COHEN: From Russia to Muskegon, and Then Maybe the NHL

The Muskegon Lumberjacks play in the USHL, and when you look at their team something jumps right off the page. They happen to have two players, Daniil Gushchin and Alex Konovalov; two skaters of Russian descent.

The USHL has been getting solid players from a lot of different leagues and countries so it’s not a total shock, but this concentration of talent from across the other side of the planet is rare.

Dan Hickling/ Hickling Images

“I was born in Jersey. My parents are both Russian. At the age of three, my family moved back to Russia,” Konovalov told EP Rinkside. “I was fortunate enough to learn English before that.”

“English is my first language. We lived in Russia for ten years. That’s where I actually started