Yegor Zamula: CSKA Taught Me What NHL Never Did

Yegor Zamula says his first pre-season back in Russia taught him things about the game he was never shown during his years in North America.

Zamula left Russia at 16 to finish school abroad and went on to play for Columbus and Philadelphia in the NHL. He had never featured in the KHL, nor in junior hockey at home, before this move.

"I left at 16, when I was finishing school, so I missed a lot in the professional league. I hadn't played in Russia, not even at junior level. Everyone has a different style of preparation. In America I did more of the pre-season work myself. Here I learned a great deal over the summer, during pre-season — a large number of drills, in the gym and on the ice, that were new to me. I worked with Dmitri Sergeyevich [Yushkevich], who showed me the system of turns, the correct reaction to a mistake. These were details I simply hadn't been taught. I'm trying to adapt, to take in the information. There is a lot of it, but we don't have time to ease into things," Zamula said.

Asked how difficult the switch from NHL rules to KHL rules has been, he played down the gap between the two leagues.

"Hockey is the same everywhere," he said, smiling. "Yes, the NHL may have more skilful players, but the KHL has strong players too — they read the play well, they can finish, they take their chances. The rules may differ, but that's a matter of habit. I think I'll manage."

If Zamula's account holds up over the campaign, CSKA will have found a way to fast-track a player with NHL experience but no KHL background — the kind of gap that has caught out returning players before.