"Bring gloves," he said, "and don't forget your long johns."

If Ray Emery is looking for a crash course in what to expect during his exile in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, he need look no further than the National Post.

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The newspaper posted an interview with Fred Brathwaite, who has become kind a trailblazer for goaltenders with Canadian passports traversing the Russian hinterlands. Brathwaite, who is now happily ensconced with Dave King (also one with more than a bit of familiarity with the Russian ways) in Germany, expanded on his days and cold, cold nights while backstopping the local heroes of Omsk Avangard.

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From discovering a few familiar restaurant locations in a foreign land to cultural observations of a very different place, he provides a fairly good thumbnail sketch for Emery as to what life away from the rink might look like.

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A quick on line search for life in Omsk finds something called the Siberian ice marathon, a large number of universities with a wide range of specialities should he wish to seek out higher learning, one ominous looking large monument to Lenin and a rather lengthy list of links for young Russian ladies looking for a husband (one describes Omsk as the city of brides!), perhaps a good thing for Ray, perhaps not....

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On the plus side, they seem to be in the process of building a fairly ambitious and far reaching Metro system in Omsk, so maybe Ray can leave the (uh, Hummer?) behind and catch the train to the game.

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Stuff like this Rayzor won't be finding in the local Fodors guidebook that's for sure.

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While the action on the ice may seem familiar to the former Senators goaltender, it's a safe bet that once he's spent a few weeks wandering the lanes of Omsk he'll be thinking "we aren't in Ottawa anymore Toto"