Chapter 2: Operation Cheesesteak Phantom

Aleksei Kolosov hadn’t been in the United States for more than 36 hours before he was already wanted by three alphabet agencies, a private Russian paramilitary syndicate, and—most fearsome of all—the Philadelphia Flyers’ goaltending development staff. His helicopter-less arrival in Philadelphia—having ejected from the underbelly of a jet mid-flight somewhere over the Atlantic and landed via a stealth wingsuit in the Schuylkill River—was as quiet as a glove save in overtime. Or so he thought.

Chapter 1: The Kolosov Identity

Before the whispers about Aleksei Kolosov’s disdain for the Flyers locker room echoed down the corridors of Wells Fargo Center, before the speculation that he’d rather vanish into the Belarusian wilderness than suit up for Lehigh Valley, there was a far greater truth—one hidden beneath layers of fabricated goalie analytics and diplomatic press releases. Aleksei Kolosov wasn’t just avoiding the Flyers because he hated the system, the media, or even the Phantom orange. He was running. Not from the team, but from the past. You see, Kolosov was never just a goaltender in the KHL—he was a sleeper agent embedded within Dynamo Minsk, waiting for activation. When the call came—delivered via encrypted code hidden inside a postgame Gatorade bottle—he didn’t hesitate. He faked a lower-body injury, ghosted his agent, and melted into the shadows. It was time. The hockey career was a cover. The real game? Espionage. And Kolosov, known in covert circles only as "The Netminder," was the most dangerous player on the board.