СSKA forward Maxim Sorkin is the hero of the first issue of our "Smena 3.0" column on KHL.ru: by the age of 22, he has not only joined the main roster, played in over 150 games, but also won the Gagarin Cup with the team.
According to the player's mother Yulia Sorkina, at first everything was quite difficult, and the first trips to the sports school turned out to be unwillingness of her son.
– We brought him in at the age of four, we decided to try it in Kosino. They were already recruiting there, they were recruiting kids as young as three years old. He got under my skirt, and we realized he didn't (laughs). A year later we brought him to Vympel, and then, I guess, also with a little desire - he was a diffident child. They put him on skates, before that he wasn't standing at all. Everything was going so well for him, it worked out, his coach praised him. And he liked it, he rushed to these trainings with pleasure. To tell the truth, we had to get up early as if we were going to kindergarten. I was almost round the clock in hockey. School took up some time, and the rest was purely hockey life. There were clinics, and something else. My whole life is hockey, no diggity.
His parents are Maxim's main support and encouragement: he says that his mom and dad supported him when he wasn't doing well in hockey and had thoughts of ending his career.
- My dad, I think, will go gray soon because of hockey, he's very worried and supports me a lot. Prompts, tries to teach something. There was a moment in my career that I thought to finish, but still decided to continue. At that time, not everything worked out, I continued, and thank God that everything worked out – I found the strength, the support of my parents gave me a lot.
Of course, I don't remember how I jumped under the skirt. In my memory, I was five years old, they put us all at the side, gave us chairs to hold on, and the coach drove us all one by one. I was on my own, most likely. If it didn't work out, it meant you had to try again, or it meant it was supposed to be that way.
Sorkin knows that any achievements and victories come only through a lot of work, says mom.
– When he is still a small child, he needs to be convinced of something, yes, sometimes forced and pushed. Not everything falls from the sky at once – cups, medals. We have to work very hard, and Maxim knows this. He has never been given anything for nothing, he has only worked hard to achieve everything, and this is a huge effort. He takes everything very personally. I talked, calmed down – it always helped, it worked. He raised his head, and we walked on. Emotionally it's hard to worry about, cheer for him. God forbid, some injuries, it's also very difficult. But if it is some kind of victories and achievements... I don't know what it can be compared to. It's made by your hands, it's happiness.
I went to all the cities at the children's school, and even visited Europe. It was more often at the training camp. I've been with him a lot of places. Being in Junior Hockey League I also tried to go to St. Petersburg, for example. Now, in Supreme Hockey League, not anymore. He's growing up, he's an adult now, so why would his mother be dragging him around? That seems silly to me. When I see him off from home, I don't wish him luck, but success. Dad says some of his own stuff on the phone before the game, too.
Vympel coach Boris Lapenkov, who worked with Sorkin, considers his main positive quality to be his ability to listen and take information into consideration.
- I noticed that the guy absorbs all of this very well, and I put him first during the stretches so that I would show and he would repeat all of this. So slowly Maxim began to progress. I saw the potential in him, he played in my team as a center forward and showed good results. I picked up the guys playing for him, they made up a good line, which beat other teams with a double-digit score. Even if you look - there's a playoff game going on, the coach says something, and he puts his head down and listens intently. It is a very good quality to absorb everything that is said. The coach won't teach you anything bad, he's a professional. And the people, who hang on the coach's lips, show result.
At the Moscow Championship, Sorkin showed a crazy result – 164 (81+83) points in 28 matches.
- That was before he joined CSKA, we also had him in the older age group - he could score or give two assists there as well. It was obvious that he will show result. Max was my captain, and I think we all chose him together. My opinion was for him, and the guys chose him because he's a leader. I don't remember him missing a stretch, it just didn't happen. Always silent, you give him a task, he does it. He is quiet in life. And when he came to CSKA, I told him: "Max, in life you are a human being, but on the field you have to be a bit cheeky."
Maxim believes that the value of a team is much higher than the value of individual players in hockey. The main victory in his life now is the Gagarin Cup of the 2021/2022 season.
- The team - it's not everyone for himself, it's a single fist, a mechanism. I think you can hardly win anything individually. I have matured, gained championship experience, and now I know what it is. When we won the Cup, I didn't believe it right away... the game turned out well for us, we scored our goals in the first period, in the second. When we scored an empty net, there were thoughts that everything was already over. But everyone was telling each other - let's play to the end, there were three or four minutes left. The sirens sound, it seems that everyone is jumping, cheering, hugging. 10 minutes pass, you are rewarded, and you don't understand what happened. Some kind of devastation is coming. But then, a day later, you realize that you have done a great job together with the team, you have become a champion. I'm not used to it yet, but I'm very pleased that people know about me, I try to show everyone what I can do. A lot can be achieved if you love hockey and give yourself to it.
Dossier
Maxim Dmitrievich Sorkin
Born on April 19, 2000 in Moscow
Career: "Red Army" (Junior Hockey League) – 2017-2019, "Zvezda" (Supreme Hockey League) – 2019-2022, CSKA (Kontinental Hockey League) – 2019- present.
Achievements: Gagarin Cup winner (2022), World Youth Championship silver medalist (2020).
