from Kristina Rutherford of Sportsnet,

Growing up in Magnitogorsk, Russia, what was your childhood like?

It was a regular life. I have a brother, and lots of friends on my street. I spent time in school, went to practice, came back home, did my homework. I spent most of my time on my street with my friends; we played soccer, we played hockey, we played basketball, we played everything. Same routine every day. That was life. I was not focused only on hockey—I enjoyed my life with friends and family.

I heard a funny story about your first pair of skates.

Yeah. I don’t remember, but my father says that when I was little and I didn’t have skates, he gave me his. His size was way bigger than mine: I was five and he was 30. [Laughs.] He gave me his speedskates and I tried them and I remember they were huge. My feet were moving inside, but it was fun. After that they bought me new ones.

You make skating look easy.

No, it’s not easy. [Laughs.] It’s all practice. You work hard on your game, so sometimes it looks easy, but it’s not.

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