Colorado Avalanche: Nikita Zadorov Entertains on Instagram Live

Personable Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov entertained fans when he talked with Kyle Keefe on Instagram Live.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov joined Altitude TV reporter Kyle Keefe for happy hour on Instagram Live, and he was not disappointing.

Zadorov is known for having an out-sized personality. He’s always the first one players chirp, and he’s quick to chirp back. Well, he put those talents on display this evening as he answered both Keefe’s and fans’ questions.

Keefe was enjoying a couple cold brews while he questioned Zadorov. He asked if Nikita was doing any live happy hours with people back in Russia. Zadorov quipped, “I don’t need company to drink.”

Now, one thing Zadorov is known for is having his own sense of style. His suits, especially his shoes, are very distinctive. He might make both the best and worst dressed lists of some players. He acknowledged that fact good-naturedly:

"“Sometimes I’m too flashy for some people.”"

You can definitely tell he’s European. In fact, his approach to fashion is pretty simple, “Suit has to be tight on you.”

Now, like I said, he’s not afraid to dish out a little chirp. He actually named Cale Makar as the worst dresser on the team! He did add a caveat: But he’s young. It’s his first year in the league.”

As young as Zadorov is — he’s only 25 — he doesn’t make a habit of going out to dance clubs. He’s a family man, being married and having a child. However, he used to go to clubs when he was younger and back East. He wasn’t impressed. He said you didn’t want to wear nice nice shoes because, “People spit their cranberry and vodka on your shoes.” That sounds very specific, but he does wear shoes like this:

He says the clubs in Russia are much classier. They’re dinner clubs with a dance floor. A friend and I actually stumbled into such a club here in Denver run by the Russian mafia.

Speaking of Russian, though not mafia, Zadorov says he and the other Russian speakers on the team don’t speak Russian in the dressing room. He says it’s disrespectful to the others in the room, and he only speaks Russian with them if there’s only Russians around.

I wonder if Valeri Nichushkin and Vladislav Kamenev follow that rule. Both have said they don’t speak good English.

Anyway, back to the clubs topic, it’s just as well that Zadorov doesn’t patronize the local clubs — apparently he’s not much of a dancer. When asked who was the worst dancer on the team, he said the other players would say him. Right on cue, Nathan MacKinnon showed up in the comments and called him the worst dancer.

Zadorov admitted wryly, “He says I have no rhythm.” He also named MacKinnon as the best dancer “with rap music.”

Finally, Kyle Keefe did try to get Zadorov’s opinion on the NHL’s tentative plan to hold hockey games at neutral sites with no fans. Nikita was appalled at the idea. “I want to play in Pepsi Can!”

Well, there you have it. We want to see Nikita Zadorov and all the Colorado Avalanche players play in the Pepsi Can. I do hope we can have some Avs hockey again in the next couple months.