{"id":630214,"date":"2026-05-08T04:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T04:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/630214\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T04:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T04:00:14","slug":"hershey-bears-and-wilkes-barre-scranton-penguins-second-round-series-pits-alex-alexeyev-against-former-teammates-obviously-in-playoffs-theres-no-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/630214\/","title":{"rendered":"Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins second-round series pits Alex Alexeyev against former teammates: \u2018Obviously, in playoffs, there\u2019s no friends\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

HERSHEY, PA \u2014 Five days before the start of the Hershey Bears\u2019 Atlantic Division Semifinals series against the Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins, Ivan Miroshnichenko<\/a> and his wife Karisha visited with Alex Alexeyev and his wife Kate.<\/p>\n

The Alexeyevs had just welcomed their second child, Eva, on April 17 \u2014 a month prior. At their place, Miroshnichenko was photographed by Kate with their young son Ivan adorably sitting on his shoulders, smiling from ear to ear.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Miro like an uncle in your family?\u201d I asked Alexeyev after Game 2 at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The moment showed an incredible kinship between the two Washington Capitals\u2019<\/a> first-round draft picks four years apart, who now play opposite each other and frequently go up against one another in the I-81 Rivalry playoff series.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, in playoffs, there\u2019s no friends,\u201d Alexeyev said, \u201cso I just play my way. Just play hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n

After six seasons in the Capitals organization, Alexeyev left the club last summer as Caps brass chose not to offer him a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent<\/a>. Days later, he signed a one-year, $775K contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a UFA<\/a>. Alexeyev then spent the entire 2025-26 season with Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton, posting 12 points (3g, 9a) in 38 games while missing time due to injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife and he wife, good friends,\u201d Miroshnichenko explained. \u201cAnd he, he big help me when I just come my first year (in 2023-24). He all the time text me, drove me everywhere. And I think it\u2019s a memory for my first time here, you know? He\u2019s good guy. And he have good wife, kids. Good guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at his wedding this summer, and, yeah, we spent a lot of time together,\u201d Alexeyev said. \u201cYeah, our wives are really good friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Alex\ud83d\udcf8: Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins<\/p>\n

Many Russian-speaking players are already familiar with one another through national teams they\u2019ve played on or past run-ins in Russian leagues, such as the KHL, MHL, or VHL. When many of these prospects first arrive in North America, there\u2019s a big adjustment to learning a new language, culture, and way of life. Having someone else to lean on for help or support during those difficult moments \u2014 especially in their native tongue \u2014 can not only help them problem-solve but also give them a sense of comfort during uncomfortable times, creating powerful bonds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think in every team who have a lot of Russian guys, it\u2019s good for everybody,\u201d Miroshnichenko said. \u201cAnd your wife, your kids, who talk. Maybe every weekend, barbecues are talking, and locker room talking. If you\u2019re born in different county, it\u2019s hard for you to all season talk with English. You want to talk with your language every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship between Miroshnichenko and Alexeyev is one of many that the popular former Capitals defenseman made during his time in the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, [Alexeyev] is a special guy because when I was first time here, he and Big Pro (Aliaksei Protas) always helped me on the ice and outside,\u201d Bogdan Trineyev<\/a> said. \u201cIt was great time.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I asked Alexeyev who he was closest with on the Bears, he replied, \u201cPretty much everyone.\u201d He then cracked a wry smile. \u201cExcept the new guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the friendships between Alexeyev and Hershey are vast, you\u2019d never be able to tell on the ice during the series. In Game 1, for instance, Miroshnichenko frequently matched up against Alexeyev, throwing hits on the Penguins\u2019 first-pairing defenseman and exchanging post-whistle shoves and face washes. The scrums got the attention of Bears head coach Derek King.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is playoff hockey,\u201d Bears head coach Derek King said. \u201cAnd even Trineyev, I think at the end, or Pro, one of them had him in a headlock. And, you know, that\u2019s fine. They know each other, but they\u2019ll still play physical on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, now it\u2019s playoff game. We don\u2019t have friends on ice,\u201d Miroshnichenko said. \u201cWe\u2019re good friends outside the rink in Russia, but on ice, I have friends in my locker room and nothing more.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I asked Alexeyev which one of his former friends and teammates he\u2019d like to hit most, he smiled big and said, \u201cBogey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think about it,\u201d Trineyev said laughing after I notified him. \u201cI just have a [defensive] position after score.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AlexAlexeyev and Trineyev get in a scrum (\ud83d\udcf8: Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins)<\/p>\n

Trineyev later added, \u201cPlay against him, for us, doesn\u2019t matter because we want to win every game, we want to win every series. It doesn\u2019t matter who playing against us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexeyev has been one of the best players in the second-round series, registering three points, all assists, in three games. He\u2019s tied with two Penguins forwards for the team lead in points, while his seven shots rank second among the team\u2019s defensemen. Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton currently leads two games to one and will look to close out the best-of-five series at Giant Center on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good player, but no friends on the ice,\u201d said Ilya Protas<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s just a regular guy on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bogdan\ud83d\udcf8: Hershey Bears<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HERSHEY, PA \u2014 Five days before the start of the Hershey Bears\u2019 Atlantic Division Semifinals series against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-630214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}