Russian Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov has earned a reputation as a technical hockey player in his short time playing in the NHL. True, in the match against Philadelphia, the forward had to use his stick not for great passes and goals. Ivan boldly stood up for his comrade and punished the offender.

Instant Revenge

Demidov is rightly called one of the most creative hockey players of the younger generation in the NHL. Ivan’s ability to make unconventional decisions sometimes baffles even his teammates. The technical forward deservedly claims to be the best rookie of the season and proves the validity of his claims in almost every match.

Ivan’s talent should have been useful to Montreal in the home game against Philadelphia, which demonstrates a confident defensive game and concedes few goals. But the beginning of the meeting remained with the Flyers. The guests applied pressure, not only game-wise, but also physically.

In the middle of the first period, Rasmus Ristolainen sent Juraj Slafkovskiy onto the ice with a harsh force move. There are plenty of guys in Montreal who could explain to the Finn that he was wrong, but only Demidov decided to answer the huge defender. The 20-year-old Russian instantly attacked the offender, despite the difference in size.

Demidov pushed his opponent with his stick, causing the Finn to fall onto the ice and roll head over heels. But Ivan did not calm down on this. Rasmus took a couple more hits with his stick and also got hit with the claw. Even when the judges pulled the Russian away from his defeated opponent, he shouted a couple of strong words after Ristolainen.

Rasmus Ristolainen / Photo: © Mitchell Leff / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“Keep up the good work”

The Finnish defenseman doesn’t fight very often in the NHL, but when he does decide to wave his fists, it usually ends sadly for his opponents. His impressive dimensions regularly helped Rasmus emerge victorious from fights.

This time there was no fight, but the action of the Russian striker is still highly appreciated by hockey fans in North America. On social networks, Ivan is even jokingly called a gangster for his courage.

– Standing up for Slafkovsky is so rocker-like. Dude, you are so great! — addresses the Russian @HabsTakes.

“Demidov, continue in the same spirit,” calls @fnveenie.

“Demidov is a thug,” jokes @Bearsfa95317623.

— I like how Demidov stands up for Yuri. This is good for team culture and morale. Most young talent would be scared, but not Ivan, writes @Cweitz99.

— Demidov is still a cocky asshole, isn’t he? – asks @kckrebs37.

For this act, Ivan received a two-minute penalty, but the Philadelphia players were unable to implement it. True, this is where the positive moments for Demidov ended. It was his mistake in attack that led to the missed goal, which became the winning goal for the “pilots”. The guests won with a score of 4:1.