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Got a minute, Nikolai Khabibulin?

JOANNE KORTH
Published June 3, 2004

QUESTION: Goaltenders have do be so intense, what do you do to relax these days?

KHABIBULIN: Nothing really. Watch TV a little bit, watch my daughter play tennis, watch her practicing - things like that to take my mind off of hockey a little bit.

QUESTION: Your wife, Victoria, was an accomplished tennis player in Russia and your 11-year-old daughter, Sasha, is pretty talented. How is your tennis game?

KHABIBULIN: It's really suffered this year. Not that it was great, but I haven't been able to play much lately. But I'll take that any time.

QUESTION: Can Sasha beat you?

KHABIBULIN: Not yet. Another year and a half.

QUESTION: What's your best shot? Forehand? Backhand? Serve?

KHABIBULIN: Oh, I don't have a best shot. They're all kind of bad.

QUESTION: But it's pretty hard to get the ball by you, right?

KHABIBULIN: Yeah, I can run pretty good.

QUESTION: What about golf?

KHABIBULIN: It's kind of boring to me. There's no action. You just walk around. Once in a while, I guess, it's okay. I play maybe once a year. That's enough.

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