RUSSIAN WAVE

SERGEI BOBROVSKY IS STRUGGLING TO find the right words for the enormity of the situation, but this isn’t some kind of language barrier. The Blue Jackets’ goaltender is asked if he views the possibility of being Russia’s starting netminder in the 2014 Olympics as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Yes, of course he does. But it’s bigger than that, Bobrovsky says, which is why his eyes brighten and his words slow as he begins to explain. “Of course we can say for the rest of our lives: ‘I was an Olympian,’” Bobrovsky says. “But the (situation) here is that we are (hosting) the Games in Sochi. So for our team to be playing in this tournament in our country, with the whole world watching us, it makes me (thankful) that I was…

THE INSTIGATOR

RED’S HIGH ROAD TO REDEMPTION

IF EVER AN NHL PLAYER DEFIED THE odds – and succeeded in every way – it was Leonard Patrick ‘Red’ Kelly. A Maple Leafs scout studied him as a kid graduating from the St. Michael’s College team in Toronto in 1947 and said Kelly wouldn’t last 20 games in the NHL. ‘Red’ wound up playing 1,316 games in the bigs, starting with Detroit and finishing (guess where?) in Toronto. During his reign in Motown, Kelly skated for no less than four Stanley Cup winners. Nonetheless, after winning three Lady Byngs and a Norris Trophy, Kelly was unceremoniously traded in 1960 to the New York Rangers, along with forward Billy McNeill, for defenseman Bill Gadsby and forward Eddie Shack, because Red Wings boss Jack Adams was angry with Kelly over a contract dispute.…

BREATHING NEW LIFE

AS THE LEADING JUNIOR-AGED scorer in Sweden’s best league for men, Andreas Johnson makes you wonder how the Toronto Maple Leafs snagged such a prolific producer with the 202nd pick overall in the 2013 draft. The right winger was also a great scorer in his draft year while playing junior, but perhaps he was overlooked for so long because of a knock on his conditioning and a perception he didn’t work hard enough. But now there’s an explanation for those faults. Johnson didn’t know he had asthma until this past summer. Once diagnosed, he was able to work with his malady and became a brandnew player, earning a spot on the world junior team after being snubbed for the summer camp in Lake Placid. He put up six points in seven…