THE POET OF KAZAKHSTAN
Famed poet Alexander Pushkin once wrote that the mere mention of Moscow could “start a tumult in the Russian heart.” In subsequent centuries, lines of Pushkin would have a similar effect—with school children memorizing the most famous works of a man who is often called the father of Russian literature.
So imagine, then, a recitation of Pushkin in Moscow—a pair of pillars to national pride—before a packed house of Russians, but no literary scholar in sight. Instead, a 26-year-old Canadian defenseman named Darren Dietz is standing at center ice, bellowing lines from the stunning poem Зимнее утро (“Winter Morning”) in a hat and cape. If you had told the Montreal Canadiens 2011 draft pick that someday he would be reading Russian poetry at an All Star Game to thousands of local fans, he might have asked if you were feeling okay. But it’s an element of an adventure that Dietz has not only adjusted-to but embraced, placing him in a special category of KHL imports who have found a rhythm in the nomadic experience.
I caught up with Barys Nur-Sultan’s top-performing defenseman in the locker room at KHL All Star Weekend. We discussed—among other things—his Pushkin performance, Astana’s name change and his decision to take Kazakh citizenship.
Gillian Kemmerer (GK): Why did you choose to move your career abroad?
Darren Dietz (DD): I felt like I wasn’t progressing as a hockey player any further in North America. I was faced with a decision to make—to continue to grow as a player, a person—and I thought it would be a really interesting experience and opportunity to move over. I just thought, “Why not?”
I was in a rut with my career—I felt like I wasn’t getting better, and not having as much fun. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, then why would you do it?
GK: I think it takes a certain kind of person to embrace the expat experience.
DD: It’s different—the league is not for everyone because you have to open your mind a little bit. They do things differently. There’s no denying that life in Russia, life in Kazakhstan is different than life in Canada and America, but that doesn’t mean it’s better or worse. You have to be open to a new experience, and for me, I was ready to do that.
Kazakhstan was a pretty good place to do it because our team had a lot of international players. If you are on a different team in Russia where there’s an import rule, maybe life is different. For me, it was a really easy transition.
GK: Where did you grow up?
DD: I grew up in Medicine Hat, Alberta. It’s a small town near Calgary.
GK: Could you ever have imagined that life would take you to Kazakhstan?
DD: Not even a little bit! I can remember the day when my agent phoned me and said, “Hey, there’s an offer for you to play in Kazakhstan.” [Laughs] The phone was just silent! And he’s like, “No just Google it a little bit.” I honestly didn’t even know they played hockey and I didn’t follow the KHL at the time.
GK: Have you had any moments like, “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore?”
DD: Maybe at the time, but when I try and remember, there was no definite moment like “where am I and what am I doing?” It has been probably more normal than I would have expected. I almost disappoint people when I go home! They want to hear an awesome story and I don’t really have anything that’s too crazy.
GK: How do you compare the fans and the travel?
DD: It’s hard to compare the level of fans because I think the KHL, especially in the last year or two, has gained traction. There’s a good following and the games are always full. Maybe it’s a language thing too, but I want to say the Canadian fans are more critical! You definitely hear about it when you play a good game, but a bad one especially. [Laughs] Maybe I am a little deaf to that here!
The travel is a lot different. In North America, it’s a lot nicer—especially in the NHL. It’s nothing anyone really mentions or complains about. Otherwise, the schedules are really similar.
On the big trips, we stay on our local time zone—whenever we go east, we stay local. When we come west, we stick with Moscow time for the most part. It’s challenging when you are playing games at 10:00 at night for your local body, but we do three or four games at a time on our road trips. It’s usually not too bad. The big one is China and the Far East, Vladivostok—but coming from Astana, it’s not too bad. Or Nur-Sultan, I should say!
GK: Let’s talk about the Kazakh capital’s name change. What exactly happened?
DD: They changed everything! There were signs all over the city that say “I Love Astana,” kind of like “I Love New York.” They all changed brand.
GK: What did you do with all of your gear that said “Barys Astana?”
DD: We pulled some stickers off, and they changed our logo. It was a big move for the city in general.
GK: I am still in awe that you recited lines from Alexander Pushkin yesterday to a Russian audience.
DD: The tournament organizers came to me and said, “Hey, what do you think? It would be interesting if you could do a little something.” So I was on the airplane two nights ago, and they sent me a little text and were like, “Could you learn this for tomorrow?” And I was like, “I’ll try!” I did not know a lot about Pushkin, so it definitely caught my interest. I knew he was a famous poet, but I wouldn’t say my level of understanding was that deep of the language.
GK: I mean, no pressure, but he’s often called the father of Russian literature.
DD: That’s right. It was interesting to Google him and hear the poems and translations. They’re kind of neat. I wasn’t really sure how to deliver it, to be honest! When you don’t have a full concept of the poem, it’s hard to know how the rhythm and flow should be.
GK: How much Russian do you speak to be able to nail that?
DD: You can teach a monkey to repeat things! [Laughs] That’s how it felt!
It was a cool experience and something that a couple of years ago, if you had told me I would be on-ice reciting Pushkin…I probably would not have believed you.
GK: Tell me about your experience of the different KHL host cities.
DD: What was really amazing about my first few years—everywhere you go is new. Your eyes are peeled wide open. Sometimes you see places like Nizhnekamsk and you’re like, “Whoa this isn’t so nice.” And then you go to Moscow and you’re like, “This is amazing!” St. Petersburg is incredible.
Everywhere in between, you can see from east to west how different and how “the same” Russia can be—given how big of a country it is. As you return to visit places more and more, you find the restaurants you like to go to and it becomes more comfortable.
GK: Have you picked up any Russian superstitions?
DD: I am not really superstitious at all. I try not to be into that, but I would say it rubs off on me! We do a warm-up one day and win the game, or a guy scores a goal, and then he wants to do the exact same thing. I want to be like, “No, you scored because you practiced—and then you shot the puck into the net!” It had nothing to do with us doing a handshake. But it’s rubbing off on me. I think about it now, and I never would have thought about it before. Now it crosses my mind and I get on board a little bit.
GK: There have been some big changes at Barys over the past few seasons. How would you characterize the team these days?
DD: I think our identity as a team has changed over the past three years. We are a really young team in comparison to what we’ve been in the past. We had a lot of really talented import players like Nigel [Dawes] who moved on to different clubs. There were big holes in the team that needed to be filled. We had a lot of new players come over, and are really adapting to how life is and how the league is. I feel like we are a better team overall—maybe not as high and talented as others, but we are well-coached and hardworking. That’s what I really like: a young, hard-working team. When we accepted our identity, how we needed to play in order to win—which is interesting too, because not everyone is always on board with how the coach wants you to play. It’s like any job. But when the team fully accepted and got on board with it, then we had a lot more success.
GK: I feel like the phrase often used here is “buying in.”
DD: That’s the perfect word for it.
GK: What is it, then, that you “bought into” with head coach Andrei Skabelka?
DD: Playing defense—like in our own zone, stop and starting. It sounds really basic, but it’s not. It’s basic in North America and an automatic thing in the NHL, but here it’s not. The skill level is still really high, so if you don’t manage the small details, you get picked apart pretty quickly. As a team, when we started to buy into those things and realize that they make a big difference, we held each other accountable and started to see a lot more success.
GK: The bigger ice forces you to reimagine the basics sometimes.
DD: That’s right. It is interesting too because we are switching between the big ice and the small ice.
GK: Do you have to think about it?
DD: Already not, but at the start of the year, some of the guys on our team were struggling with that. We were losing games at home and winning on the road. Why? Maybe it was adapting to the rink size.
GK: You became a citizen of Kazakhstan not so long ago. Tell me about that decision.
DD: It was an opportunity that was brought to me, that I would say I was really humbled by. It’s not everyday that another country asks you, “Do you want to adopt our nationality, our citizenship and play on our national team?” I took it as a big compliment. It was a big decision because growing up, obviously, I always dreamed of playing for Canada. I never had that opportunity, always wanted to, but never landed on a Canadian roster. When you accept that, you realize you can still have the opportunity to play in these tournaments and to experience the same thing with a different nation. It was pretty cool, and a different way to extend my career and adopt and adapt, really.
GK: Of all the people you’ve played with or against in the K, who are the most talented?
DD: There’s a lot of really good players. First that comes to mind are some of the guys who are here [at the All Star Game]. Linus Omark is unbelievable. Every time the puck is on his stick, it’s dangerous. I don’t like playing against him! Nigel [Dawes] has had the opportunity to play with him and against him. The guy scores every shot. He scores the goals that you say, “Sure—he should score that.” The empty net, open net, good scoring chance. And then he scores goals that nobody else scores. Could go down the list of goaltenders as well—it’s crazy.
GK: On that front, you have faced both Shestyorkin and Sorokin—both of whom are projected to have great NHL careers.
DD: Yeah, they are both great players. Kaprizov as well—a huge list. Last year, Nikita Gusev was an unbelievable talent and it’s good to see him having success [in North America] too. It just goes to show you the level of the KHL.
When a player comes here who had a really good career in North America, it’s hard to predict if it will work out. You see players here who are unbelievably talented go to the NHL, and have a hard time.
GK: Vadim Shipachyov [Dynamo Moscow] is a good example of that. Top scorer in the K this season, absolutely struggled in Vegas.
DD: Unbelievable player, and I cannot really understand how it didn’t work out. You never know. Every individual situation is different.
GK: As an expat, you can appreciate the pressures that come with cultural adjustment off the ice. Sometimes public opinion is not so forgiving.
DD: If you are not comfortable in your surroundings as a person, it is pretty hard to do your job and perform. Especially at a really high level.
GK: Ok lastly: what do you do on the plane?
DD: I sleep!
GK: I hate that answer, mostly because I can never sleep on a flight.
DD: I can’t sleep on a normal plane, but we get the beds out. We usually fly around my afternoon naptime. If not, I’m studying.
GK: What are you studying?
DD: Russian! I am always trying to learn new words, and I always have homework.
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