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His family living day to day in war-torn Ukraine, Nikita Konevych of C.R. RoughRiders chases his hockey dreams
“My dad was a part of the military. It’s very tough for me, just hard to realize I cannot be next to my family and stuff. But I’m here for a reason, for hockey.”
Sep. 13, 2024 3:42 pm, Updated: Sep. 13, 2024 6:55 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS — The door.
Like many, it has a bit of a squeak when it opens and closes. And when it closes, it really closes.
An unmistakable loud thud. The thing slams shut hard.
That door to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders’ locker room at the Imon Ice Arena is a metaphor to 18-year-old defenseman Nikita Konevych’s life.
When he’s on one side of it, he’s with his teammates and coaches, in a mental and emotional safe space, if you will. His focus is only on being the best hockey player he can be that particular day.
But when he’s on the other side of it, it’s back to his greater reality. Worrying about the safety of his family, his country.
“As soon as I step through this door, it’s different,” Konevych said. “When I step through this door, I concentrate on practice, what’s on the ice and not off the ice. I know that’s the only reason I’m here. When I’m here, I’m doing business. Nothing else.”
Konevych is from Kalush, Ukraine, a city in the southwestern part of the country, near Poland and Slovakia. It had an official population of 65,000 at one point, though who knows now.
Ukraine was invaded by Russia in February 2022, a war that still is ongoing and has cost thousands of lives, including many citizens of Kalush.
“It’s hard to realize,” Konevych said. “What you see on the news is so much different than what is actually going on. Not a lot of people want to know what’s actually going on as well, because it’s just rough.
“My dad was a part of the military. It’s very tough for me, just hard to realize I cannot be next to my family and stuff. But I’m here for a reason, for hockey, so ... yeah.”
Konevych has watched everything from afar. He came to the United States three years ago, a 15 year old trying to make a name for himself in a sport he grew to love.
Though he spoke not one word of English, his parents (Valery and Galyna) sent him. They insist he stays.
“You get used to (being without them), I’ll say that,” Konevych said. “I get used to it, and I feel like I have to be more focused on my goals and why I’m here. That’s what motivates me. I try to concentrate on hockey first and all of those other things second.”
It’s not easy.
Konevych tries to communicate with his parents and his twin sister, Lola, every day, though cell service is spotty in Ukraine for obvious reasons. If FaceTime doesn’t work, it’s usually an attempt at simple text messaging.
Or not so simple text messaging. There are times he sends one and waits hours for a reply.
Just the way it is.
“I feel like there is more urgency there, an awareness that any day could be your last day,” he said. “So just waking up with that feeling is something very different. You just have to realize that ‘Hey, this could be my last day. Maybe not. Maybe I’ll have tomorrow.’
“My family actually lives life in the present. They don’t live in the future, they don’t live in the past. They try not to think about those things. I’d say that’s the main (difference) from people living here. Thankfully.”
Valery Konevych was a soldier in the Ukranian military for a year before health reasons prevented him from continuing. He now is part of a business in Kalush that manufactures medical oxygen tubes for hospitals and chemicals for the military.
“The day (the war) started, he was there. Everything,” Konevych said. “I don’t ask him about any of that. I know it’s hard for him to talk about it. If he really wanted to share something with me, he would ... So I try not to talk to him about that, what he saw. It might trigger him or something, I don’t know.”
Konevych played one game last season for Tri-City of the United States Hockey League. Conversations between his agent/advisor and RoughRiders Coach/General Manager Mark Carlson over the summer helped him secure an invitation to fall camp with Cedar Rapids, with no guarantee of a spot on the opening-night regular-season roster.
He seems to have virtually secured one, however, a kid whose game has some abrasiveness to it. Some of that might come from growing up as a boxer and wrestler.
Konevych has made a commitment to play college hockey at the University of New Hampshire. He hopes someday to play professionally in the National Hockey League.
And see his family again, though he doesn’t think that will happen for at least five more years. He calls his billet family from his time in New Jersey his American mom and dad.
“My mom and sister could visit, but I really don’t want them to,” he said. “My mom would get attached to me, I would get attached to her, and that would be hard (to leave).”
He was asked if he ever thought about going back home to join the war, to fight for Ukraine. He did.
“It was more an emotional thing,” Konevych said. “My dad has spent so much money for me being here, and it would pretty much just be going to waste. But I feel like if I had the choice between going and staying here and not playing hockey, I would definitely go back home and help fight.
“There is no question ... I feel like you have to do it as a man, fight for your country. So there would be no questioning myself. I’d go.”
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
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