Sergei Kostitsyn speaks!

This afternoon over at The Hockey News, fantasy hockey guru Darryl Dobbs wrote about how the Nashville Predators are producing an unlikely amount of buzz among the playoff pool crowd. With unlikely offensive contributors like Mike Fisher leading the way (he's currently second among all playoff scorers), Dobbs labels the Nashville as "Bizarro world":

It's ironic that the Predators are scoring at such a rate. This is a team built to play as one - no superstars, just 18 players who can each contribute. Oh, and they have Pekka Rinne between the pipes. It was thought that if Nashville was to end the never-getting-to-the-second-round curse they would get there on Rinne's shoulders, but the netminder has been only average. He has faced 71 shots and has given up eight goals for an .887 save percentage. Normally a stat like that would mean the Preds were trailing a series 3-0.    

As if this wasn't enough, the team's leading goal scorer from the regular season has yet to light the lamp in this series, and he might be the biggest longshot hockey hero of all this year. Sergei Kostitsyn was a castoff from the Montreal Canadiens, acquired by David Poile for two players who were leaving anyway (Dan Ellis and Dustin Boyd), and signed to a team-low $550,000 salary for this year. 

Kostitsyn defied that reputation by getting right to work, however, earning the trust of the coaching staff over the course of the season, and he now plays a key role on what has become the Preds' top scoring line with Fisher and Patric Hornqvist. Along the way, however, we haven't really heard much from the man himself... until now.

Sergei Kostitsyn

#74 / Left Wing / Nashville Predators

Height: 6-0

Weight: 210

Born: Mar 20, 1987

Yesterday, SK74 gave his first interview segment on Nashville sports radio, so be sure to listen in:

Sergei Kostitsyn on Thom Abraham Show 20110418 (MP3)