Former Canadiens defenseman Hal Gill does not have fond memories of Sergei Kostitsyn during his time in Montreal.
“He was a terrible person in Montreal,” he said on a recent episode of the Spittin Chiclets podcast. He was a bad teammate, a bad person. When I found him in Nashville, I didn’t want to be with this guy.
But to his amazement, Gill discovered a brand new Kostitsyn in Nashville.
“He comes to me: ‘Hello! How are you doing? How are you doing?’ I immediately thought, “Okay, that can’t be him.” We had a conversation. And he played really well in Nashville.”
To get to the bottom of this story, Gill sought answers from head coach Barrydiot.
“He explained to me, ‘I ate cereal with him every morning.’ [Trotz] appeared in the arena, waited for him and sat next to him with a bowl of cereal to talk to him.
We have to admit that the defiance method worked for the youngest of the Kostitsyn brothers for a while: Sergei topped the scoring (level with Martin Erat) in his first season with the Predators, with 50 points, including 23 goals, in 77 games 2010-2011. The following season, the year Gill joined the country town, the Belarusian forward recorded a respectable 43 points, including 17 goals, in 75 games.