HockeyZonePlus – How long have you been playing in Russia?
Vincent Riendeau - I started playing in Russia in mid-January 1999.

HockeyZonePlus – What league is the team in and where is the team based?
Vincent Riendeau - I play for a team called HC Lada (the owner of the team is the Lada car company) in a city called Togliatti which is 1,000 km east of Moscow. We play in Russia’s 1^st league.

HockeyZonePlus – Can you tell us a little bit about Togliatti?
Vincent Riendeau - The city of Togliatti is split into two parts : the old city and new city, separated by about 20 km. My hotel is in the newest part of the city where the arena is (an arena with 4,000 seats). The downtown of the old city is quite nice but we rarely go there. There’s not much to see in the newest part – it’s mostly lots of apartments. The old town was built along the Volga River. We are at the same parallel as Sept-Iles, Québec, which gives you an idea of the climate. Most people here work directly or indirectly for Lada. Togliatti also has a soccer team in the second league.

HockeyZonePlus – Tell us about your hockey career after you left the NHL?
Vincent Riendeau - I played in Manitoba, in the IHL, for one season which was very difficult. I lost all confidence in my abilities and thought that my career was over. My father started his fight against cancer that year (a fight which he lost in September 1997) so that was a terrible year in every possible way. During the summer of 1997, I got an offer to return to Germany (Rivier Lowen) and returning to Europe was an idea I liked. I was doing very well when the team started to have financial problems which caused my departure for Lugano in Switzerland in the middle of the season. In 1998-99, I ended up in a league in England until my departure for Russia in January 1999.

HockeyZonePlus – How did you end up in Russia?
Vincent Riendeau - My team in the England league (Ayr Scottish Eagles) was participating in the EuroCup tournament (tournament in which the champion of each European country competes against each other) and we were in the same group as a Russian team (AK Bars Kazan). We played two games against them and, to the surprise of all hockey experts in Europe, we won them both (4-2, 3-1). During the tournament, I was impressed with the way they played and practiced. I had a clause in my contract saying that in January 1999, it was time to negociate a new contract. The team wasn’t ready to commit and since I knew, through my agent, that a Russian team was looking for a goalie, we asked the general manager if we could terminate my contract to allow me to go play in Russia. I felt that their caliber of play would be a great challenge for me. The GM told us that if I wanted to go, I could (later, he changed his mind and requested compensation, otherwise he would suspend me for the remainder of the season). We finally came to an agreement and I moved to Russia.

HockeyZonePlus – Why did you want to play in Russia?
Vincent Riendeau - Many factors made me decide to go play in Russia.

The most important factor was the caliber of play and the challenge it represented for me. When I arrived in Russia at age 32, I decided to change my position to a butterfly style, which I thought would improve my performance. When I moved to Russia, I decided that until the end of my hockey career (no matter how many years I had left), I would try to get better than I had ever been before. Up until now, after 4 months of competition in Russia, I sincerely believe that I am better than in my NHL days. One of the reasons is that Russians practice as if it was an actual game. So, I can test my new style every day, even twice a day.

Another factor that made me want to play here is the 1972 Canada-Russia Series. As far as I’m concerned, this is the most important sports event ever organized. I met people, here who played in that series, and hockey-wise there’s a big mutual respect between Russia and Canada. I was the first Canadian (and first former NHLer) to come to play in Russia, and Russians are very proud of my presence.

Obviously, there was also a financial aspect that convinced me to come here because to leave one’s family, and to be alone in Russia for the season there has to be some incentive.

HockeyZonePlus – How long do you think you’ll stay in Russia?
Vincent Riendeau - I don’t know how long I want to keep playing hockey. It’s very difficult to be so far from my family (I have 3 kids, including 2 going to school). I would like to have them with me here but that would be too difficult for them. We practice twice a day so I wouldn’t see them much anyway. There’s also the school issue. My oldest girl is 11 and she has already changed schools 10 times in her life. It has to stop, so for this year we decided that my family would stay back home in Québec. My wife and I will re-evaluate our plans after the season.

HockeyZonePlus – What has your relationship with your teammates been like?
Vincent Riendeau - As I said, I am the first Canadian to come here. At first, the players were skeptical, but when they realized that I was here to perform they quickly accepted me as a part of the group. Five or six players speak English. The coaches speak Russian and the goalie coach speaks a little bit of German (like me). To give me the practice schedule, the goalie coach speaks German to me. If they have to tell me or ask me something specific, they do so through one of the players who speaks English or through the team secretary who speaks English well.

HockeyZonePlus –  How do you deal with the language barrier?
Vincent Riendeau - Hockey-wise, it’s not so bad. The fact that I am a goalie makes things easier since strategy isn’t so important (as long as I stop pucks, they are happy). For every day life, again, it isn’t so bad. We are 5 players living at the hotel and 2 of them speak English well. We eat at the arena’s cafeteria and when we decide to go to restaurants, the players help me. I understand enough basic Russians to deal with basic day-to-day stuff. I often hitchhike to get to the arena and I can tell people where I want to go. My wife is sending me a CD to help me learn Russian, but I know that I won’t have time to master the language. I find the language to be rather difficult because the words have no similarities with any language I know. Also, their alphabet is different so it takes a while to master the different characters.

HockeyZonePlus – How would you compare the caliber of play between your current league and other leagues where you previously played?
Vincent Riendeau - I can’t compare because it’s too different. All I know is that every year, there’s the EuroCup tournament where the champs of different countries compete, and last year two Russian teams (Moscow Dynamo and Magnitagorsk) ended up in the final. I like the way they handle the puck as opposed to our famous « dump-in ». The rinks are bigger here and the « dump-in » is a strategy that pretty much doesn’t exist in Russian hockey.

HockeyZonePlus – What kind of compensation do you get from the team?
Vincent Riendeau - In Russia, there’s a clause in contracts that prohibits players from divulging salaries, and I don’t have any intention to be the first to break that rule. I live in a hotel provided by the team. They also provide a car, but I decided to refuse it. I find that Russians don’t have much respect for the laws of the road so I prefer to either walk or hitchhike when the weather isn’t too good. Hitchhiking is a common mode of transportation in Russia (rarely more than 5 minutes wait). For 15 roubles (CAN$ 1), you can go anywhere you want. The team also lets me use their computer and Internet connection at the arena. However, this year, I managed to get the Internet in my hotel room. We also get 3 meals a day at the arena.