Hobart and William Smith Colleges

The Waiting Game

For the Hobart hockey team, the Russian-Ukraine conflict is personal.

BY COLIN SPENCER '19

In February, teammates and friends Artem Buzoverya ’24 and Gagik Malakyan ’24 watched from halfway around the world as the political turmoil between their home countries turned violent. Buzoverya was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, less than 30 miles from the Russian border, not far from where Russian forces invaded. Malakyan grew up in Moscow. Both have family in their respective countries, and the con"ict cast a shadow over the spring semester that saw the Statesmen into the NCAA quarterfinals.

“You sit every day and just hope for the best but in reality you never know. You don’t control it. None of us do,” says Buzoverya.

He and Malakyan came to the U.S. during high school to join junior hockey leagues. When the junior leagues ended, both came to HWS, where they met and built a strong friendship, bonding over economics coursework, a shared language (Russian) and Hobart hockey.

“These are the guys you want to spend time with,” Malakyan says of his teammates. “As soon as you step in the locker room, you feel like this is your family.”

The 2020 season, their first at HWS, was limited to three exhibition games due to the pandemic, meaning little time for the two on the ice. But during their sophomore year, they helped the team post a 19-4-2 overall record and clinch the New England Hockey Conference’s regular season title.

A center on Hobart’s top line, Buzoverya is one of six Statesmen with 20 points on the season. Malakyan, a defender, posted six points on a goal and five assists, despite playing only 10 games this season because of injury. “From day one, these two young men have distinguished themselves on and off the ice as athletes, citizens and especially students,” says Hobart Hockey Head Coach Mark Taylor. “They are going through a lot right now, and we are doing everything we can to support them. In this uncertain time, what I know for sure is they have the full support of the Colleges, certainly of their teammates and most importantly of each other.”

Malakyan says hockey helped keep news of the war at bay, though only for so long. “Every time you step on the ice, you kind of forget about your problems and enjoy the moment with the guys,” he says. “But then you get off the ice and you’re back in reality again, picturing all this stuff that is going on in the world and you can’t do anything about it.”

That sense of uncertainty and vulnerability can be consuming, Buzoverya says. “Lately, it’s been kind of hard just to close your eyes and go to sleep without thinking about it, because it’s always there,” he says. “You might go to sleep with a seven-hour difference and wake up to 100 messages saying the worst has happened.”

While “it’s hard not to feel anxious and helpless at times,” Malakyan says he’s “thankful for my teammates, coaches, friends and faculty who are doing what they can to help.”