If there was one big positive to last year’s difficult season for the Blue Jackets, it was the emergence of Kirill Marchenko.
The Russian wing was a breath of fresh air both on and off the ice, setting the Blue Jackets’ rookie goal-scoring record with 21 tallies and providing media and fans with a bevy of lighthearted, downright funny quips, interviews and stories in the locker room.
While Marchenko is all smiles away from the ice, he’s deadly serious on it, as the 23-year-old is a rink rat who has professed a burning desire to be among the top scorers in the league.
Marchenko met with the Blue Jackets media for the first time this camp after practice Tuesday. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
You missed the first few days of practice with a back strain, so how are you feeling?
“Oh, I feel good. Thank you so much. Yeah, I just had a little injury a couple of weeks ago, and now I feel great. Last week I just worked hard and tried to be ready for practice with everybody. Today's first practice was a little bit tough, but I am good.”
How did you spend the summer? Did you stick around here for a little bit or did you go back home?
"Yeah, back home for two or three months. It was a great time for me for my mentality and to be with my family. I had a great time with my wife, dad and mom, my little brother. It's a real help for me mentally. I can just relax my head, and it's a new season now. I'm ready.”
I'm guessing you have a lot of confidence after how well you played here last season. Do you feel like a confident player that's ready to do even more?
“Yeah, it feels good after the first season, but for the team, it was not a great season, and I just focus on the next season. I don't want to think about the last season, but I realized last season, ‘I can play now,’ but I just have to keep working and I need to do better and just keep working.”
How much more confidence do you have now than maybe a year ago at this time?
“I have more confidence, of course, because I know the guys, I know the coaches. But yeah, I try to keep working. A lot of guys know who I am, and it's a good time, but at the same time, I don't want to have lot of confidence for myself and just think I don't have to keep working, that I am good. I don't think about my confidence, I just keep working. It's the next season. We start with zero games now. I don’t think about last season. What’s important for me and the team is the first game.”
You've had a whole season now with the smaller rink and the different style of play and that kind of thing. So when you come into this season, you know what to expect now, right?
“Yeah, I think it's better this season. I hope it goes better for me because I understand what hockey here is like and I can work (on it) in the summer. Last summer, one year ago, I worked, but I didn’t know what's happening here. And now I just think about, ‘OK, this season is done.’ I watch more video about my game, like my shifts and say, ‘OK, I need to work on this component and this component and this component,’ and let's go.”
Are you able to help with the transition for Dmitri Voronkov a little bit? He’s going to go through the same thing of trying to learn how to play here.
“Of course. We have all the Russian guys now and we try to help him. But I like him. He's a funny guy. Everyday he’s smiling, and we try to help him try to understand (what is going on). He's just like, he is good. I can’t say how he feels, but he said to me, ‘Yes, feels good. I am ready.’ It is a little bit faster here, but I think he is ready for this (style of) game because he's a big guy. He can fight and battle. He just needs to keep working.”
How about with the English?
“Zero English for him. For me too. (Laughs.)”
Is it important for him to have you guys?
“Yes, of course. I think it's really helpful for him. I hope so. He feels a little bit comfortable here because there are so many Russian guys. I know he’s started learning English, you know, a couple of words. And now I just work like a translator. But I’m not a great translator. (Ivan Provorov) is a great translator. (Daniil Tarasov) too, but not me. I just say, ‘The meeting is important ... but let’s go play.’ I’m joking. I try to translate for him everything that the coaches say or guys say so it’s easy for him.”
You mentioned it earlier, but I remember when we talked at the end of last year, you said now that you played over here, there are certain things you wanted to work on in the summer. Now that you know the small Ice game, the North American game, what were those things that you wanted to focus on?
“If I say what I do in the summer, all the guys will start doing these things. It's my secret. No, I’m joking. I watched my shifts. I need to do the quick shots, a little bit quicker. I think to be more aggressive on the net. I have to have more shots in the game. I had a lot of shots in the game, but not like (Auston) Matthews or (Alex) Ovechkin or someone who scored 50 goals. They shoot every shift, every time, like try to shoot. I worked on that, but we’ll see the situations; every situation on the ice is different. And I worked on my stickhandling and a little bit of skating. We’ll see in the first game.”
Was it frustrating or tough to miss the first couple of days? And how exciting is it to be back out there?
"Very exciting. I had to wait. I came to Columbus three or four weeks ago and just had started work, two practices with the whole team. I was very happy, and I then I have the injury and said, 'OK, I will wait.’ I just missed everybody here, but now I'm on the team and I'm ready to go.”
Did you play any basketball this summer?
“A little bit, yeah. Look at my toes. I lost two toenails because I played basketball this summer.”
Wait, was it too much basketball?
“Not too much. I played a couple of times with my little brother. He’s taller than me. We just played one-on-one. And yeah, I lost my toenails.”
Why does basketball do that to your toes?
“Oh, I just have bad shoes for basketball. I can't say why, but they’re not great shoes. It’s fine.”
