CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins forward Andrei Kuzmenko is changing his jersey number to 62 to honor his father Alexander, who died in a bear attack in Russia last week at age 62.
Andrei Kuzmenko returned to practice with the Penguins on Friday for the first time since returning from his father's funeral in Moscow.
The 30-year-old Kuzmenko, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract with Pittsburgh over the summer, also offered a brief statement outlining his understanding of what happened to his dad while on a fishing trip in the Tyva section of Siberia.
“My father go permit fishing with friends, and he stayed in the water," Andrei Kuzmenko said. “And bear (stand) behind him and attack. And my father fight (the) bear one hour, 10 minutes and he still lived after two days.”
Kuzmenko, who used to wear No. 10, added that his father's death was a “big shock.” Kuzmenko also noted that his mother was born in 1962.
Pittsburgh plays Montreal in its home opener on Saturday.
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