Jamie Magone
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. — The Niagara University men’s hockey team has not won more than seven games in a season during Stanislav Dzakhov’s time at Niagara. However this season the team has already won two games and looks to be much more competitive.
Dzakhov played his first three years of hockey at Niagara under Coach David Burkholder. In his senior season it will be Jason Lammers at the helm and Dzakhov described what he thought that would mean for the team.
“I feel as though everyone, not only on the team, but the entire university is very excited to have Coach Lammers and he is doing a lot of great things with our team and university. I believe that Niagara hockey is going to have a lot of success in the future with him,” said Dzakhov. Dzakhov also added that the team is excited for the new challenges that a new coach brings to the table, and that he believes the team is getting better every day.
Dzakhov hails from Vladikavkaz, Russia, and discussed some of the differences he has experienced between hockey in Russia and the United States.
“In my opinion the biggest differences are the physicality of the game and pace of the game. The game is more physical and faster in the U.S. due to smaller sizes of the ice than Russian/Olympic sized ice.” That increased physicality certainly has played to Dzakhov’s advantage with his 6 foot 2-inch frame, as he has finished sixth, fourth and first in points with 12, 12 and 17 points respectively in his first three years at Niagara, and currently has one through four games this year.
Dzakhov illuminated some of the differences between Russia and the United States off the ice as well, and his answer may surprise people.
“Well some of the most obvious cultural differences between my home country and America would be food. For example, in Russia we eat a lot of soups, almost every day. In America I don’t think people eat as much soup. Other than food I don’t really notice that big of the difference. Maybe because I have been here for a while now.”
Dzakhov’s hometown may be far from Niagara University, but he has certainly found a home among his classmates and teammates on campus. Dzakhov will look to make his senior season his most memorable yet.
All stats obtained via purpleeagles.com
Niagara Wire 