The Russian town of Togliatti has delivered some superb hockey talents to the NHL, not the least of whom is Pittsburgh's chief sniper, Alexei Kovalev. Ilia, who turned heads in the Ducks' 2001 training camp and later earned a spot on the 2002 AHL All-Star squad, could be the next. Among his ambitions in '01-02 was to master English. His AHL coach at Cincinnati, Mike Babcock, chuckled and said Bryzgalov was coming along fine. "You think his English isn't [that] good until we give up a shorthanded goal and you hear him yelling at the bench."