Boris Mironov skating miles for Chicago

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000

By Lucas Aykroyd

You know that song by the Who, “Boris The Spider?” Well, Boris Mironov may not have eight legs, but some nights the mobile 28-year-old Muscovite plays as much as four seventh defensemen put together. And early in his second full season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Mironov has had to hurl his 6-3, 223-pound frame into the fray plenty of times. The former Winnipeg Jets draft pick (27th overall in 1992) was acquired by Chicago in a seven-player blockbuster deal with Edmonton on 20 March 1999. While success in the playoffs has eluded him since he entered the NHL seven years ago, Mironov’s resumé includes a 1991 silver medal and 1992 gold from the World Junior Championships and an Olympic silver from Nagano. The Blackhawks hope his enthusiasm and leadership qualities can spark their team to greater things. EuroReport caught up with the Chicago assistant captain after a 4-2 loss to Vancouver at GM Place on 14 November 2000.

EuroReport: Obviously your team’s off to a tough start this year, but what positives can you point to in the early going?

Boris Mironov: Our team plays really hard every night. We make some mistakes, of course, and that has sometimes cost us games. We’re human beings. We just have to concentrate and prepare for the games, even two or three days before, and make sure we are focused and play hard from the first shift to the last shift.

EuroReport: What do you think of Alpo Suhonen’s coaching style?

Mironov: He’s good for the players. We’re happy to have him as our head coach. We have lots of meetings and he tries to explain everything to us. Now it’s up to us. If we want to win badly enough, we should have a shot every night.

EuroReport: A couple of months ago, there were some questions about your physical conditioning. What kind of shape are you in right now?

Mironov: You know, I’ve felt good from the first day. I don’t know who said that. Anyway, it’s the coach’s decision about whether he plays me 15 minutes or 30 minutes or 40 minutes. I can’t do anything about that. If I have a chance to play 30 minutes, I’m ready to go.

EuroReport: How do you like the addition of Alexander Karpovtsev?

Mironov: He’s a great defensive defenseman. He plays that stay-at-home style and he does his job really well. He plays from the heart. That’s what we want to see from every player.

EuroReport: How would you explain the problems your brother Dmitri has had in Washington this year?

Mironov: Dmitri was born in 1965. He’s a veteran, 35 years old, and he feels a little bit tired. He practiced with me all summer, getting ready for training camp, because last year he got a back injury and missed two months, plus four months in the summer. So it’s really hard when you’re out that long and try to come back at his age. But he did a great job and came back ready to go. But you know, Washington has too many defensemen, and I think the GM decided to send him down to Portland and see how some of their young kids would do.

EuroReport: Are you guys close? Do you communicate a lot during the season?

Mironov: Yeah, we’re really close. We talk lots on the phone, almost every day. He asks me how I feel and I ask how he feels. He asks how my game is going, and if there’s something wrong he’ll give me some explanations of what’s happened: “Don’t take things so seriously for your next game.” Like tonight: we lost the game, but now it’s history and we can’t drop our hands. We have to prepare for the next game.

EuroReport: You’ve gone through some changes since the trade from Edmonton. Looking back, how do you feel about what happened?

Mironov: It’s hard, you know. But trades are something we can’t control. In life, you have to move on. Now I’m playing for a new team, the Chicago Blackhawks, and I try to do my best for my teammates and my organization. If it takes blocking shots or hitting somebody, I’ll do it. I’m really happy playing for Chicago and it’s a great team.

EuroReport: Did you follow through on your plan to become a Canadian citizen?

Mironov: It’s still the same. Probably in January or February I’ll get a Canadian passport. But it’s a different story down here. I’m working on my hockey career, playing hockey every day. So my wife is taking care of that one.

EuroReport: You’ve said in the past that you dream of winning the Norris Trophy. What would it take for that to come true?

Mironov: It’s always on my mind. It takes only hard work, no matter what age you are, whether you’re 18 or 35. You still learn lots from other players and you have to pick it up and play really hard every night. You have to be really disciplined, on and off the ice.

EuroReport: What are your thoughts about Denis Savard being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Mironov: It’s unbelievable. Everybody, I think, dreams about that one. It’s great to have a coach of ours make it into the Hall of Fame. We saw him after he flew in from Toronto, and everybody congratulated him today before the game.

EuroReport: Finally, who’s your early pick for the team to beat in the Western Conference?

Mironov: It’s hard to say right now. Every team works really hard and there are no easy games, not even against the expansion teams.