MOSCOW, November 20 (R-Sport) - Carolina Hurricanes forward Alexander Semin said Tuesday he is still not at full fitness despite playing almost two months of lockout hockey in his native Russia.
Semin was one of the NHL’s first big names to move abroad when the lockout took effect, joining his hometown junior team in late September before moving up to the KHL with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod two weeks later.
“Without doubt, I still need to improve my physical condition,” he said on the Torpedo website.
Semin has scored two goals in eight games in the KHL as well as five assists, and said he was also missing his scoring instinct.
“I could have scored more points. A lot of chances have come up, but I don’t always have enough composure yet.”
Semin signed for Carolina on a one-year, $7 million deal in July as an unrestricted free agent after leaving the Washington Capitals.
He scored 197 goals and 211 assists in 469 games for the Capitals, the only NHL team he has represented so far.
