Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies’ Monday night game against the New York Yankees.TheTh

There was plenty of fanfare surrounding Michkov as he was welcomed at Citizens Bank Park, joined by teammates Cam York, Tyson Foerster, and Joel Farabee as he prepared to throw out his pitch. He was also accompanied by Flyers consultant Slava Kuznetsov, who has been acting as his interpreter since his arrival in the U.S.

The young Russian also gifted Phillies manager Rob Thomson with a signed hockey stick, prompting the Ontario native to talk some hockey with Michkov, describing how, in his hockey playing days, he would play ice hockey right-handed, but would switch to a left-handed shot when playing road hockey.

Michkov threw his pitch to Phillies pitcher Tyler Phillips, a South Jersey native who revealed that he used to attend Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms games growing up.

The 19-year-old was able to throw a strike (what can’t he do?), a feat that many fans joked was impressive since his throwing form could’ve used some work.