From Russia, with love

[nivek_wahs]

Via Greg Harder's Slap Shots: http://communities.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/blogs/slapshots/default.aspx


From Russia, with love

Regina’s Jamie Heward is back from his first season with St. Petersburg in the Russian Super League.
Asked about the experience, the 37-year-old defenceman said it was a mixture of good and bad. The culture was a huge challenge, he said, adding that he’ll “have a lot of stories to tell.”
There’s interest in bringing Heward back to Russia next season, but he appears to be leaning towards a move to Sweden. He’d also consider offers to return to the NHL.
“Health wise I’m healthy enough to play another year and I think that’s what’s going to happen,” said Heward, who wants to get involved in coaching when he retires. “I would love to stay over here (and finish his career in the NHL). That would be the ideal situation. Now that I went over and had that one year of a pretty good financial situation, I could stay over here and just have a good time and play for the minimum (NHL salary of $475,000). I’d be more than happy and comfortable (to do that). I don’t know if that will happen. Who knows? Stranger things have happened but now I’m pursuing the European side of things and if something happens where a team needs a guy then maybe I’ll stay here.”
For more on his experience in Russia, check out Saturday’s Leader-Post.
Heward is currently getting ready for his second annual celebrity golf tournament. The three-day event, which also includes a ball hockey tournament and a cabaret, is run by the Shooting Stars Foundation. The charitable institution was started last year by Heward and fellow Reginan Mike Sillinger of the New York Islanders.
“We’re really excited about it because we have some really good people on board who care about Regina and care about the community and want to put money towards making people happy in the city,” said Heward. “That makes Mike and I really happy because every year we want to raise as much money as we can to give back. It’s getting bigger and better and in the next couple of years we’ll probably talk to some other players about coming on board with us, the Josh Hardings and the Ryan Getzlafs and Brett Clarks. People who are in Regina and want to see the money spread out here. The first year went well. This year we’re hoping to get bigger and better and then next year even bigger and better after that. We got a really good response. The city has been great to us and we’ll start getting the letters and stuff out to the corporate sponsors within the next week and we’ll go from there.”
Anyone interested in registering for the tournament or making a donation/sponsorship can send an e-mail to shootingstars@sasktel.net. The golf tournament is slated for June. 12.
Sillinger and Heward are first-class people and loyal Reginans who are putting a lot of time and effort into a great cause. They could use your support.

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=3032093a-3747-44e2-b8cd-19e00c035777


Life was sometimes Russian to Heward

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, April 12, 2008

Asked to characterize his Russian sojourn, Regina's Jamie Heward began to stickhandle.

"It was... 'interesting,' " offered Heward, who just returned from his first season with St. Petersburg in the Russian Super League. "The experience overall was OK ... but it really is a difficult place to be. The hockey was pretty good. The team that I played on was good -- they treated us very well -- but the country itself is still growing and still going through the change from communism. It was getting used to their way of life, getting used to their customs, trying to learn the language, basically trying to adapt to a foreign place.

"It had some ups and downs."

That said, Heward doesn't regret the decision to sign in Russia.

"I went over there for one reason; for the money," offered the 37-year-old defenceman, an eight-year NHL veteran who also spent three seasons in the Swiss elite league. "I could have stayed here and probably played in the NHL for the minimal salary ($475,000), which is still good, but I more than doubled my salary playing over there. At this stage of my career, an opportunity like that might not have come along (again) so I jumped at the opportunity and knew what I was getting into. When something didn't go my way I just said, 'Relax. It's a job and try to make the best of it.' We had a lot of good days where I said, 'I think I could do this for two or three more years.' Then you have your bad days where it's like, 'That's it! Let's go home right now.' "

How did he cope with those days?

"I spent a lot of time with my family," Heward said of his wife Ticia and their two children -- daughter Irelyn, 8, and son Blake, 4. "My son was playing hockey over there and my daughter was taking ballet and doing school. I tried to get myself involved with whatever they were doing as much as I could and keep the Russian culture part of it kind of to the side."

On the ice, Heward enjoyed a successful campaign, notching 17 points in 53 games along with 98 penalty minutes. St. Petersburg, under the guidance of former NHL assistant coach Barry Smith, finished sixth in the 20-team league with a 34-20-0-3 record and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

"The year before the team finished in 14th place so they were happy with the way things went (this season)," said Heward, who also found it challenging to adjust to the "Russian way" of doing things. "There are 20 teams in the league and 14 coaches got fired during the season. They have no patience whatsoever. It's day-to-day and that's how they live their hockey lives. They still are in the communist Red Army kind of mode where they want things done a certain way and they're not willing to deviate from that. It's a very volatile place to play and live. That's why they have to pay big money to get guys to come over there. It's not like going to Switzerland or Austria where the family life and the living is outstanding. You have to just accept that, cash your paycheque every two weeks and move on."

Heward would like to get into coaching at some point but hinted strongly that he wants to play at least one more season. He has been approached by St. Petersburg about a new contract, as well as a couple of teams in Sweden. He's also hoping for offers from the NHL, noting that he'd "love to come back" and finish off his career on this side of the pond.

"There's lots of things on the plate but I really think I would like to play one more year -- maybe two," he said. "It depends on the organization. If I went (back) to Russia I probably would only play one more year but if I go to a country like Sweden or somewhere else I could probably squeeze in two. Everybody says: 'Play until somebody tells you you can't play anymore,' but there comes a time when if the level of hockey you're playing isn't where you think you should be, then I think it's time to look at other things. Then it's time to come back home and start living life with my friends and family and be a normal person for a while."

After his experience in Russia, Heward is more convinced than ever that there's no place like home.

"I am so glad to be home, it's unbelievable," he added with a laugh. "Even right now when the weather is not that great, it's still nice to be able to drive around and see friendly faces and have people hold the door open for you and smile. Those are little things that you miss when you're over in other countries that we take for granted."

Heward and New York Islanders centre Mike Sillinger, who formed the Shooting Stars Foundation last year, are holding their second annual celebrity golf tournament on June 12. Funds go towards children's charities in Regina. To register or arrange a donation/sponsorship, send an e-mail to shootingstars@sasktel.net.




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008