Ekaterina used to have their own mafia bodyguards, but she has changed a lot since coming to Baltimore. She learned English, learned how to be less aggressive and understood what she could mean to fans and young girls playing hockey. She’s no role model, but she is much less anxious playing that role. She has an A on her jersey, which means a lot to her, and what she must do on the ice, in the locker room, and outside the arena. So yeah, she’ll reserve three hours and pens to go outside. She will talk to fans without screaming at them or threatening to kill them. She will accept criticism, that fans expect better from her, and will even talk about it. Last season was not easy for her, she seemed to have stopped playing defensively mid-season, and the Platoon did suffer from this. Baltimore is much bigger than Kelowna, or her small Russian village, so it took her a lot of time to prepare for this.

WC:168