Ilya Bryzgalov ponders pandemic, politics, and Pronger
Elena Kuznetsova conducted a thorough interview with former Stanley Cup-winning goalie and stand-up philosopher Ilya Bryzgalov, who has dual-citizenship but makes his home in the U.S. in the Philadelphia/NJ area, coaching his son's hockey team. Here are the highlights of the interview. Kuznetsova's questions are in bold.
Your training sessions haven't been cancelled? All the leagues in the US have come to a halt.
Yes, but no one is forbidden from practicing. I'm planning on going, working with the kids, not sitting at home. Some rinks are closed, some aren't. Am I supposed to be in fear and not live my life?
Everyone is criticizing basketball player [Rudy Gobert] who made light of the COVID-19 situation and ended up the first infected case in the NBA.
I don't care. I'm not into basketball, I don't care who says or does what. I'm trying to focus on my world, my family, my friends.
So, life as usual?
Precisely. If I catch it, I catch it, I'll treat it. I'm not going to stop living life. I do focus more on hygiene, I wash my hands a lot more often.
The NHL hopes to restart its season in about a month. Is that realistic?
Depends on how long it takes the panic to die down.
What's your life like here?
I coach my son's hockey team, go to my daughter's sports events. Not much outside of that. I'm upset about Formula 1 racing being cancelled. Never a big soccer fan, so those cancellations aren't affecting me. The kids hockey season is over, but we're still practicing. I like movies, politics here is 24/7, I like following that too.
Watching the chaos of politics?
How can you not watch without laughter. It's incredible, the stuff both in Russia and here. Interesting events, watching it is unreal.
This is about the Constitutional amendments in Russia? (recently introduced to allow Vladimir Putin to 'reset' his term limits and remain on the job past 2024, expected to pass easily in the parliament)
Yes, the 'election' of a 'general secretary' (joke is a reference to elections in USSR period). It's a circus, gotta watch it.
Putin's term limits will be erased.
How else? Can you imagine a person such as Putin giving up the reins of power? Imagine that for a second, that he is no longer in charge, in control of everything. He can't imagine it.
There is a saying - "Power attracts worst and corrupts best". Draw your own conclusions. Only the worst people are constantly seeking [positions of]power.
Look back at Putin in 1999. He was a different person, said different things, a different vision. I don't live there anymore, but the people seem to be behind him. Nothing can be done. I've become indifferent to it. I've lived here for so long, when I go to Russia it's pretty much as a guest.
Do you vote [in the Russian election]?
Where? To go to the Russian consulate in New York to cast a ballot. No I vote here.
Who did you vote for?
Trump. I'm not disappointed and continue to support him.
Will he be re-elected?
I believe so. He is the most adequate candidate from those running. I will vote for him again.
What do you like about him?
Democrats are too much about political correctness, I don't share their thoughts. Trump during his campaign talked about the things people were thinking about, but were afraid to say out loud. People heard him and said: "Finally, someone is not afraid to say what we are all thinking." For the Republicans, he became a leader who spoke their thoughts.
A lot of people are tired of political correctness.
Precisely. America is very diverse. You see the big cities: Washington, New York, Los Angeles, mostly Democrat cities, with different views on life. But there is a different America and a lot of people who represent it. In Trump, they saw their line of thinking and followed.
He keeps pushing his thought process. Sometimes of course he is 'too much,' especially when he starts joking around. But the Democrats, instead of finding a candidate, putting up their own platform, just spent four years pointlessly and aimlessly struggling against Trump, especially with this impeachment. They were wasting their time. I'm an independent voter, not a supporter of either party, but I saw the Democrats and thought: how and why would I vote for these people? They offer no concrete plans, they're filled with hatred and jealousy for [Trump] and want only one thing, to get rid of him. But wait, I voted for him! Why did you decide that, when I and 50+ million other people voted for him? Do you want to push the country into a civil war? This is America. People voted for him, and that's that.
Trump is like a honey badger. He doesn't care, he pushes forward, does his thing, ignores them. I wouldn't vote for the Democrats, they offer nothing. All they have is screaming, crying, and hysterics. No [good] ideas, especially since they are full of youth supporters with radical ideas; making everything free, like healthcare and education. They can't do the math that someone will have to pay for all the [free] stuff.
It seems they are just trying to find something catchy.
They have Bernie Sanders, who is telling them that socialism is good. Talk to people from the from Soviet Union, they can tell you how 'good' it was. I still remember standing in lines for hours when my mother sent me to buy some flour or sugar. Nothing 'good' about that.
But Sweden has socialism.
In Sweden, when you or your business get to the point of making a certain amount of money, there is no reason to try for more because of the draconian taxes. What point is there to expand if everything you earn after that point will be taken away by taxes?
The quality of life isn't bad there.
There are also poor and rich people. In America, in Russia, in Sweden, in France, everywhere there are people who are homeless and people who are rich.
About a week ago, Chris Pronger went on Spitting Chiclets podcast and spoke negatively of you. (Pronger said: "He's a different breed. He's a goalie, but to another level. All the talent in the world...yet, you're just like, really? " Pronger also talked about being upset watching the games while injured where Bryzgalov seemed to be blaming defensemen for his woes and said that he could have handled him if he had been in the lineup. )
Yeah, I read that he would have been a positive influence on me. The man had a serious concussion, hard to take what he says seriously. He said it himself: "I'm sitting at home with a concussion." Imagine what's going through his mind. It seems the brain damage was permanent rather than temporary. Again, they love talking behind my back. Where were you back then?
Source: Championat.com
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YESTERDAY
MAY 26, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Gabriel Landeskog | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Smith | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nic Dowd | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Mackenzie Blackwood | - | - | - | |
| Brent Burns | - | - | - | |
| Ross Colton | - | - | - | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | - | - | - | |
| Jack Drury | - | - | - | |
| Jack Eichel | - | - | - | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | - | - | |
| Carter Hart | - | - | - | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||