Chukarov gone

[Old Cage]

Say what??

https://railershc.com/worcester-railers ... -chukarov/

He was MIA at BC this past weekend.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

That seems odd... what gives?

[78]

Extremely bizarre given the timing and the fact that he was a senior. I know he had dropped to 6th/7th defenseman, but with 3 weeks left in the regular season and the potential for a run in the NCAAs he leaves now? Kind of a big WTF? Gotta pray to the hockey Gods that no defenseman get injured the rest of the way.

[UMass87]

He just wasn't getting it done.

[m626t]

He just wasn't getting it done.

I don't get it...if he wasn't getting it done, how does he move on to what I assume is pro hockey?

[UMass87]

He just wasn't getting it done.

I don't get it...if he wasn't getting it done, how does he move on to what I assume is pro hockey?

He was a seventh round Sabres pick back in 2015. He needed to show better than he has at UMass.

[jjmc85]

The ECHL isn’t going anywhere. Unless Worcester said “come now or never”?

[UMass87]

It's certainly a very strange move given that he's a senior on a team with NC potential.

[Old Cage]

https://www.telegram.com/news/20190226/ ... ving-umass

Still doesn't make sense.

[69MG]

https://www.telegram.com/news/20190226/ ... ving-umass

Still doesn't make sense.

These two quotes show a conflicted young man. Sorry to see him leave.

“I guess coach (Greg Carvel) had his own set of guys,” Chukarov said, “that he wanted to play and trusted more. Unfortunately, I kind of got the blunt end of the stick, but there’s no hard feelings.”

“I’m sad that I won’t be there,” Chukarov said, “but what are you going to do? It’s life, and you move on from that, but I’ll be extremely ecstatic for them. I’ll hopefully go back and be able to celebrate with them a bit, but it will be great to see.”

[Bubba]

I always liked his game, sad that he is gone. But he has to do what works for him. That said, I like the implied idea that it's easier to get playing time on a pro team than UMass.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Sounds like he likely was disappointed with his playing time and someone got in his ear. It's hard for me to fathom that there wouldn't have been a similar opportunity at the end of the season.

Either way, best of luck!!!

[Bubba]

It's hard for me to fathom that there wouldn't have been a similar opportunity at the end of the season.

Likely, but sometimes it's nice to get a jump. I remember Quick being in a somewhat similar situation. The Kings had two goalie prospects, Quick and Bernier. If I recall, there was concern that if one of them got there sooner it would be their job to lose and the other prospect would stay in the AHL or be traded.

At the end of the season a handful of seniors head off to pro contracts, hopefully before then Chukarov may have already been able to establish himself. Additionally, It gives more games to establish himself before the season ends. By the time UMass finishes this year, hopefully, the ECHL won't have too many games left in the season.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

^

Fair points.

[Kieron]

Pure Speculation on my part coming up:

It's interesting though that Carvel is referring questions to the University rather than answering them. Either he doesn't want to answer them and add a distraction to his remaining players (which given where we are in the season, makes total sense) or there is an issue that required Chukarov to leave school. Its my understanding that Quick wasn't the best student so joining the Kings after the NCAAs made sense for both the team and his long-term career. I'm having a hard time understanding how going to the ECHL at this point in a season is a good career move. His stock wouldn't have shifted that much in the next couple of weeks but he could have gone on as potentially a league and NCAA Champion.