Former Leafs Ozhiganov attacks his former teammates!

We all know that Igor Ozhiganov’s short time as a professional hockey player in North America didn’t go as planned.

The Russian defenseman came in to bolster the Toronto Maple Leafs’ back end, but it all went wrong. After nine steady seasons in the KHL, he 26-year-old was signed by the Leafs to a one-year deal in May 2018, but he didn’t have a great relationship with Mike Babcock and the rest of the Maple Leafs’ coaching staff.

Then, Toronto acquired Jake Muzzin and Ozhiganov was sent to the press box most times and saw very little ice time when he did play. He averaged less than 13 minutes of ice time over his final 11 regular season games. 

Ozhiganov therefore decided to return back home for the 2019-20 season, inking a two-year deal with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL back in May.

So there, it went all wrong in Toronto. But what is also wrong is what Ozhiganov ended up telling Dima Erykalov about his former Leafs teammates and the relationship they have with the coaching staff. 

“It’s so different overseas,” he told Erykalov, who then had the quotation translated by Igor Eronko of Sport-Express. “When you get to a locker room it seems all the players are ass-lickers that just wait for a coach to come to lick his ass. They always run to him, laugh of his jokes, make up to him. In Russia, nobody’d talk to such a player.”

While we assume he meant ass-kissing and not licking - oh Gosh we hope so - these are some pretty harsh accusations on his former teammates, many still on the Leafs’ roster for the upcoming season. 

However, Ozhiganov won’t be returning and so he didn’t hold his tongue there. :P