Nabokov Finds His Way in San Jose

In the town where Evgeni Nabokov grew up, it was all hockey, all the time. His father played, all his friends played. And of course, he played.

It sure sounds like the mythical “Mystery, Alaska.” But it was in the very real Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakstan, that Nabokov first strapped on his goaltender’s pads.

Today, Nabokov is one of the NHL’s young goalie sensations, taking on longtime stars Patrick Roy, Ed Belfour and Dominik Hasek.

He was named the league’s rookie of the month in November and December, becoming the first newcomer to win the honor in consecutive months since Patrick Lalime in the 1996-97 season.

In December, he went 7-2-2, with a 2.11 goals-against average and two shutouts. During one stretch of the month, he had an eight-game unbeaten streak.

“You need great goaltending to win in this league,” Sharks left wing Jeff Friesen said, “and we’ve been getting it all year.”

The 25-year-old Nabokov also was named to the World All-Star team, an honor that still perplexes him.

“I was a little bit surprised I was chosen, but it’s huge for me,” he said. “I won’t know how I really feel until everything’s over.”

Nabokov grew up in Ust-Kamenogorsk, now known as Oskemen. At the junction of two rivers in the former Soviet republic, the city’s primary industries are shipping and mining.

His father, Viktor, was the goaltender for the high-profile hometown team.

“I think I was 6 years old when I started to go with him to practice and tried to skate, and do all that stuff,” Nabokov said. “I put the goalie gear on one day and that was that.”

But Viktor had some words of advice for his enthusiastic son.

“Dad was telling me all the time to make sure I really loved it. He said, ‘If you try to be in the net because I’m a goalie, you’re going to go wrong. You’ve got to love every second of it.”’

“I said, ‘Well, I think I love it.”’

It wasn’t long before Nabokov’s fate was sealed.

“Kamenogorsk is a really small town, and the whole town lives by hockey,” he said. “So it’s nothing but hockey. It’s like Saskatchewan in Canada, I guess. We had our home team there, and everybody played.”

That’s where he caught the attention of the Sharks, who were fascinated by untapped Russian talent at the time. Nabokov was taken by San Jose in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL entry draft, the same year they selected center Alexander Korolyuk, who is from Moscow.

Nabokov continued to develop with Dynamo in the Soviet League, where he had a 2.11 goals-against average in his final year before the Sharks signed him to a minor league contract in 1997.

Surprisingly, a shot at the NHL was not necessarily his goal.

“We didn’t know that much about the NHL, until the Russian players started coming over here. So we didn’t know anything about it, and it wasn’t my dream,” Nabokov said.

“The biggest issue for us was to play with the Moscow team. When you come from a small town like I did, you always wanted to play for the Moscow team.”

Nabokov played for San Jose’s AHL developmental affiliate, the Kentucky Thoroughblades, for two seasons. Last season, he spent time between the Thoroughblades, Sharks and the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL.

Along the way, his name went from Yevgeni, to John, and finally to Evgeni. Nabokov laughs about the name changes.

“It’s nothing, really. When I came over here, I guess some people weren’t comfortable with calling me my real name, so they just started calling me ‘John,”’ he said.

Nabokov got his first taste of the NHL last season. In his debut last Jan. 19, he stopped 39 shots in a 0-0 tie with the Colorado Avalanche -- facing the venerable Roy, the winningest goalie in NHL history. It was one of only four debut shutouts in the last decade.

Nabokov played in 11 games last season, going 2-2-1. He was supposed to backup Steve Shields this season, but he was called to action early when Shields sprained his ankle.