The SKA Report: Home for the Week

This week, SKA was home for four games, and the results weren't all positive.  Monday, SKA jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Amur, thanks to goals by Artemy Panarin, Dmirty Kalinin, and Vadim Shipachyov.  However, Amur came back to force overtime on goals by Vyatcheslav Livotchenko, Mikhail Klimchuk, and Jan Mursak.  SKA would win in overtime on a Viktor Tikhonov goal to allow SKA to escape with two points and give Ilya Ezhov the win.  Wednesday, they welcomed Sibir Novobsibirsk and it was a struggle to score for both teams, as Tony Martensson scored the lone SKA goal in the first period and Ivan Lekomtsev would tie things up for Sibir.  The game would go to a shootout, where Dmitry Kugryshev would score the winner and hand Alexander Salak and SKA a loss.

Metallurg Novokuznetsk was the opponent on Friday, and this time around, things were never in doubt for SKA, as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two on goals by Alexei Semenov, Kevin Dallman, and Martensson.  Ansel Galimov scored for Metallurg Novokuznetsk, but a Kalinin goal made the final score 4-1 and made a winner of Ezhov.  Sunday, SKA hosted the expansion Admiral Vladivostok and Admiral proved to be too much this game.  Evgeny Grachyov and Artyom Ternavsky pushed Admiral out ahead 2-0, but Tikhonov would pull SKA within one at the end of one.  However, Evner Lisin would score for Admrial, and that would be all the scoring in the game, as Admiral won 3-1, with Salak taking the loss.

SKA hits the road again this week, with games on Wednesday at last year's Gagarian Cup finalists in Traktor Chelyabinsk, a Friday game against Metallurg Magnitorsk, and on Sunday at Salavat Yulaev.

Chernyshev Division

Today wraps up the look at the teams in the KHL, as the season will begin next week.  The Chernyshev Division gets the spotlight today.

Admiral Vladivostok is a new team to the KHL and hockey in general, as they were formed this year, and will play in the city of Vladivostok, Russia, located in the eastern most part of the country.  The team president is Alexander Mogilny, and the team will trot out players such as Niclas Bergfors and Enver Lisin.

HC Amur was formed in 1966 and plays in the city of Khabarovsk, Russia, one of two cities on the far eastern coast of Russia (Vladivostok is the other).  They were the runners-up for the Nadezhda Cup, awarded to the best team in the KHL to not qualify for the Gagarian Cup playoffs.  The team features players such as Jan Mursak, Dylan Reese, and Timofei Shishkanov.

Avangard Omsk plays their home games in Omsk, Russia, and has been a team since 1950.  They last won a championship in 2004.  They feature players such as Alexander Frolov, Oleg Kvasha, and Sergei Kostitsyn.

Barys Astana plays in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan, and has been around since 1999.  The "Snow Leopards" will feature players such as Josh Gratton, Nigel Dawes, Mike Lundin, and Nik Antropov on their roster this season.

HC Metallurg Novokuznetsk has been around since 1949, and play in the city of Novokuznetsk, Russia, located in central Russia near the Mongolia-Russia border.  Kurtis McLean and Mikhail Chernov are some of the players on the team's current roster.

HC Salavat Yulaev plays their home games in Ufa, Russia, and has been in existence since 1961.  They were the Gagarian Cup champions in 2011, making them only one of three teams to win the Gagarian Cup in the KHL's brief existence so far.  The team will feature players such as Brent Sopel, Anton Babchuk, and Ivan Vishnevsky.

HC Sibir Novosibirsk Oblast plays in the city of Novosibirsk, Russia, and was founded in 1948.  The "Siberians" feature players such as Kristian Kudroc and Jonas Enlund.