Matvei Michkov was not made in a factory. It will not arrive in the NHL in scratch-free, like-new packaging with any warranty. Despite his will, he plunges into a nightmare apparently underestimated in North America when it comes to recruiting him or not, while the Canadian, with his fifth pick in June, risks being the team to lead this debate first will settle.
• Also read: Why Did These 30 Russian Ice Hockey Players Die?
• Also read: The CH and the dilemma Matvei Michkov, Russian jewel whose father was just found dead in a pond in Sochi
If he’s as good as we’re told, Matvei Michkov could one day win millions of dollars, become a big star and live a dream life with two or three Ferraris.
But none of that should interest him today.
The reality is that Matvei Michkov just lost his father, “the best father in the world,” as he put it. He was found dead in a pond near the family home in Russia. Six weeks later, no one knows what happened. Did the father want his son to make the jump to the NHL sooner while he’s still under contract in the KHL until 2026? It seems unthinkable that this could justify such drama, but it’s part of the assumptions.
The reality is also that Michkov will have to disappoint his government in order to achieve his dream. And his government has begun more than ever to imprison or kill certain groups who oppose their regime.
And after all, the reality is that those who want to enrich Michkov will be a team from Canada or the United States, two countries indirectly at war with Russia in the conflict with Ukraine.
- Listen to the sports column with Jean-Nicolas Blanchet, assistant to the sports director of Le Journal de Québec and Le Journal de Montréal, on QUB radio:
No bot
What intrigues me about Michkov’s draft dilemma is how little you ever hear about what shape this young man might end up in in the NHL. Like he’s a robot and we hit the “play hockey” button and he’s an amazing machine.
However, several fans wondered about Logan Mailloux. Some wondered how a young person who weathered this storm could withstand the pressures of Montreal.
As if there could be human issues for Mailloux, but not so much for Michkov. As if he had no soul.
He is perhaps the bravest young man in the world. But what he unwillingly saw is profoundly sad and any teenager in his position would be mentally devastated by what he saw.
incredible death
Recall that on April 2, Matvei’s father Andrei Michkov was found dead in a pond near his residence and the Olympic Park in Sochi, Russia. He was 51 years old.
Some media claimed it was a natural death. But nothing has definitively proved it. Six weeks later, the investigation is still ongoing. No one knows what happened to the young prodigy’s father.
“There are no preconditions for his disappearance. No arguments, conflicts or problems with alcohol,” Russian journalist Ivan Bohum wrote in Sport Express.
The autopsy found no signs of violence on the body, Sport Express wrote, and he died by drowning.
But it is unthinkable that he could have drowned while swimming in the evening. The water was practically frozen. No sane person would have gone swimming at that temperature.
In a text published in April, journalist Bohum explained why Andrei Michkov was unlikely to have been able to take his own life, given that he was a current father who certainly didn’t want to disappear when his son was about to shine.
“He was the one who first put the skates on his feet and since then he has been involved in almost all of his son’s affairs, especially in the role of personal trainer.” He followed his son to Yaroslavl in 2015 and to St. Petersburg, where he took up a position in the team. He accompanied his son to all international tournaments. He then moved to the beautiful city of Sochi on the Black Sea coast to provide a more comfortable life for his whole family.
Photo from Twitter, @russiahockey
Hope Matvei Michkov’s father, Andrei Michkov, mysteriously died on April 4 at the age of 51.
Hughes won’t know anymore
The mystery therefore remains and it would be surprising if we knew more, said Jean Lévesque, a history professor at UQAM specializing in international sports and Russian politics.
The father’s story “is a bit complicated, I don’t really understand it,” he says.
“Is it the state? We have nothing. But Kent Hughes is cautious. He’s very careful. I doubt we know more. They will be releasing an official story soon and that’s it. And besides, it’s worse than before, we’re less informed about the war. “It’s very opaque,” he continues, about the media and the Russian government.
Does Hughes expect clear explanations? “I don’t think so,” he said.