"Boring game": Flames' Kuzmenko wasn't a football fan before Super Bowl
It sounds like Calgary Flames forward Andrei Kuzmenko wasn’t a football fan, but watching an exciting Super Bowl might have changed his mind.
The always-entertaining Russian forward met with Calgary reporters after practice this morning and was asked if he had watched the big game with his teammates.
“Yes, a very interesting game,” Kuzmenko said with his signature smile. “I watched, it was my first time… football as a whole is very interesting. Overtime, four periods is so nice, I like it.
“Before [the Super Bowl], I saw one game, but so boring game, but yesterday wow, I like, so great, great sport.”
"Football is very interesting."
Andrei Kuzmenko talks about watching his first #SuperBowl. 😂 pic.twitter.com/nehUWXKVe8
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 12, 2024
You can’t blame the 28-year-old for not being a fan of the gridiron. American football is almost non-existent outside of North America. While Russia does indeed have teams that play the sport, it is nowhere near as popular as hockey or European football.
Yesterday’s Super Bowl was the perfect game for Kuzmenko to get acquainted with the sport. It was a barn-burner between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers that ended dramatically in OT. Chief’s QB Patrick Mahomes won it off a clutch TD pass in the late stages of the first overtime.
Outside of his interest in other sports, Kuzmenko’s time in Calgary is off to a brilliant start since being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks a few weeks ago. In three games in a Flames uniform, Kuzmenko has two goals and is playing on the team’s top line.