KHL Coaching Carousel

The KHL season is barely three weeks old and already, the coaching carousel is going full speed.  Tuesday, Avangard ended the tenure of Petri Matikainen and replaced him with Milos Riha.  A team with high expectations, Avangard stumbled out of the gate, and the loss Sunday against Barys Astana was the final straw in Matikainen's time as head coach.  Wednesday, Atlant parted ways with head coach Sergei Svetlov and assistant coach Alexander Nesterov.  Like Avangard, Atlant stumbled out of the gate, losing four games to start the season.  Alexei Kudashov is the interim coach for the season.  Today, Lokomotiv ended the tenure of Tom Rowe and replaced him with Pyotr Vorobyov.  Dmitry Yushkevich and Igor Yefimov were also named assistant coaches.  Rowe took over Lokomotiv in their return after taking the 2011-12 season off due to the plane crash in September 2011.

The SKA Report: Getting off on the Right Foot

The KHL season could not have started any better for SKA Saint Petersburg, as they kicked off the season in Siberia for a four game road trip.  A 5-1 victory on Friday at Avangard Omsk was highlighted by a two goal effort by Viktor Tikhonov, which started an unanswered run of five goals after Avangard opened the scoring in the first period.  Kevin Dallman, Alexander Kuchareyavenko, and Roman Cervenka also scored for SKA to give Alexander Salak a victory in his team debut.  Sunday was a trip to Yekaterinburg to face off against Avtomobilist.  SKA jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to goals by Vadim Shipachyov, Patrick Thoresen, and Tikhonov before Avtomobilist could score a goal.  SKA would lead 5-1 after two periods, but would need to hold off a furious rally to eventually win 6-4.  Kucheryavenko, Evgeny Skachkov, and Artemy Panarin also scored for SKA.  SKA will finish the road trip with games on Tuesday against Yugra and on Thursday against Barys Astana before their home opener on September 16 against Medvescak Zagreb.

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.