PITTSTON, Pa. - Across the street from a doughnut shop, set on a gravelly hill hard on I-81 in northeastern Pennsylvania, the Revolution Ice Centre has the metallic veneer of an industrial warehouse and, like the inside of any hockey rink, the moist, pungent atmosphere that only liters of sweat chilling in a meat locker can create. Still, the people who run the Wilkes-Barre Knights, the powerhouse junior team headquartered there, do their best to dress up the place, and when it comes to interior decor, Ivan Provorov is a rather prolific muse.
Along the hallway just inside the front door are at least seven photos of Provorov - with the Knights, with the Brandon Wheat Kings, from an International Ice Hockey Federation tournament.