• Kabanov missed the first month of the QMJHL season while the Moncton Wildcats, who drafted him last summer in the CHL Import Draft, negotiated his release with his Russian team. In his first 11 games with Moncton, he posted 14 points (5-9--14) before a broken wrist sidelined him for three months.

• He left the Wildcats during the playoffs to return to Russia to play in the 2010 Under-18 World Championships. At the 2009 World Under-18 Championships, Kabanov was third on the Russian team with 11 points (4-7--11) in seven games.

• At the World Under-17 Championships in London, Ontario -- a tournament that featured current NHL’ers Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane and Matt Duchene -- Kabanov finished third in scoring.

• When he was just four years old, his mother took him out to buy postage stamps. As he waited for her, he reached up to the nearby telephone pole and pulled down an advertisement for hockey lessons. He has been playing ever since.

• His long time hockey idol was Valeri Kharlamov, the 1972 Summit Series great – as a tribute to Kharlamov, Kabanov wears No. 17 and has XVII tattooed on his left wrist.

FAVORITES

NHL Player: Alexander Semin
Goal celebration: “Playing the guitar”
Movie: Lucky Number Slevin
TV Show: Comedy Club
Actor: Josh Hartnett
Breakfast food: Omelette, spaghetti