Sheng Peng
San Jose Hockey Now has finally landed Yaroslav Askarov.
SJHN caught up with the young San Jose Sharks star goalie on Monday, to answer subscriber questions from last March.
Apologies to the subscribers! Thank you for your patience.
Askarov was in fine form, sharing funny stories about how he got into goaltending as a kid, his game prep routine, his favorite music, and the toughest San Jose Sharks player to face in the shootout.
Brannon Tucker: What excites you the most about being in San Jose and the future of the franchise? Do you feel at home?
Yaroslav Askarov: Great place to work, great place to be, great weather.
Yeah, I was told many times, it’s more about the people you’re around. If you have good people around you and people who help you, it’s going to become like a second hometown.
Alaskanice: If you weren’t a goalie, what position would you play?
YA: Equipment guy? Just like, look at me, I’m too skinny. I would probably say somewhere on the outside, like an equipment guy.
Alaskanice: Do you want to get into another goalie fight?
YA: I’m not looking forward to another fight. I keep my focus on making the saves and trying to give my team a way to win the game. I’m not keeping any focus on the fighting stuff, but you never know. Who knows?
AAnthony: Any Barracuda (or San Jose Sharks) teammates surprise or impress you last year. And who’s the trickiest in a shootout?
YA: Everybody, pretty much.
Mack [is the trickiest].
Fallooooooon: I noticed that you don’t do any tending of the crease ice before a period starts. You’re the only goalie I’ve ever seen just skate to the crease and leave it alone. Is there a particular reason?
YA: No reason for that. [Didn’t know it was unusual].
Rothgar: How did you become a right-handed catching goalie?
YA: When I started to play hockey [at seven], I was a righty also. I tried to be a lefty for two weeks, but it wasn’t a great time because it’s not my side—I’m not a lefty.
When my first coach gave me my pads and gloves, the glove was on the left side, and I couldn’t get anything because it was so hard for me.
I played [goal] for a couple months—maybe more than a couple of months—with just regular [playing] gloves. After that, I started using righty gloves. It’s so hard to get the right glove, especially in Russia. You couldn’t get them because they were so hard to find. That’s why I played in player gloves for a bit, but I waited for righty gloves because I’m a righty.
It just feels more comfortable. I used the player gloves because we didn’t have a right glove at the time. We had to order them from the US to Russia, and it took a couple months to deliver them.
Rothgar: Do you think it gives you any advantage?
YA: Not really. I think it was maybe harder. (laughs)
Pescadito: Have you tried the Mexican food in San Jose? What’s your favorite part of living in the Bay Area?
YA: I tried it a couple of times. It’s pretty good. Before San Jose, I wasn’t too good with spicy food, but in the last year, the quality of food is better here, and I was like, “Alright, that’s not that bad.”
Many great views here. You can go and see mountains, it’s pretty much everywhere. You can go to Santa Cruz, to the ocean, it’s only 40 minutes away. It’s pretty cool. It’s not so far away.
In my hometown, St. Petersburg, if you want to see the ocean, you have to drive more than 20 minutes. (laughs) It’s hard to say how long, but trust me, it’s pretty long.
Angela: Do you prefer the beach or the mountains in California?
YA: Ocean.
Isaac De La Rosa: Which other goalies did you look up to when you decided to be a goalie?
YA: My first coach. I was the first guy who did the backcheck and stayed between the pipes and stopped the puck in player gear. One day, he was like, “Would you like to try goalie pads and goalie gloves?” and I said “Yep.”
I was trying it out and nobody could shoot high. I was like “Oh nice, this is easier.” To be a goalie, it’s easier than being a player, and I was like “Alright, that’s my spot.”
After people started to shoot high, I realized I was in trouble. I was seven years old. (laughs)
Fin Coe: Have you learned anything especially new, surprising wisdom, technique, or habits from any of the goalies you’ve been in a tandem with?
YA: That’s a good question. It’s so hard to answer right away. I would say learn a little from everybody, because everyone has something good and something bad, too. Every goalie has good things to watch and every goalie has bad things to watch. I always try to get a little from everyone, and it’s so hard to tell right away which is which.
Michael K.: What is your game prep routine?
YA: Doing my visualization stuff, do some things for my eyes. It looks awful—other people laugh at me—but I think some of it actually helps me. It’s more for me mentally.
I do simple things, like moving your eyes side to side, left-right, left-right, or up-down, up-down. You try to work on depth perception with things far away and close up too.
It actually helps, but if you see it from the side watching, it looks awful, it looks funny.
Michael K.: What do you do in breaks between periods to stay focused?
YA: Same thing.
Michael K.: Do coaches engage with you in any way during games?
YA: Maybe about some details. Not always.
Jenna B: Last year, you wouldn’t spill on the World Juniors super glue incident because you told it to another podcast and that needed to release first. Can we get the story now?
YA: My buddy, we did a video together, but he didn’t upload it. It’s actually a good thing, so I would like to maybe talk about it on my channel. It’s gonna be my secret so far. Maybe one day on my channel.
Jenna B: Also, how did you and your wife meet?
YA: It wasn’t very romantic—we’re living in 2025. (laughs) It happened on Instagram.
Stephanie K: How do you as a younger goalie balance your development versus the expectations that you face?
YA: Try not to think about it, and don’t overthink it. It gets better every year, because you get older and more experienced. It feels like every year is easier to handle.
Lincoln Race: Hey Yaroslav, I wanted to know exactly how you like your name pronounced.
Todd S.: What mental exercises do you practice to prepare yourself for life as an NHL goalie?
YA: Just a couple of breathing exercises. It’s kind of like a little meditation, but I’m not a super fanatic for stuff like that.
I do my visualization stuff like a crazy guy—pretty much every day.
But meditation and stuff, not every day. I do it sometimes, because sometimes you need it. We’re all humans, all people. Some days, you don’t feel great, and that’s okay, you just have to do some extra stuff. If you don’t feel great some days, you have to do something to feel great.
Nobody will care if you’re not feeling great because you need to do well.
One more thing about it—whenever the work day finishes, I would say around 1 or 2pm on a practice day, stop thinking about hockey. Try to do something else, refresh your brain and stay away from that.
The next day, you come into the locker room, and it’s a new day. You can’t think about hockey all day, we have a pretty long season and you have to try to find time to refresh your brain.
David: When facing an opponent, how do you prepare for the game? Do you watch video of certain players? Do you look for overall team styles?
YA: We have video trainers and iPads and stuff with all this information about the other players. You sit in the locker room and watch that. Sometimes, the goalie coach will say a few things as well.
genadinik: Who do you hang out with on the San Jose Sharks or Barracuda?
YA: It’s so hard for me to find a “best friend” in my life. I’m pretty chill, so it feels like I’m okay with everybody. I’m not going to pick a favorite, I like everybody.
genadinik: What skills in D-men complement your game the most?
YA: [When] they like to have a conversation and get feedback. Some guys like one thing, other guys like another, so you have to have a conversation about it. If you have that, you’re going to be flowing—he’s going to trust you, you’re going to trust him. Especially for me, I can’t communicate—my English is still bad, but I’m trying.
Mikey Yosh: What are some of the things that have surprised you most about American culture since you’ve come over?
YA: Probably food. It’s a little bit different. It’s not culture, but it’s still probably the food.
For the people who are going to be reading or listening, it’s so hard to understand because you have to try different food. If you lived here the whole time, it’s going to be different for you to taste food from somewhere else.
Skatium: What are you working on, how would you like to see your game continue to develop?
YA: Many, many things. It’s not just one thing, it’s actually many, many things. To be more physical, working on my stance, my conditioning, pretty much everything. My legs should be stronger so I have more stamina.
David Gotlieb: Would you rather win the Vezina or get a goal in the NHL?
YA: I would say Vezina. I can’t shoot high, I’m a playmaker. (laughs) [Alex Nedeljkovic can] be the goalscorer, I’ll be the playmaker.
Rob S: What are the differences between St. Petersburg and San Jose?
YA: It’s totally different. St. P. is bigger, it has different weather. St. P. is like San Jose at wintertime—rainy, cloudy. San Jose is still a good city, but with different weather. Here, it’s more quiet. St. P. is more like New York than San Jose.
_sharkzilla_: What genre of music is your favorite? Have you been to a concert in the U.S.?
YA: Rap. I went to one country music concert and to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In Russia, the group is super famous too, and I thought that was fire. That was pretty good.
[For rap] Kendrick. It’s crazy, but Drake [too]—they had beef. I’m not going to pick anyone. I like both. 21 [Savage] is good for me too. I also like the “I’m from Texas” guy, BigXthaPlug.
Tgraveline: Are there any moments that made you realize that goaltending is your forever position?
YA: Nobody told me before that people would be shooting high [on me]. (laughs) Somebody could have told me that, and I would probably pick being a player.
timorous me: What are your favorite sports other than hockey, and favorite teams and athletes from those sports?
YA: I like the UFC. I can’t be a good fighter, but I like to watch it.
I like the NBA and Giannis too. He’s pretty good. I was in Milwaukee for a few years, and he was a superstar there.
I like Khabib too. I actually have [Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov] gloves. One fan gave them to me for my stick—imagine one stick for two gloves and a signature. I probably have to give him a couple more sticks. It’s not even equal.
James R.: Any interest in having a custom mask job or gear that tells more of a story about you?
YA: I’m pretty chill with that. I always like to do half and half.
Joe Sarmiento: Do you have a Russian food spot in the Bay Area that you frequent?
YA: We have a Georgian restaurant in between San Jose and San Francisco—something like 40 minutes away from here. I’ve been twice, but I’m just so bad with the names I can never remember them—like I said, bad memory. Shakir [Mukhamadullin] knows, and we have a bunch of brand-new Russian guys here who probably don’t know it yet, so I gotta take them.
Joe Sarmiento: Do you predominantly cook native food at home when you eat it?
YA: I’m bad, that’s why I got married. (laughs)
Gary To: Was there a coach or teammate that influenced you to show so much joy and personality in your game?
YA: I had experience the other way around growing up—they told me not to do it. Too crazy, stop doing it. (laughs)
We’re always playing for fans. It’s how I can say “thank you” for that. Cheering for us, giving us energy, and that’s us trying to give it back to them.
Special thanks to Maddie Dutra for her help transcribing.