“Friends are constantly joking about vodka” – Canadian defender of “Salavat Yulaev”

Canadian defender of “Salavat Yulaev” Ryan Murphy spoke about the stereotypes about the Russians, which he has to deal with when communicating with friends.

— Friends ask about Russia and the KHL every day! I have ten close friends, we grew up together. I tell them how pleasantly surprised I was by how beautiful Ufa is. I had absolutely no idea what was waiting for me, but when I landed in Ufa, I immediately felt at home.

Are there still stereotypes about Russians? They constantly joke about vodka when I say that we are going somewhere as a team. Like: “What, will you drink vodka?”. But some of my friends played at the MFM in Ufa, they were here themselves. In terms of hockey, nothing surprises me here, hockey is the same everywhere. But a couple of new rules are unfamiliar to me, for example, the penalty for pressing the puck to the boards. Only in Russia I met that they can take you to the plane by bus, and not give a “sleeve”. Canada and Russia are two different worlds, but at the same time they are very similar. Similar weather. Although I was stunned by how hot it is in Ufa, I never would have thought. But so – no surprises, – quotes the words of Murphy “Championship”.

On account of the 29-year-old hockey player 74 games in the KHL, in which he scored 32 (10+22) points.