseason. Also, we changed our game tactics with the new coach, and wins give us confidence. We can control the flow of every game, even when we are losing."
MB: Is it possible for San Jose to win the Cup this season?EN: "This has been our goal for the past 5 years. We have absolutely everything to win. But the Cup cannot be won in November or December. It is important to remain consistent throughout the regular season. Everyone can have a slump. It is important for the hole not to be too deep."
MB: Not long ago you got injured. Why was it surrounded by a lot of secrecy? No one explained what exactly happened to you?
EN: "Actually I pulled my groin. But you cannot really call it an injury. I just felt some discomfort in that area. At first I got very afraid that there was something serious [Nabokov missed a few months with a similar problem throughout his career]. Two days later, however, I found out that there was nothing serious. So, here I am with the team again."
