MOSCOW – Shaone Morrisonn is not Russian. He does not speak Russian. He is Canadian, and he is playing for Spartak Moscow only because he is an NHL refugee hoping the long road leads back home.

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So when he walked out of the rink about three weeks ago after a 4-1 victory over Dinamo Minsk, he had no idea what the opposing fans were shouting or what they were shouting about. All he knew is they seemed angry – and guards were coming out with machine guns.

"Just to, like, basically keep the peace," Morrisonn said. "It was pretty wild."

It wasn't until the next morning, when Morrisonn returned to the rink, that he found out what happened. The Minsk fans were making a scene simply because they were so livid about the loss. They were calling for the general manager's head.

Maybe a few months ago, an incident like that would have confirmed Morrisonn's worst fears about playing here. More than anything, he was worried about his safety. But now that he has spent some time as a stranger in a strange land, he isn’t scared at all.

He takes the Metro to the rink because Moscow traffic is a nightmare, cramming in with the old ladies and their babushkas and the yuppies and their iPhones. He takes the Metro home from the rink, too, even after games, and walks home alone in the dark.

"It's fine. It's safe," Morrisonn said. "You hear the horror stories, but so far, it's been a great experience for me."

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There are North Americans like Morrisonn on teams all over the Kontinental Hockey League, which allows six imports per roster and five per lineup. They are not locked-out NHL stars working second jobs until this all blows over. To be locked out, you have to have an NHL contract, and they don't. They are trying to earn one, or they are playing the best place they can, or they are trying something new, or some combination.

What they find is often not what they expected, both athletically and culturally. They don't know what they are getting into until they get into it. It's not necessarily good, not necessarily bad. It's different – ketchup on pasta, because Russians don't like tomato sauce; salmon caviar for a pregame meal, because that's what they do like; drumming and chanting and singing in the stands, all game, no matter the score; military men lining an empty section dividing the fans when Spartak plays rival CSKA Moscow, taking no chances.

"What else is different?" mused Morrisonn, who used the word "different" 16 times in a 12-minute interview. "Definitely just everything."

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