UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Freshman forward Denis Smirnov moved to the United States from Russia when he was 14 years old. Since then, the quick-moving Smirnov has worked his way through Junior hockey with the Indiana Ice and Fargo Force of the USHL, on his way to the Penn State men's hockey team, where he is one of the first two Russian student-athletes in program history.
It's more than 4,000 miles from Smirnov's hometown of Moscow, Russia to Pegula Ice Arena.
The Russian capital has a long and storied history of producing exceptional hockey players.