| NAME: |
Roman Voloshenko |
| NHL/AHL: |
Minnesota Wild / Houston Aeros |
| POSITION: |
Left Wing |
| HT: |
6-1 |
| WT: |
189 |
| BIRTHDATE: |
12.05.86 |
| BIRTHPLACE: |
Brest, Belarus |
| NHL DRAFT: |
2004 Minnesota Wild, 2nd Round, 42 OA |
| LAST CLUB: |
Krylja Sovetov (Russia) |
| SHOOTS: |
Right |
Pure goal scorers can be streaky, and Voloshenko certainly fits that description.
The 19-year-old youngster from Belarus burst on the AHL scene like a bottle rocket this year, with nine goals in October, including three in his very first game with the Houston Aeros.
He followed that up with a four goal explosion against, of all people Detroit Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood, who was with Grand Rapids on a conditioning start.
Since then, left winger Voloshenko has seen the expected ups and downs. He tallied in five of six games in December, before heading to Vancouver to play for the Belarussians in the World Junior Championship.
He hit the scoring doldrums in late January, going goalless for an eight game stretch.
Regardless, Voloshenko has shown enough to give the Wild visions of an explosive compliment on the wing to Marian Gaborik.
"You look at the numbers and you know obviously he's a good player," said Houston coach Rob Daum. "We're really fortunate to have him, because he and Patrick O'Sullivan have both been a big part of our offense. Sometimes with younger guys, that's tough, but he's been consistent all year."
Daum said that Voloshenko has made huge strides in his adjustment to the North American game, and lifestyle.
"He's come a tremendous distance. He's only 19 years old, and sometimes you (forget) all the adjustments he's had to make, even without putting hockey into the equation. It's been remarkable how well he's adjusted."
As with all young scorers, Daum said that Voloshenko needs to round out his game if he's going to be the dominant NHLer the Wild think he can be."
"It's only going to get tougher from here," said Daum. "He's going to have to continue to play well offensively, but he's going to be consistant defensively as well. You're numbers are only going to take you so far. He has to work on that."
- Dan Hickling
