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Learn more about his passion for the Habs, his thoughts on current prospects in the organization and more.
vanessaxsousa asks: Have you always been a Habs fan?
Bobrov: The Habs was the first team I ever saw live when I was growing up in the Soviet Union in Leningrad (now known as Saint Petersburg). The team that won the '93 Stanley Cup came to Leningrad in 1989. I went to their practice, and I had seen, for the first time, great players like Patrick Roy, Guy Carbonneau, Shayne Corson, and others. I even had a hat that they all signed, and it was my first NHL hat. And when I moved to Boston, kids used to try to fight me because I was wearing a Canadiens hat. So, I guess you can say I've always been a Habs fan since I was little.
dl\jer13 asks: What qualities are you looking for in a player, and how did you learn to speak French?
Bobrov: We are looking for resiliency and character, hockey sense and a competitive spirit. It's really important for players and for the Canadiens. As for my French... I haven't spoken French in 20 years. So, it will take a couple of months to bring it back to life, to an appropriate level for this franchise. I studied it in university, and I played with many players from Quebec as well.
vance.v18 asks: What's your favorite part about analyzing players?
Bobrov: I think my favorite part about analyzing players is to try to look into their soul. Because we see them in different situations, and now we get to interview them and to ask them about their families, their backgrounds. Some come from very unique backgrounds, and if you don't talk to the kid, you don't realize how difficult it was for him to travel this path and end up at the NHL Combine. We try to dig and maybe open up their heart a little bit and see what they're made of.
hopeja asks: How hard is it to judge a European prospect vs. one from here when we consider ice size?
Bobrov: All the kids who play internationally usually play in different tournaments around the world. Obviously pre-COVID, we were able to see them on different ice sheets. But by and large, these are the kids that are playing on their national teams. They travel around the world; they play on different surfaces and it's relatively easy to gauge them because they switch from surface to surface. They've learned to adjust because they've been doing it since they were little kids travelling the world with their respective teams, and national teams, so they're used to it and we're used to it as well.
\chriscrawf asks: Who are some players fans should be excited about in the future?
Bobrov: Well, the Canadiens have had a lot of draft picks over the course of the last few years and obviously have made very good selections. We've had kids like Joshua Roy who has done phenomenally well in the QMJHL. Riley Kidney, Kaiden Guhle, a great defenseman playing in the playoffs right now. Arber Xhekaj in Hamilton in the Ontario Hockey League playing in the playoffs. But also some kids in the American Hockey League, like Jesse Ylönen, Emil Heineman who we traded for in the Florida deal. So those are kids who are coming, and it will be exciting.
