Rick Dhaliwal of TSN 1040 reported that the Russian junior coach Igor Larionov thinks that Vasili Podkolzin plays a very similar style to the great Mark Messier.
Mark Messier may be the most hated man in Vancouver Canucks franchise history, but even his biggest haters have to respect what he brought to the game. He’s an icon in the world of hockey, and arguably the greatest leader in all of sports — and when a Canucks prospect gets compared to a man of such high caliber (someone with six Stanley Cup championships), you can’t help but be over the moon excited.
Rick Dhaliwal recently joined Vancouver’s TSN 1040 to lay out his latest conversation with the new junior coach in Russia, Igor Larionov. He’ll be shifting from agent to coach next season, and he had plenty of positives to talk about when it came to the Canucks’ top prospect Vasili Podkolzin.
Who does Podkolzine remind Larionov of in the NHL : “That is a good question, Mark Messier, I see Messier in him. His character and desire to get better enables him to get better and develop.”
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) June 9, 2020
Larionov had a lot of high praise for the young kid’s character and desire to get better. He sounded like a “proud father talking about his kid” and Vancouver can rest assured they made the right choice in drafting him. He’s already mature enough to be labeled a frontrunner for the captaincy of the Russian junior team, and that’s another Messier-like bonus. He’s hungry to be the man, he craves responsibility, and he welcomes the everyday challenge of being the best you can be.
"“He is too good. I really like his leadership, his determination, he is so hungry to get to the net, and he gives 100%. ”"
Much like Voldemort, the very mention of the name Messier in the streets of Vancouver can get you in some hot water pretty darn quickly, so I understand why the comparison of Podkolzin to such a widely hated player in the Vancouver market can be considered such a massive turn off.
However, regardless of how poorly that entire situation unfolded all those years ago, Messier was a very rare kind of special. The very fact that Podkolzin can draw a comparison to such an all-around winner should be all the Canucks need in order to know they’ve got someone who can change the game heading their way.
Another season in Russia is what’s in store for the soon to be 19-year-old power-forward, but don’t worry — Once he’s finished his contract in the KHL, if his development goes according to plan, Podkolzin is expected to immediately jump inside the Canucks’ top-six for the 2021-22 season.
Only then will we start to unfold the mystery of if he has what it takes to climb to the same heights and beyond one of the NHL’s all-time greats? For now, he’ll be happy to draw the comparison, but six Stanley Cups and 2182 career points stand in his way.