Import of Influence

Stanislav Chistov is making hockey news in Russia instead of reading hockey news in Russia.

Ink usually set aside for Detroit’s Sergei Fedorov was being used on Chistov after the Mighty Ducks stunned the Red Wings, sweeping them from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“A friend of mine in Russia called the other day and told me my name was the newspaper,” Chistov said. “It said ‘Anaheim Kills Detroit.’ I have had Russian newspapers calling me for interviews. It was good. Now if we can beat Dallas, it will be better.”

That will be decided in the next couple of weeks. The Ducks, who finished 13th in the Western Conference a year ago, have one playoff series victory under their belt and hope to fatten up when they play the Dallas Stars, beginning Thursday.

Chistov’s trek has been as amazing as the Ducks’ journey from league doormat through the playoff threshold.

His talent was never in dispute, which is why the Ducks made him the fifth player drafted in 2001. What was argued was whether he would be allowed to fulfill that promise.

Chistov was placed in the Russian army two summers ago, a ploy used by his Russian team to keep him from coming to America. Finally free to travel to the United States, Chistov has shown what all the fuss was about.

“This has been a lot of fun for me,” Chistov said. “I like hockey. Most players won’t watch hockey when they get home from practice. I watch hockey on TV all the time. I love the sport.”

Chistov has labored to make the transition to the NHL, with 12 goals and 30 points during the regular season, and worked to adjust to living in North America.

There have been a few difficult moments. In Edmonton, Chistov and Duck enforcer Kevin Sawyer were rooming together and, after they checked in, Sawyer went to the room. Chistov lingered in the lobby and forgot his room number. Chistov solved that problem with almost as much creativity as he solves them on the ice.

“He pushed the buttons to all the floors and when the doors opened on the first floor he yelled out ‘Saw-zie,’ ” a Duck official said. “He was going to do that on every floor.”

Fortunately, the Duck official was on the elevator and took Chistov back to the lobby to get his room number.

There have been moments of confusion on the ice as well. But those were minimized by Chistov’s tremendous upside. That portal to his future was never more clear than in Game 3 against the Red Wings, when Chistov made the most of his last chance to work out some teenage angst.

He scored one goal, assisted on another and spent the game wearing out the Red Wings in a 2-1 victory. Chistov turned 20 three days later.

“A year ago I was watching TV in my parents’ house, not knowing what was going to happen to me,” Chistov said. “I didn’t know if the Ducks would sign me. I didn’t know if they could sign me. I wasn’t sure what the next season would be like. It’s amazing how it turned out.”

Chistov was freed from the grasp of Anatoly Bardin, president of the Avangard Omsk team, last June and signed with the Ducks in July. He struggled through training camp in September, telling reporters that he was a much better game player than a practice player.

Then the season began and he made good on his word, scoring a goal and getting three assists in the opener at St. Louis. It was the second-most points by a player making his NHL debut.

“I just like his competitiveness,” team captain Paul Kariya said. “He’s got some jam to him. You saw that in Game 3. He likes big games.”

In Game 3, Chistov knocked the puck away from Detroit defenseman Dmitri Bykov, then tipped it ahead to Samuel Pahlsson, who scored. Later in the game, Chistov charged into the Red Wing zone, took the puck away from goalie Curtis Joseph, circled the net and banked a shot off a Detroit player.

There have been more than a handful of such games this season. Against Atlanta in November, Chistov was matched against Ilya Kovalchuk, a 21-year-old Russian who was the runner-up for the NHL rookie-of-the-year award in 2001-02.

Chistov had a goal in that game. Kovalchuk did not. Even more of a message came when Chistov, using his stick, goaded Kovalchuk into taking an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

“He was the best player I had seen in the draft in 10 years,” NHL scout Jack Ferreira said. “What I like about him is his ability to make something out of nothing.”

Whether he would get the chance was the question last year.

During the summer after he was drafted, Chistov and two other Avangard Omsk players were placed in the Army by team officials. Chistov said that he had no intention of signing with the Ducks that summer.

The whole season was lost. Chistov played only 10 games for Omsk. The Army took him away. A court battle followed and his plight even reached ears in the Kremlin. He was ordered returned to Omsk, but Chistov was not going back.

“How could I play for that team?” Chistov said. “The president didn’t like me. I can not play for people who don’t trust me.”

Slowly, Chistov is earning trust in Anaheim.

There were concerns about whether he could take the physical punishment in the NHL. Those were put to rest in a January game against Dallas. Derian Hatcher, the Stars’ behemoth defenseman, knocked Chistov to the ice, then sat on him for several seconds. As Hatcher skated to the Dallas bench, Chistov made a beeline for him and slammed him into the boards, then innocently skated to the Duck bench.

“He plays with an edge,” said right wing Steve Thomas, a 19-year veteran. “For a young player, that’s nice to see, especially in a kid that talented. He can make a difference in a game.”

If there is one shortcoming -- or at least the one shortcoming Coach Mike Babcock continually points out -- it’s that Chistov, a playmaker at heart, doesn’t shoot enough.

Babcock even benched him three times this season to make the point.

“He’s found out the best pass he can make is off the goaltender’s pad,” Babcock said.

Chistov provided a visual on that against Detroit in Game 2. He carried the puck deep into the Red Wing zone and, with nothing else available, lobbed a shot on net. It glanced off Joseph’s glove and into the net.

“I was really nervous in Game 1,” Chistov said. “I stopped being nervous after that goal.”

And that highlight was shown back in Russia?

“What do you think?” Chistov said, smiling.