During the 2007 world hockey championships in Moscow, a time-honoured Russian tradition brought a smile to Nik Kulemin’s face.

He was about to sign an NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but that order of business could not be consummated without a sip of vodka.

“I didn’t do it,” Kulemin said with a laugh through an interpreter in his first major interview since joining the Leafs.

The vodka ritual saw former Leafs GM John Ferguson, assistant Jeff Jackson, and agent Gary Greenstin coordinating a signing that would bring the quiet, up-and-coming 21-year-old Russian into the bright lights of the NHL.

That polite refusal to tip his head back and down a shot was the first of many examples of the manners and respect inherent in Kulemin’s character.

“He made solid eye contact all the time,” Ferguson recalled of Kulemin during that signing.

“That’s not always typical of a young player. He was somewhat reserved, but he was also very expressive. He had a big smile. You could see he had put the work in to be a better hockey player. We were very excited. I remember it was an exciting time over there. He was the ‘next’ one, after (Evgeni) Malkin.”

Kulemin signed a standard three-year, entry-level deal. It was something of a coup for the Leafs, one of several NHL teams anxious to ink the hard-working kid from Magnitogorsk, a small steel-mill town.

To land Kulemin, Ferguson navigated Russian traditions and customs as if he were the Leafs’ version of Jason Bourne. Both sides had to agree to certain conditions, ones that underlined the dedication and loyalty Kulemin had for his family, hometown and Magnitogorsk hockey club.

One condition was to remain in Russia for the first year of his NHL contract. It was a considerable demand since the Leafs, on top of the entry-level contract — with a base of $850,000 per season and bonuses that would take the annual value up to no higher than $1.4 million — agreed to a $90,000 signing bonus for each year of the contract.

Essentially, they were handing over $90,000 for Kulemin to play in Russia. But Ferguson saw the loyalty in Kulemin and knew it would soon become part of the fabric of his own team in Toronto. Ferguson also knew Kulemin could make at least twice as much money in one final year with Magnitogorsk than the maximum allowed under the NHL’s entry-level contract.

Ferguson wasn’t dealing from a position of strength. Transfer agreements did not exist between NHL teams and Russia. The KHL had a bitter experience with Malkin’s defection to the NHL and the owners of the Magnitogorsk team owned the steel mill where Kulemin’s parents worked.

Those owners drove a hard bargain. They wielded heavy influence over their hockey players and families. Ferguson felt as though he were trying to manoeuvre through a mine field.

But Kulemin wanted security. The final-year money was the foundation he wanted for his parents, Irena and Vladimir, and wife Natalie, who would give birth to son Alexei in March 2009.

“I didn’t think I was ready enough to go and play in the NHL,” Kulemin said. “I was studying in university, it was my last year. It was better for me to do those two things: finish my university and spend time with my family.”

When he signed with the Leafs, Kulemin reached the pinnacle of the hockey world, and that brought him closer to Malkin. The two were long-time friends and teammates under David King on the Magnitogorsk club, which had a strong tradition of icing championship teams and developing players.

“I coached in that city and the first thing I can say is they had a terrific youth program,” King said. “It was one of the best in Russia. Nik came up winning a lot of championships. Even though it was a small city, it gave Nik a very good background in the game.”

Kulemin became the second top scorer under Malkin, and an insurance card in the defensive zone while Malkin channelled his offensive talents.

During a tournament in Tampere, Finland, they walked the downtown streets carrying bags from clothing stores. They took in the vibrancy and pulse of a city more cosmopolitan than their humble and gritty hometown. Yet there wasn’t a sense of Malkin being the superstar and Kulemin the foot soldier.

“No, not at all,” Kulemin said. “We’ve known each other for a long time and to this day he is a close friend and he never acted like he’s a superstar. He has a good heart.”

Those tournament forays were Kulemin’s first taste of the outside world. At home, he lived a simple life with his parents and brother, Ivan.

“My house was always clean, and because of the jobs in the steel mill, my parents maintained it for me and my brother,” Kulemin said. “Sure, everyone wishes they grew up in a big house, but my parents worked hard and they did everything they could to provide for me.”

As a child, Kulemin’s treasured pastime was collecting hockey player stickers from gas stations and grocery stores and pasting them in an album. He began skating at age 8 and idolized players and teams. Slava Fetisov and the Detroit Red Wings were favourites, but Kulemin also loved watching Russian lines play in the NHL. He saw himself following in the footsteps of his heroes.

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“Everyone watches hockey in Magnitogorsk,” Kulemin said. “When I was growing up, my whole family would watch games on TV. We didn’t always get the signal but watched Detroit games a lot. They had Russian players and a Russian line.”

Kulemin dreamed of winning the Stanley Cup. His dream was shared by linemate Mikhail Grabovski, who is also his roommate. The two are inseparable.

Ferguson, who began to take on Kulemin as a priority after seeing him at the world junior championships in Vancouver in 2006, was aided by Cliff Fletcher, who welcomed Kulemin on his first visit to Toronto and had every base covered, including an apartment to entice the new prospect.

The key to self-reliance in his new home was learning the language. Kulemin had difficulty understanding Leafs coach Ron Wilson on the bench, largely because he skipped his first English lessons.

English is a bit of a drag for Russian players. Malkin and Alex Ovechkin thumbed their first lessons as well. The two had watched North American movies before, but only dubbed in Russian. They would later spend part of their first off-season watching the movies again, this time in English.

“It wasn’t that it was hard to learn. It just took a lot of practice and a lot of time, and as a hockey player, you don’t have a lot of time,” Kulemin said. “Every year my English gets better and better. Sometimes, I might have difficulty explaining myself, but I understand most things fine.”

Most of the fun in his life comes not from movies, but from the rink. And when he isn’t at the rink, Kulemin dotes on his son Alex.

“When I’m not playing hockey, I want to be with my family,” said Kulemin, whose son is already handling a hockey stick well. “I’m not there sometimes because of hockey and when I see my son it is emotional for me because I want to be with him.”

When he signed with the Leafs in 2007, Kulemin played with Team Russia at the world championships in Moscow. It was his debut with the highest team in his homeland, and like his predecessors, he lived a regimented life centred on hockey. That meant starting training camp July 3, playing 20 or more exhibition games and training twice a day on ice, twice a day in the gym.

Once the season started, teams were often sequestered in a dorm-hotel compound known as a baza. The day before a game, players could return home after practice, but were required to check into the baza about 5 p.m. They were only allowed to return home after the contest.

Ferguson, with that first contract in hand, sought Kulemin at a baza near Moscow. It was there, behind a 15-foot fence, that the national team was sequestered for the 2007 world championships.

Russian coaches often refuse to tell even NHL GMs the room numbers of their players. Ferguson met Kulemin about three blocks away from his room. The two tried to find a café, but wound up at a river in Moscow, on a boat that had been converted to a restaurant.

Ferguson did what he had to do to seal the deal.

“(Kulemin) was offered that shot of vodka but he declined,” Ferguson said.

“I thought they were bringing a little shot but they brought a whole lot more than that. It was something they did before a dinner, and I was made to understand it would be bad luck to leave it, so I made sure there wouldn’t be any bad luck.”