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RaiN · 06-15-2015, 11:44 AM

<div align="center">I’ve decided to start a series called Everybody’s Russian, which will feature players from the Motherland. Each installment will highlight an individual’s career and where they are now in the SHL. I’m fairly open minded and always intrigued to hear new ideas, so I will gladly accept any form of criticism and suggestions in order to improve. So lets get to it!

My first installment is featuring none other than Team Russia’s Captain – Chernika Banananov.

Russia

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Need To Know

I’ve got to be honest with you, I hate typing out her name. I always end up adding too many “n’s” or “a’s”. So if there are any spelling errors, I do apologize.
Banananov is a 5’2”, 122 pound Russian sniper hailing from one of the greatest cities in the Motherland – Moscow. Banananov may come across as a small, innocent and down to earth kind of gal (which is she is off the ice), but this girl means business on the ice. She may be small in size, but she is a beast offensively. She can certainly handle her own in this league as she is projected to be one of the best females to have ever played in the SHL.

Player History

Chernika Banananov entered the SMJHL scene in S21 where the St. Louis Scarecrows drafted her with the 25th overall selection. In her rookie season, Banananov only put up 16 points in 40 games. However in the S21 playoffs, Banananov gave it her all by nearly averaging a point per game as she contributed 9 points in 10 games. With great success to end her rookie campaign, she sort of pulled an Eric Lindros when she announced that she only wanted to play for Minnesota because that’s where her boyfriend Alonzo Garbanzo played. Though this was disappointing for many teams, the GMs of the SHL respected her wishes and Minnesota selected the Russian sniper with their 7th overall pick in the SHL S22 draft. Banananov showed immediately at the Cheifs training camp that she can play in the bigs and there was no need for her to be playing in the SMJHL for more than one season. She made her debut with Minnesota in the S22 season. Recently, Banananov was chosen by the Russian players to represent them as team Captain. Each player had an opportunity to vote for captaincy, and with Chernika’s stellar play at the IIHF tournament, she was a clear candidate to be one of Russia’s leaders.

Player Build

Here is Banananov’s pre-season and IHF player build.

Strengths: Scoring, Skating, Puck Handling
Weakness: Checking

CK = Checking: 70
FG = Fighting: 25
DI = Discipline: 62
SK = Skating: 92 (3/8)
ST = Strength: 80 (3/5)
EN = Endurance: 90 (2/8)
DU = Durability: 50
PH = Puck Handling: 96(2/8)
FO = Face Offs: 50
PA = Passing: 95
SC = Scoring: 99
DF = Defense: 90
PS = Penalty Shot: 50

As we dissect her game and skills piece by piece, it’s clear to see Banananov is a monster in the making. Most notably, she has her scoring maxed at 99 and tremendous puck handling skills at 96. She is also quick on her feet and can easily create space for herself with her 92 skating. It even looks like she has spent some time practicing her body checking as she currently has a 70 but keep in mind her checking ability is her weakness. On a defensive side of the game, she’s currently sitting with 90. Who said Russian’s don’t play defense? But overall, Russia’s captain is a pure goal scorer with the capabilities of playing a 200-foot hockey game.

Player Build – What Needs Improvement

I really like Banananov’s build personally, you can tell she has received a lot of advice for her build because it’s looking like she’ll put up great numbers for many seasons to come. I’d say her one area of weakness would be her Strength, but for a petite woman like herself, she’s feisty and not afraid to battle in the corners. She has proven she has the ability to get the job done on most nights and you can’t help but think that Chernika is always looking for those low hip checks to catch some of the larger players off guard.

Updated Player Build

It looks like Banananov’s player has been updated as of June 13th and her build that I displayed is her updated build.

SHL Statistics

Last season with the Minnesota Chiefs, the sniper managed to produce 15 goals and 13 assist in 52 games played. She was very disciplined all season only totaling 6 penalty minutes. Her downfall last season was her +/- as she was the team’s worse with a -18. However if we back track to her rookie season in Minny, Banananov may have been a +11, but she only put up 18 points – 12 of which were goals. To me this shows that perhaps she jumped from the 3rd line to the 2nd line too quickly. That may not be the case, but that is what the numbers are telling me.

IHF Statistics

In two IHF Tournaments so far, Captain Banananov has registered a total of 18 points in 20 Round Robin games played. 11 points of her 18 came from the recent IHF Tournament where she was putting on a clinic for Team Russia. She finished 4th in team scoring and was one of the most productive Russian forwards at this years tournament. Look for her lethal scoring ability to continue in the future.

<div align="center">Chernika Banananov Highlights

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