“It was the first golf for everybody,” said a smiling Peksa, who preceded Akhtyamov here last year to play with the ECHL Newfoundland Growlers and has mastered more English. “It’s not a popular sport in our country. But I will play more because I like it.”
With a goal stick in his mitts, the 6-foot-3 late-rounder from 2021 went from a 30-win season with Kazan Ibris to a record of 5-19-1 with Newfoundland, a season further complicated by the Growlers folding.
“It was the first year in my career out of my country, probably the second will be better,” he vowed of likely ending up on the newly affiliated ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones or an AHL shot with the Marlies. “This camp has taught me a lot about hockey, about passion. Last year’s camp helped, too. Different city, different country and a difference mentally, I needed probably a half year to make some (progress).”
He tried to fathom some of the internal disputes going on with the Growlers, the city and the ECHL eventually revoking the franchise, none of which helped his comfort level. But he insists he already has moved on.
“It’s life. In every hockey career there should be something (challenging) when you’re down and then go up. This year will be so much better,” he said.
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