Anytime the New York Islanders social media team interviews Ilya Sorokin, teammate Alexander Romanov isn’t far behind.
The two have become extremely close since the Islanders acquired Romanov from the Montreal Canadiens at the 2022 NHL Draft.
Sorokin, who came aboard in 2020 while the Islanders were battling it out in the Canadian bubble, surely helped Romanov, a fellow Russian, get acclimated to Long Island.
But if you saw the two interact, you would think they have been best friends since Kindergarten.
That’s just the bond they had.
Sunday was National Friendship Day, and it was easy for the Islanders to choose which two players to showcase:
It’s funny as I think back to the first time we interacted with Romanov.
We were actually talking with Sorokin at training camp, but he didn’t understand the question, as despite working really hard on his English, there’s sometimes confusion.
As we tried to help Sorokin understand, Romanov—a stall away—said,” What’s the question? I’ll be his translator.”
The two laughed, and so did we.
You could tell early on that Romanov was going to be a fun guy to cover.
You could also tell that he was going to be a standup teammate.
Anytime we asked Romanov questions about Sorokin, who struggled for most of the 2023-24 season, it was always positive, adamant support for his goaltender.
And Romanov’s outgoing personality has undoubtedly helped Sorokin, a quiet guy (at least with us), come out of his shell a bit.
We are over a month away from training camp and the beginning of year three for the Romanov-Sorokin shenanigans, so buckle up.
TOP STORIES
Related: Joe McMahon & His Islanders Brotherhood For Good
Related: Islanders Defenseman Alexander Romanov To Play In Ovi Cup Legends Game