By Matthew Blittner
Special Contributor to MSGNetworks.com
This is the story of how Rangers’ rookie goaltender, Alexandar Georgiev journeyed from Bulgaria all the way to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.
Alex was born in Ruse, Bulgaria on Feb. 10, 1996. But he didn’t stay there long.
Around his first birthday, his parents uprooted their family and moved to Russia, where Alex would spend his formative years.
At age five, Georgiev’s parents sent him to hockey school, in hopes that he would one day turn pro.
“My parents brought me into hockey,” said Alex. “They wanted me to be healthy and they wanted me to become a professional.”
When he first enrolled at the hockey school, Georgiev wasn’t a goalie. “The coaches didn’t give us actual positions until we turned six or seven,” Alex told me.
When the coaches finally gave out positions, Georgiev was informed he would be the man responsible for stopping the pucks from entering the net.
“One day, the head coach told me I was going to play goalie,” Alex recalled. “The rest is history.”
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Eventually, Georgiev went onto play for the Penguins; a Moscow-based team.
After a short time, he moved onto Khimik Voskresensk and then, finally, Finland.
Alex started the 2014-15 season with TPS Turku in the SM-Liiga. For those who don’t follow Finnish hockey, let me explain.
SM-Liiga is the top professional league in Finland and is also known as the Finnish Elite League.
TPS — or Turun Palloseura — is one of the most storied franchises in the league. Founded in 1922, TPS is tied for the league-lead with 10 SM-Liiga titles.
For Georgiev, this was quite the opportunity as he was a teenage goalie playing with the best talent Finland could offer.
After two superb seasons, Alex turned his attention to playing in the United States. But it wasn’t that simple.
Even with all the promise he displayed in Finland, Georgie went undrafted during the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
But, he showed enough to be invited to the Rangers’ developmental camp.
“The Rangers’ organization really showed they wanted me,” said Alex. “They’re a terrific organization and that made it an easy choice to sign with them.”
“He’s one of the hardest working players I’ve coached,” said Rangers’ goaltending coach, Benoit Allaire.
Working with “The Goalie Whisperer,” Georgiev impressed the team so much that on July 18, 2017, they signed him to a three-year entry-level contract.
After showing what he was capable of during Development Camp, Alex was sent to the minors for some additional seasoning.
“In Hartford, I just tried to improve every day,” said Georgiev. “I got a lot of playing time. Over in Europe, the guys have more space on the ice; it’s a different mentality. But I just tried to keep the same fundamentals that had allowed me to get this far.”
And that hard work didn’t go unnoticed.
Wolf Pack teammate — and now Rangers’ teammate — John Gilmour recalled watching Alex work extremely hard throughout his time in the AHL.
[Read: Getting to Know John Gilmour]
“Alex has a tremendous work ethic,” said Gilmour. “He’s really on top of things. And he’s been like that since the first time I met him.”
“In the minors, at first we thought that maybe there would be a language barrier on the ice,” continued Gilmour. “But he was really receptive to everything and he made communication on the ice easy. He doesn’t talk much back there, but he’s got that presence about him.”
On Feb. 22, 2018, Georgiev made his NHL debut, losing to the Canadiens in Montreal, 3-1. But he did make 38 saves and just like in Hartford, Alex had Gilmour and Neal Pionk playing defense in front of him.
Meanwhile, the “Baby Blueshirts’” success caught the attention of one of the team’s veterans.
“Alex is very competitive,” Marc Staal told me. “He’s very focused and he reads the game well. He’s got a great sense for the game.”
Added head coach Alain Vigneault, “there’s a lot of good things about Alex. His compete level and focus are off the charts. He has very good rebound control and tracks the puck great.”
That’s some high praise for the 22-year-old netminder. And each time out he continues to impress those around him.
With an eye towards next season, the Rangers have been giving Georgiev a number of starts so they can evaluate him further. He’s excelled, making at least 30 saves in all but one of his starts.
Who knows, when the inevitable day comes that Henrik Lundqvist decides to hang up his skates, Alex could be the next King of Broadway. Or perhaps he’ll prefer the moniker, “Alex The Great.”
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