With apologies for the delay, here’s the second half of AllHockey.ru’s interview with New York Rangers forwards Artem Anisimov and Enver Lisin.

If you missed it late last week, you might want to start with part one first.

- Everyone knows that the level of the organizations in the NHL is much higher than in other leagues, even for the most elementary things. But how comfortable, for example, is your locker room. What do you have there? Tell us.

Artem Anisimov: I really like our locker room, it’s big, comfortable. There’s everything here that a professional hockey player needs: qualified staff, everyone has their own locker, there’s a large place to change clothes, a special sauna, hot and cold baths, a large room for the trainer and masseuse and much more.

Enver Lisin: In general, we have everything we need in the locker room. Incidentally, if you play on the main team in Russia everything is also convenient and comfortable.

- Enver, hello. What profession would you choose if you weren’t a hockey player. Or maybe you still have some passion other than hockey, a hobby perhaps?

- It’s difficult for me to picture myself outside of hockey, so I’d probably become a coach or an agent. It’s hard to have any other serious passions… after all, hockey is a way of life, there’s little time for anything else.  So I love simply playing video games. I play with Artem, by the way.

- Hi Artem and Enver. What was the main impetus for each of you to go to the USA?

AA: Playing in the NHL was my dream since childhood, what else can I say?

EL: Every hockey player wants to try his hand in the strongest league in the word, that’s no secret to anyone. I think it’s probably the biggest dream for every hockey player from childhood, not just Artem. Just imagine, you start playing for your favorite team in this league on the computer or game console, scoring on Brodeur, and a few years later you’re out on the ice with him. Seems to me it’s what everyone aspires to.

- A few quick questions for you both: 1. Ovechkin or Malkin? 2. Stanley Cup or Olympic Gold? 3. [Russian TV programs] “Comedy Club” or “Killer League”? 4. Beautiful or smart girl?

EL: 1. Datsyuk 2. Olympic Gold 3. Comedy 4. Unpretentious.

AA: 1. Malkin 2. So far I haven’t decided, I want to win everything. 3. Comedy 4. A combination of the first and the second.

- Artem, hello from Yaroslavl. Tell us, please: do you communicate with our Yaroslavl boys, [Devils prospect Alexander] Vasyunov, for example? How are things with them?

- Yes, we communicate, but unfortunately it’s seldom possible to meet.  So Sasha and I call each other constantly, keep in touch, share our impressions, our experiences — try to help one another with difficult situations.

- Hi Artem, Hi Enver! Are you planning to get married or do your admirers still have a chance?

EL: To tell the truth, I never thought that I had admirers. I don’t understand how it’s possible to plan to get married — at some point you just simply go ahead and get married. For now I haven’t proposed to anyone.

AA: I agree with Enver, how can you “plan”?! It seems to me that each person decides to take this step at some time in their life. Yes, I have a girlfriend, but for now both of us are too young for this sort of thing.

- Hi guys! Do you still like any kinds of sports other than hockey? Maybe there’s someone you’re a fan of, or something you still love to play?

EL: No, I don’t like other sports… I’m not a fan of anybody’s. But in the summer I might play football [soccer] with friends.

AA: I’m a fan of the football [soccer] club “Milan” and sometimes like to kick the ball around myself.

– Enver and Artem, hello. You’re rookies this season, have you had any practical jokes played on you yet?

- No, nothing comes to mind.

- Enver, a huge hello to you. Tell us, did you like playing in Kazan? What memories of it have remained [with you]?

- The best memories of my hockey career are tied to those years I spent in the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan: my first medal, my first victory — it all happened there. I took great pleasure from playing for AK Bars. I very much liked how Kazan acted towards our sport, the people there just love hockey, and so the best memories have remained.

• Rangers’ Russians discuss life, love… and hockey (Part One)

The Wolf Pack arrived in Manchester on Sunday afternoon to face the first place Monarchs missing three of their top four scorers and two of their top four defensemen.  If you were expecting much better than the eventual 6-1 final result, you’ve got more faith than I.

Hartford is an offensively-challenged, middle-of-the-pack bunch on a good day.  Without P.A. Parenteau, Dale Weise, and Bobby Sanguinetti, and Corey Potter… well, lets just say they never really stood a chance against the team that’s currently sporting the third best record in the AHL.

To make matters worse, Steven Valiquette continued to struggle.  Making his first start in 18 days, the veteran netminder gave up five goals on 22 shots before getting the mercy pull at the start of the third period.  Two of the goals came off cross-slot passes on which he didn’t stand a chance.  Two others — long shots, unscreened, to the glove side — looked pretty stoppable.

I’ll be honest, I have neither the time nor the inclination to write a blow-by-blow account of this debacle, so suffice to say: the better team won.  If you want to read the gory details, Bob Crawford’s account is available over at the Wolf Pack web site.

Playing without two of their top three scorers, the Hartford Wolf Pack managed to carry a 1-0 lead late into the third period against the Springfield Falcons, thanks in large part to the outstanding goaltending of Chad Johnson.  But a fluky bounce off the boards on a Springfield dump-in trapped Johnson behind the net and allowed the Falcons to knot the score at 14:28, setting up the Wolf Pack’s fourth trip to overtime in their last five games.

This time, their luck ran out and the Wolf Pack we unable to pick up the extra point, falling 2-1 when Springfield’s Chris Minard beat Johnson at 1:42 of the extra frame.

And things may have gotten even worse for the Pack, who lost top-scoring blueliner Bobby Sanguinetti to injury early in the third period.

The Falcons entered game tied with two other teams for the worst record in the AHL, but they always play their nearest geographic rivals hard, and Saturday night was no different.  The Wolf Pack managed to come out of the first period with a 1-0 lead, however, after Corey Locke set Dane Byers up for a deflection in as the Wolf Pack captain was cutting across the crease at 9:57 of the session.

After out-chancing their visitors 9-6 in the first period, the Falcons completely outplayed the Wolf Pack in the second, compiling a 13-5 edge in shots while holding the Pack without a single shot past the midpoint of the period.  Johnson kept the home side off the board, however, in what turned out to be a scoreless second period.

Early in the third period Sanguinetti left the game with an apparent leg injury after taking a hit from Geoff Paukovich.  The hit itself was clean, though it appeared to come a split-second late, but it caused Sanguinetti to fall backwards with his right leg trapped under him.  The sophomore pro could be seen writhing on the ice holding what appeared to be his right knee before the camera panned away to follow the aftermath of the hit.

That aftermath consisted of defenseman Jordan Nightingale chasing down Paukovich and earning an instigator penalty and game misconduct to go with coincidental fighting majors.  Fellow defenseman Nigel Williams then took a slashing penalty 33 seconds later to put the Wolf Pack down by two men.  Despite having only three defenseman left on the bench, the Pack managed to hold on to their one goal advantage and kill off both penalties.

Johnson continued his fantastic play in goal, and would finish with 11 more saves in the third.  He was helpless to prevent the tying tally at 14:28 of the third, however.  Former Pack forward Chad Wiseman rimmed the puck around the boards on a dump-in, and Johnson went behind the net to stop it.  But before it reached the rookie netminder the puck took a wild carom off the boards, deflecting off the side of the net directly to Charles Linglet, who scored into the wide open net.

The Falcons continued to pressure late in regulation, and when David Urquhart went off for five minutes with Viacheslav Trukhno following an uneventful scrap, the Pack were once again forced to play with a three-man defensive rotation — this time for almost the full seven minutes remaining in regulation since there were few whistles in the closing minutes.  Stalward defenseman Michael Sauer, who is once again leading the Pack defense corps with a plus-7, logged huge minutes, playing just about ever other shift.

Springfield continued to get the better chances in the first minute and a half of overtime, until Byers set up Locke for a point-blank chance from the slot.  Springfield goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur stoned the Wolf Pack’s leading scorer, sending play back the other way.  Once again it was Wiseman who carried the puck over the Pack blueline, continuing down the left side boards before getting rubbed out by defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen.  Inexplicably, fellow blueliner Williams chased the pair towards the boards, leaving Minard wide open.  Wiseman was able to throw the puck into the middle of the ice, where Minard picked it up and skated in on the Hartford net alone, deking Johnson and putting the puck through the goaltender’s pads to earn his club the extra point.

The Wolf Pack will face an even stiffer challenge on Sunday when they travel to Manchester to meet the division leading Monarchs for the third time in four games.  Judging by the looks of things — the Wolf Pack signed Charlotte Checkers defenseman Kevin Schaeffer to a professional try-out contract Sunday morning — the already-offensively challenged club will be doing so without three of their top four scorers.

Notes:

• Swiss forward Andres Ambuhl earned a penalty shot at 5:10 of the third period, but his backhand attempt was turned aside by Levasseur.
• Dale Weise missed his the game after suffering an apparent wrist injury in Friday’s match-up with Manchester.
• P.A. Parenteau and Corey Potter remained out with undisclosed injuries.

Scoring:
1. HFD Byers, (11) (Locke), 9:57
3. SPR Linglet, (11) (Wiseman), 14:28
OT. SPR Minard, (10) (Wiseman, Linglet), 1:42

Three Stars:
1. Chris Minard
2. Charles Linglet
3. Chad Johnson