Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The Other Alexander The Great

02/15/2013 at 12:43pm EST

from Mark Masters of TSN,

Eric Staal heard the buzz. He heard that Alexander Semin, his new teammate, did not have the work ethic to match his immense skill. He heard the phrases 'coach killer' and 'enigmatic' applied to the 28-year-old. And he didn't know what to believe.

"I knew he had a ton of skill, obviously, I'd seen him for a lot of years in Washington and he scored a lot of goals against our team, but, a lot of stuff was said about him that, for me, I wasn't going to judge or be opinionated on it until I knew him and met him and got to play with him," the Carolina Hurricanes captain said.

And the early returns have been overwhelmingly positive.

"He has been nothing but great," said Staal. "He's been a great teammate for everyone in this room and the type of guy who competes in practice and in games and that's all you can ask for."

continued

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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