The Amazing Disappearing Frolov

There hasn't been much celebrating for Alexander Frolov this RHL season.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

Coming into this, his second full RHL season, much was expected of Alexander Frolov. He played admirably as a rookie in RHL13, but was used sparingly in RHL14. While sitting, he practiced and trained so that he could take advantage of the opportunity that he knew would eventually come his way. And that opportunity did arrive, when in RHL15 he was promoted to first-line duty alongside team scoring leaders Pavol Demitra and Glen Murray. "I was very excited to play with Pavol and Muzz", Frolov said of the pre-season. "They were leading the team to the Kings Cup when I was a rookie, and they are the franchise leaders in so many areas. It was an honour to skate with them". The Rovers won all four of their pre-season games, though Frolov managed only one assist over that span. Little was thought of it at the time, as nobody on the team really stepped up offensively either.

When the season started, it was expected that the top unit would shoulder the load while the second trio of Kris Draper flanked by newcomers Nils Ekman and Alex Korolyuk would try to take off some of the pressure by contributing when they could. As the season progressed, however, it was the second line that carried the club, as Ekman and Korolyuk developed instant chemistry while Draper did the dirty work on the line and covered defensively, not to mention chipping in a few points himself along the way. Journalists around the league were taking notice of the offensive woes on Baffin Isle, as Frolov was consistently being cited as an underachiever in other markets. "Maybe he started reading those press clippings and was squeezing the stick a bit too much", coach Stringer said of his young winger. "It's real easy to get down on yourself when things don't go right".

As Demitra and Murray worked their way out of scoring slumps, Frolov continued to struggle. While the Rovers went on an impressive 14 game unbeaten streak to shoot to second place in the Champs conference, Frolov shot blanks. To his credit, he has continued to shoot the puck as urged by the coaching staff. He sits third on the team with 62 shots on goal, behind Murray and Demitra respectively, though his single goal leaves him with an astonishing shooting percentage of 1.6%.

As the 1/3 mark of the season passes, the coaches are trying their best to help Alex break out, including shuffling the lines. In South Edmonton, Frolov skated with Draper and Ekman while Korolyuk joined Murray and Demitra. Frolov only saw eight minutes of ice time in that game, but the experiment will last at least through the StrapHangers game tonight. The coaches say that he will return to the top line eventually, although they admit that they need to find a way to get in on the ice more. Through 21 games on the top unit, he has been averaging a mere 14.5 minutes of ice a night, as compared to 23.1 for Murray and 17.8 for Demitra.

As for the future, Stringer was adamant that while Frolov hasn't been playing well lately, he is definitely in the long-term plans for the club. "You don't give up on a player like Alex Frolov after twenty games", Stringer said of the notion that he'd deal away his young talent. "Every time I approach a team around the league in trade talks they start out asking for the same guys, and Frolov is always the first or second name out of their mouths. You don't dump a player that is so heavily sought after. Every team knows the talent is there, and it's just up to us to help Alex kick this dry spell. He's going to be an all-star for us for years to come".

"I will continue to work and must not get down", Frolov said for his part. "If the work is there, the results will come".