Maxim Afinogenov Dominates Pick-Up Game in Alabama

Atlanta Thrashers speedster Maxim Afinogenov has been in Alabama, following his tennis star girlfriend, Elena Dementieva, as she prepares to play for Russia in the semifinals of the Fed Cup. That’s funny as a matter of fact, because the Eastern Promises-meets-My Cousin Vinny vibe of the trip is amusing to imagine. But that isn’t the draw: it’s what Afinogenov did to get a little bit of on-ice conditioning that is.

⇥Jeff Cheeseman, director of hockey for the Pelham Civic Center, couldn’t believe it when he got the call from Afinogenov’s agent.⇥⇥“His agent said he wanted to skate,” Cheeseman said. “So I told her we had an adult pick-up game on Tuesday nights, and (Afinogenov) showed up. We limit the number of players, so you have to sign in and pay $10. I made sure his name was first on the list.”⇥

And is Afinogenov better than some rec league hockey players from Alabama? Are you being serious with that question?⇥The biggest problem Thursday turned out to be which team Afinogenov played with. He started out on the Black team and within 10 minutes the score was 7-2, with Afinogenov scoring all seven goals -- “the quickest paced 10 minutes we’ve ever played,” Cheeseman said. ⇥At that point he was “traded” to the White team, which wound up winning, 16-13. ⇥“Of the 29 goals, Maxim scored 17, including the last three after it was tied, 13-13,” Cheeseman said. “And he didn’t come off the ice in either the second or third periods. He told us he was looking for conditioning. And besides, who was going to tell him to come off?“Well, it was the Alabamans’ ice, but I suppose a miffed Afinogenov might just score four goals on your team for fun, so treading carefully made some sense.Regardless of his minute-hogging, it’s got to be cool to play with a professional athlete at your local pick-up game; I’d guess that hockey players who frequent rinks in Birmingham might be Thrashers fans, too, so having Afinogenov show up would be doubly fun. But let’s all hope this new trend of pop-ins at recreational games stops before Alexander Ovechkin shows up.

(HT: Bird Watchers Anonymous.)

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