InGoal Radio Episode 85 Evgeni Nabokov

Our feature guest this week is perfectly timed, as we welcome 14-year NHL veteran Evgeni Nabokov to the show just as Russian goaltenders set an NHL record with three of the four starters in the Conference Finals, and now two in the Stanley Cup Final after Anton Khudobin knocked off the only non-Russian No.1, Vegas starter Robin Lehner. Speaking of Khudobin, he once told us he didn’t get formal goalie training until his teens, and it was none other than fellow Kazahkstan-born goalie Nabokov, so who better to talk to about the evolution of the position back in Russia? Nabokov, who is now the San Jose Sharks goaltending coach after a 14-year career spent largely with the Sharks, shares stories about how he came to the position through his father, a long-time pro, the strengths of the Russian system then and now, his path to the NHL, the influence of American coaching icon Warren Strelow, and his own philosophy about the best way to develop goalies. It’s a fun half-our conversation loaded with take aways for goalies, goalie coaches and goalies parents alike.