WINDSOR, Canada – It didn’t take long for Mikhail Sergachyov to experience the rabid nature of Montreal Canadiens fans. The defenceman was dining at a McDonald’s in Montreal last summer when a fan snapped a picture of the Habs prospect eating.

“People are loving the game [in Montreal],” Sergachyov said. “They love the game as much as hockey players do. That’s just unreal. Montreal is a great city.”

The 18-year-old appeared in four regular season games with the Canadiens before he was returned to his junior club at the end of October – a move the Russian wasn’t expecting.

“It was kind of frustrating when they sent me back,” Sergachyov said. “I wanted to stay obviously. But I got through it with my coaches and teammates help and my family too.”

Drafted ninth overall by Montreal at the 2016 NHL Draft, Sergachyov signed his entry-level contract on 1st July. He admittedly wasn’t expecting to sign as quick as he did since he was at the team’s development camp.

However, when main camp rolled around, Sergachyov was confident he could make the big club.

“I was expecting it because I had a good first season, I think, in North America,” he said. “I had a good summer and I thought I’d make it. When I made it, for those four games, I felt like I could go further, but they felt I had to go to junior again.”

“[The Canadiens] just told me I’ve got to gain more experience and play faster, play quicker and play a lot so that’s what I did.”

While in Montreal, Sergachyov had the opportunity to pick the brain of NHL veterans such as Jeff Petry, Shea Weber and Andrei Markov.

“I was talking with everyone, but Markov and Weber because they’re amazing,” he said. “I played with Petry, [Mark] Barberio and even with [Nathan] Beaulieu - those defencemen are NHL defencemen so I was just looking at them, watching their game, how they play.

“J.J. [Daigneault] was showing me clips all the time of Petry, Marky, Webby so I was just trying to learn.”

Once back in Windsor, where Sergachyov was named the OHL’s top defenceman last season, Spitfires coach Rocky Thompson helped the blue liner refocus on what he needed to work on.

“He was disappointed, but he embraced the challenge and he’s a great student,” Thompson said. “We had to strengthen the areas of his game so that he could be a professional for the Montreal Canadiens one day.”

In his second season with the Spitfires, Sergachyov scored 10 goals and 43 points in 50 regular season games.

With the Montreal experience in his back pocket, it also gave him an opportunity to work on areas of his game.

“I felt I got better offensively and defensively,” he said. “I improved 5-on-5. My power plays didn’t go so well, our power play didn’t go well, but I feel like this season was better.”

Thompson believes Sergachyov became a better all-round defenceman during his second OHL season.

“His play without the puck, his battle in the corner, his gap control is much better and his compete in front of our net,” Thompson said. “Last year, he would rest and look to go on offence, which wasn’t uncharacteristic for an offensive player, but we wanted to strengthen those areas of his game when he didn’t have the puck.

“In order to be a No.1 defencemen in the NHL, you’ve got to be good at everything.”

In December, Sergachyov had his latest opportunity to represent Russia internationally. The Nizhnekamsk native scored one goal in seven games as the Russians won a bronze medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Representing Russia is nothing new for Sergachyov, who as worn his national colours at two U18 World Championships. The experience of playing in short international tournaments is one the 6-foot-3, 212-pounder has drawn upon at the Memorial Cup.

“Obviously it’s a huge experience for me,” he said. “We played only the best teams in the world, best junior teams in the world, and that prepared me for this tournament for sure.”

In January, fellow Spits’ blue liner Logan Stanley was sidelined by a knee injury, which forced him to miss the final 26 regular-season games and the first round of the OHL playoffs.

Without one of the team’s top defencemen in the lineup, it forced Sergachyov to step up, take on more responsibility and play big minutes.

“I felt like I got better because I was kind of more responsible in the d-zone and playing better in the d-zone,” Sergachyov said.

With his second OHL season nearing an end, Sergachyov is hoping his game has improved enough that he sticks with the NHL club next season. But first he has his last game to play. The Spitfires reached tomorrow’s final game of the Memorial Cup where they will play the Erie Otters on home ice for Canadian major junior supremacy.

DHIREN MAHIBAN