In today’s edition of our continuing Not A Word About Hockey series we’re going to sit down with yet another goaltender. This time it’s Altay Ust-Kamenogorsk and U20 Team Kazakhstan netminder Vladislav Nurek.

Spare time

- My wife decides on my diet. It’s important to me that the food was tasty. The cuisine doesn’t matter. I don’t have any preferences in that regard. One of my favorite meals is medium rare steak.
- I have a pet. It’s a cat. I saw it in the hall of my apartment building and just couldn’t leave her there, so I took her home.
- I like to spend weekends with my family, go to the movies, take walks around the city or just dine with my parents, wife and our baby.
- I dream of visiting the United Arab Emirates. I was told by many how beautiful it’s over there and how great the nature is. My wife, brother and family went there and were impressed. I would also like to visit France and Paris. I want to see the Eifel Tower and Disneyland. Just as many other hockey players, I wanted to visit Canada for a long time and the dream came true at the 2019 World Juniors. The street design over there is interesting. It’s clean and the people are nice. I loved it.
- I’m a music fiend and listen to all kinds of music. The latest track I’ve added to my playlist was Luna Ne Znayet Puti by Taipan and Agunda.

Character

- I’m a kind and balanced person. I’m calm and don’t have the temper. I can control myself.
- I have never felt like not going to the game. Usually I wake up, get in the right mindset and get into my pre-game routine.
- A real man must be a provider, respect people around him, make important decisions, be strong and manly.
- From my parents I inherited kindness and understanding. The most important thing is that they brought me up a good person. Every child is foremost the reflection of his parents.
- I’m not superstitious. To me it’s just a mind trick and it just gets in the way. So I just don’t pay attention to it.
- I’m a gambler on the ice. I like to make bets with my friends but money’s never involved (laughs).

Style

- Conor McGregor is a my role model when it comes to men’s attire. I like how he dresses and how he looks. He does a good show for the people.
- I pay attention to clothing brands. I wear quality stuff. There’s a lot of white in my wardrobe – hoodies, shirts, t-shirts. I like light colors. That would explain my hockey jersey (laughs). I opt for athletic wear in everyday life. I wear classics only on special occasions.
- One Million is my favorite perfume. I like its scent.
- Frankly, I would really like to grow a beard. But I can’t due to my age.

Relationship

- My wife’s name is Galina. She fell in love with hockey after we had met. She wasn’t into it before but now she comes to my games. Right now she’s on maternity leave, raising our daughter.

- My wife handles everything. Not only she takes care of the house, myself and the baby but also of herself. She always looks great. I met Galya on Instagram. She wished me luck before I left for the 2019 World Juniors. We started talking and now she’s family.
- This year I became a father. At first, I didn’t know what was going on. But when I held the baby in my arms, I felt something that made me want to protect her.
- If I’m going to have a son, I’m definitely going to sign him up for hockey school.

Career and education

- If it weren’t for hockey, I don’t know who would I be. I’ve been in hockey since I was four. It’s difficult even to imagine what would I do.
- I study at a physical culture university. I rarely come to classes. I know some of my classmates. I even went to school with some of them.

A funny story took place this year at the World Juniors. It was in the game against Switzerland. The puck bounced off the boards, I missed it with my stick and it went into the net off my skate.

Family story

- My mom is sports psychologist and my father is a goaltender. It really helps in life. Thanks to my parents, it was easier for me to build a career. My mom always finds the right words and my father can always give me advice. When you have such pros in your corner, it really helps to grow as a person.