• In his first season in the Ontario Hockey League, he led the Knights with 30 goals (30-38--68), 11 on the powerplay, and a plus-12 rating in 2010-11.

• Namestnikov represented Russia at the 2010 Under-18 World Championships in Belarus, tying for the team lead with five goals (5-2--7) in seven games – Russia finished fourth. He also represented his country at the World Under-17 Challenge tallying eight goals (8-2-10) in five games.

• His father, Evgeny Namestnikov was drafted 117th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 1991 and played 43 NHL games with the Canucks, New York Islanders and Nashville Predators from 1993 to 2000 before returning to play in Russia. His mother was an elite figure skater in Russia.

• Namestnikov’s uncle, is former NHLer and Stanley Cup Champion Vyacheslav ‘Slava’ Kozlov -- “He always took me to the rink and showed me the locker room, got to meet all the guys. So it was really great growing up with him. (My favorite was) probably Steve Yzerman. He was the captain of the Red Wings at that time.”

• From Voskresensk, Russia, a city an hour-and-a-half north of Moscow, he moved to the U.S. for the first time when he was eight-months old. He started skating when he was four and his first hockey team was the Troy Sting.

FAVORITES

NHL team: Detroit Red Wings
NHL player: Pavel Datsyuk
Shootout move: “Forehand, backhand, forehand, shot”
Goal celebration: “Hands in the air”
Video game: NHL 2011
Movie: The Hangover
TV show: Jersey Shore
Cartoon: Scooby-Doo
Website: Facebook.com
Pump-up song: “I’m Not Afraid” by Eminem
Restaurant: Moxies
Sport (other than hockey): Ping-Pong and Tennis
Breakfast food: Cereal and bagels
Superhero: Superman