Stouffville Spirit Assistant General Manager Thayne Hallyburton knew he was onto something the first time he saw Ivan Mentiukov on the ice.
The big kid was skating for the Barrie U18 Colts last October.
“I called Ken (Burrows, the Spirit’s GM) in the first intermission and then the Sudbury Wolves (the Spirit’s affiliate in the Ontario Hockey League) in the second,” Hallyburton recalls. “Ivan’s skillset and size stood out immediately. He’s fast, he’s strong, he has a pro shot. The package is undeniable and he is just starting to figure himself out.”
Less than a year later, Clarkson University saw much of the same thing. Coaches from the NCAA Division I school in upstate New York took in Spirit games as far back as August’s preseason. They offered Mentiukov, who signed with the Spirit last summer, a scholarship this week and he committed.
Now 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, Mentiukov is one of five players on this season’s Spirit roster with a commitment. The list included another Clarkson commit, Max Davidson.
The others are Brady Smith (Sudbry Wolves, OHL), Masen Johnston (Peterborough Petes, OHL) and Julian Demiglio (RIT, NCAA DI).
Add Riley Clark (Kingston Frontenacs, OHL) and Tayjon Street (Sudbury, OHL) to the list. They started the season with the Spirit but left this fall to sign in the OHL.
Aside from upping his game on the ice, Mentiukov has been busy learning the English language and getting accustomed to Canadian culture.
He and his dad only moved to Barrie from Saratov, Russia 18 months ago. His English was extremely limited back then.
“Just a few words before that,” the 17-year-old said before practice at the Stouffville Arena this week. “Hi. How are you? That was about it.”
In his final year of high school, he’s obviously a quick learner, now readily able to converse with teammates and the Spirit staff.
“Good guys,” he said. “We have a great team here.”
Thanks to his mom, Mentiukov learned to skate in Saratov, a city of one million people on the Volga River. A hockey coach suggested he may want to pick up a stick and try hockey.
Hallyburton’s looking forward to seeing the rest of the ‘Ivan show’.
“It is going to be real fun watching Ivan over the rest of this season blossom into the dominant player he can be,” Hallyburton said. “Clarkson coaches have done an awesome job identifying a potential future star. I’m excited for Ivan and for Clarkson.”
