Making The Grade…Anton Belov

Tonight the big Russian monster that is Anton Belov gets his report card, I will hand it to him through a series of people, because quite frankly he scares me…

Making The Grade… Anton Belov

Team Play: A
Anton Belov’s dream to play in the NHL came true this off-season, when he decided to turn down 3 million dollars a year to play in the KHL, and sign an ELC contract with the Oilers making far less money. That should tell you enough about his mentality about playing the game, and the player he is. He is an intelligent player on the ice, he is still learning English so I’m sure the communication within the team is hard. His play on the ice makes up for that, he will jump in and defend his team mates, make the big hit and put some life into the team. You can tell he is a team first player by the way he plays the game, he rarely makes a costly mistake and is always trying to put his team in a better position. He is a cautious but calculative player, knows when to step up and when to skate the puck up. He plays a steady game with a team first mentality, and although its tough to tell, it appears as though the team has taken a real liking to him and his game!

Offence: C+
Although I didn’t expect there to be much offence from him, even though he won the Norris trophy equivalent in the KHL, I did expect more than 4 assists in 26 games, especially with all the power-play time he was getting and he is usually out there with top 6. I will chalk some of it up to being that he’s still adjusting a bit to the North American style of hockey and obviously the more talented league than the KHL. Maybe because he doesn’t have as much space, he’s over thinking a lot of the simple plays? I am not quite sure, all I know is we need just a little more offence from him, need him to take a few more risks and chances and not play so conservative. Don’t get me wrong, I love his steady play and his intelligence, but I’d really like to see him make a few more plays and take some risks and make his game a little more unpredictable. He can contribute offensively, he as the skill to, he just needs to open his game up a little more.

Defense: B+
As I talked about before, Belov has been as steady and consistent as they come, but i cant quite give him an A. He is a big strong defenseman and uses his size really well in cutting off lanes to the net and driving players wide. He uses his skating (which is great for a big guy) to not get beat wide very often and he uses his high IQ, to make the smart plays to get the puck out, or make the smarter breakout pass. He has great poise and calmness on the blue line as well and doesn’t seem to force a pass or shot that’s not there. The big issue with him I have is when they get hemmed in their own zone, he has a tendency to lose his assignment or start to chase the puck, maybe its just panic? But for him to become a better defenseman, he’s going to have to work on the little things like that to become a premier D man on this team. He doesn’t have much flaw in his game, as he has played the steadiest and most consistent game of all our D men, but he seems to hit the panic button a little early and little to often. That takes him out of his element and he starts to struggle with the plays, and loses confidence and turns the puck over. He also has to be a touch more physical and show he can be hard defenseman to play against and make opposing players think twice when they come down on him.

Overall Grade= A-
Anton Belov has been a pleasant surprise this season. Most people thought he was going to struggle heavily, he wasn’t going to be the same level of D man that played in the KHL and that he was going to be the oilers 7th defenseman all year, or that he might even start in the AHL. Man oh man did he prove everyone wrong, by not only being a solid defender for this team, but by being, in my opinion the best defenseman on this team so far. Mind you he hasn’t contributed as much as I’d like on the offensive side, but he has certainly impressed with his defensive game, his mobility and how intelligent on the ice he really is. His calmness and poise has been great. His game is slowly getting better, as he adjusts to the NHL and its skill. I can only see big things coming from the big Russian (who looks like he’s KGB ) I kid, I kid…I have a great feeling he’s going to develop and turn into a top 4 defenseman on this team, by the end of the year and then hopefully management gives him a nice big extension and we all live happily ever after. Here’s to hoping Belov can be one of our diamonds in the rough.

Don’t like the grade? tell me about on twitter @madi39