Winning Avtomobilists

You might be asking yourself (or not) why I haven't done much in the way of other hockey leagues. Today is your lucky day, as there is an amazing run happening in the Kontinental Hockey League, as the franchise from Yekaterinburg known as Avtomobilist is currently the only undefeated team in the league. It is the middle of October, and the league began play at the beginning of September, which means that it has been six weeks into the season, and the team has yet to taste defeat in any form. So, what's the details behind this run? Let's take a look.

Prior to the season, Avtomobilist was picked by pundits to be the class of the Eastern Conference, having picked up Nigel Dawes in the off-season. Dawes had a brief run in the NHL, but could not stick due to his lack of size despite being a scorer for much of his career. He came over to Avtomobilist from Barys in the off-season, having become the accomplished scorer people saw in both the WHL and the AHL. He has been a major difference maker, but he has hardly been the only one, as other former NHLers to dot the roster include Nikita Tryamkin, Stephane Da Costa, and Ivan Vishnevsky. Now, what about the streak itself? Of the 18 games played thus far, Avtomobilist has won by two or more goals 13 times and has been taken to overtime in just two of the 18 games. Even with the points system now resembling the NHL's, that is an amazing streak. Their next two opponents in their chance to extend their streak are Barys tomorrow morning and Severstal on Friday.

Taking Your Puck and Going Home

This holiday weekend has been rather odd in the hockey world, as two players were unhappy with their current situations and decided to walk away. It's safe to say that neither will be seeing anymore time on the NHL or AHL level, as both are repeat offenders.

First up, Alexander Burmistrov. You may remember him as a former first round pick of the then-Atlanta Thrashers in 2010 that left for Russia after the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season due to butting heads with then Winnipeg Jets coach Claude Noel. He returned in 2015 to the Jets, only for him to eventually butt heads with current Jets coach Paul Maurice. Last season, it came to a head, and he was sent down to Manitoba of the AHL, only for the Arizona Coyotes to claim him off waivers. He did not sign with Arizona after the season, opting to sign with the Vancouver Canucks prior to this season. Now, this bit of news from Pass it to Bulis, as Burmistrov was once again, unhappy with his playing time, and after getting scratched from the team's last game for a seventh defenseman, he has decided to retire from the NHL. Yes, at the age of 26, Burmistrov has decided to pack his bags and head back home.

Next up, Steve Moses. Undrafted after spending four years at the University of New Hampshire, he would begin his professional career in 2012-13 with Jokerit, and would play with them for three seasons, including their first year as a member of the KHL. In the off-season of 2015, he would sign a one-year deal with Nashville with the expectation that he would be on the NHL roster. However, prior to the start of the 2015-16 season, he was sent down to Milwaukee of the AHL, and was unable to get noticed enough to even crack the Predators' roster. That December, his contract with the team was terminated so he could return to the KHL, this time as a member of SKA-St. Petersburg. He would spend the rest of the 2015-16 season, as well as all of 2016-17, with the team until signing with Rochester of the AHL prior to this season. His time with Rochester would be short lived however, as he was suspended by the team recently for breach of contract, and as of right now, he is now signed with Jokerit again.

As odd as the two instances of walking away have been, it was hardly the first, as Vadim Shipyachov had been signed with the Vegas Golden Knights prior to the season, but was sent down to Chicago of the AHL. His complaining about not being in the NHL was fairly well-documented, and his NHL contract would be terminated soon after so he too, could return to the KHL.

I don't know what to make of this, but it is clear that the level of play between North American hockey and European hockey can be too much for certain players to take, and while it is notable that the players gave it a shot, leaving in the middle of a season does them no favors when it comes to future North American opportunities.

Fight Night in the KHL

The ninth season of the KHL hasn't even gotten out of the pre-season stages, and already, the wolves are out. If it's not head coaches fighting, as Yevgeni Popikhin of Neftekhimik and Peter Skudra of Torpedo did last Saturday, it's Damir Ryspayev sending a Kunlun Red Star player to the hospital and attempting to fight the entire team today. There is video of this, and rather than attempt to explain what went down, I'll let the video do the talking:

As you can see, it was clear that Ryspayev went hunting for Kunlun players, and given the history of Ryspayev, who amassed 111 PIM in just 16 games last season, and the history of Andrei Nazarov, head coach of Barys Astana who used to be an NHL enforcer and is well-known for being short-tempered dating back to his days as head coach of Vityaz, it makes you wonder if either should have a place in any hockey arena anywhere. It's also worth nothing that in their previous matchup, both teams combined for 196 PIM, so whether or not emotions truly boiled over for either or both teams, it's not making the KHL look any better right now.

Hockey Night in China

While it isn't necessarily new news, it does bear mention that the country of China will be getting a hockey team in the Kontinental Hockey League starting in September. The team, whose official name is HC Kunlun Red Star, was officially accepted as the newest team in the KHL on June 25, and will be bearing the logo you see above. The head coach will be Vladimir Yurzinov, Jr., and the team will have half of the roster consisting of local national players, the same rule that applies to all KHL teams (e.g. Dinamo Riga has half its roster consisting of Latvians, as they play home games in Latvia). The team will play at the LeSports Center in Beijing, which seats 18,000 people, and was one of the facilities built with the 2008 Olympics in mind originally.

While it's great that hockey is expanding into a non-traditional hockey country like China, it is worth noting that teams in the KHL usually have trouble staying afloat due to money concerns, and except for rich teams like CSKA, Dynamo Moscow, and SKA, those teams usually either take a year off from the KHL or fold. Recent expansion has seen the league go from just a Russian Federation league, expanding into countries such as Croatia, Finland, and Slovakia, with the possibility that China will be joined by South Korea and maybe even Japan. It's too soon to tell if professional hockey in China will succeed, but for now, it is one step towards finding out that answer.

KHL Season Almost Here

The KHL season is less than a month away, and there are a few changes to the league's structure.  Metallurg Magnitigorsk will begin the season as the defending Gagarian Cup champions, and three teams will be joining the league while replacing three teams that suspended operations for the season.

Donbass Donetsk is suspending operations due to civil unrest in the Ukraine while Lev Praha and Spartak Moscow are both sitting out due to financial issues.  Replacing the three teams will be Jokerit Helsinki, making them the first Finnish squad to be in the KHL, HC Sochi, who is looking to capitalize on the momentum that the Winter Olympics created for the town, and Lada Togliatti, who was in the KHL from 2008 through 2010, when arena issues forced them to drop into a lower league.

SKA Saint Petersburg is also going into the season with a major change, this one behind the bench, as a disappointing end to a season with high expectations led them to tab Vyacheslav Bykov as the new head coach.  Expectations will forever be high with the team that has never won a championship in their history, which dates back to 1946.

A New Day for the KHL

Tomorrow, the KHL will kick off its sixth season with Dynamo Moscow and Traktor Chelyabinsk squaring off in a rematch of last year's Gagarian Cup Finals.  Three more games are on the slate Thursday, and SKA Saint Petersburg will kick off their season against Avangard Omsk.  The conclude the opening week with a game on Sunday against Avtomobilist.  There is no game on Saturday, since that will mark the two year anniversary of the plane crash that claimed the lives of the 2011-12 Lokomotiv squad.

Beginning Monday, a weekly report on SKA Saint Petersburg will happen, and should any interesting things happen around the rest of the KHL, it will be talked about here, as well.

Getting Kontinental

With the hockey season right around the corner (training camp, really), there's no better time than now to try something new in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).  Last year, I went full on into the WHL and the Portland Winterhawks (the weekly piece will return for this coming season), and took on an OHL team in Peterborough (up in the air as to if that weekly piece will return) and even took a brief look into the United States Hockey League (I still have not declared a team at this point, so no weekly segment this season).  This year, I will add the KHL to the list, and I have in fact, declared a team for a weekly segment in the HC SKA Saint Petersburg.

Now, as for what the KHL is about, it is a league that is predominantly based out of Russia and its former republics such as Ukraine and Belarus.  However, expansion has seen it reach the likes of Slovakia, Germany, and this year, Croatia.  The regular season champions are given the Continental Cup while the Yuri Gagarian Cup is given to the champions in the playoffs.  HC Moscow Dynamo is the current two-time defending Gagarian Cup champion and will be looking for three in a row this coming season.  The 28-team league is divided into four division and two conferences: the West comprising of the (Vsevolod) Bobrov and (Anatoli) Tarasov divisions while the East has the (Valeri) Kharlamov and (Arkady) Chernyshev divisions.  As you can see, the divisions are named after people who were influential on hockey in the Soviet-era.  Name players are not lacking in the KHL, as the likes of Alexander Radulov (CSKA), Ilya Kovalchuk (SKA Saint Petersburg), and Alexander Burmistrov (AK Bars Kazan) will call the KHL home for this coming season.

I will get through the teams that make up the KHL and the divisions they play in, as well as who to watch for and odds of success this coming season.

Remembering Lokomotiv...One Year Later

As the anniversary of the plane crash that claimed the lives of the entire Yaroslavl Lokomotiv team nears, this piece will not only remember those lost in the crash, but also take a look at the players and coaches that will make up this squad for the 2012-13 KHL season.

On the morning of September 7, as I was having my morning coffee, something came up on the screen announcing the news that the plane carrying members of the Lokomotiv team had crashed.  They were en route to Belarus to play Dynamo Minsk, and some members of the junior squad had also made the trip.  Among those lost on that fateful day include Stefan Liv (backup goalie on the 2006 Swedish Olympic team that won gold), Karlis Skrastins (one-time holder of the NHL Iron Man record for most games played), Ruslan Salei (NHL veteran who played in Anaheim, Colorado, Florida, and Detroit), Josef Vasicek (Stanley Cup champion with Carolina in 2006), Pavol Demitra (Slovakian hero in the 2010 Olympics and good NHL career), Brad McCrimmon (long time NHL defenseman who was to have started his head coaching career with Lokomotiv), Igor Korolev (associate coach that played in the NHL), and Alexander Karpovtsev (Stanley Cup champion with the Rangers in 1994).  The tragedy affected many of the teams in the NHL, as at one point, those lost had either played for or were associated with the teams.  Many tributes were done for the team as Lokomotiv would eventually sit out the 2011-12 season.

The 2012-13 season will see the return of Lokomotiv, and certainly, emotions will run high.  Tom Rowe will be coaching the team, and one-time NHL players such as Curtis Sanford, Viktor Kozlov, Sami Lepisto, and Niklas Hagman will be headlining the roster.  The road back to the championship won't be easy, ask CSKA recently acquired their ace-in-the-hole in Alexander Radulov, but just getting back on the ice will be a championship in itself for Lokomotiv, and the KHL will be whole again as it sees all of its teams back on the ice.  The emotional healing will be a long one, but getting on the ice and playing the first game is a big step in that healing.

A tribute from Dynamo Minsk days after the crash:

Back to the KHL With Ye!

You may remember the Alexander Radulov saga this season in which Radulov was being lured by the Nashville Predators to play out his NHL contract.  One problem: his KHL contract, as in he couldn't leave for the NHL while the contract is in effect.  So, the Predators negotiated a deal that would bring him to the NHL while leaving the door open for the KHL.  Well, it looks like Radulov will be going back through that door, as his KHL team's original holder Salavat Yulaev traded his rights to CSKA.  Without getting into how or why Radulov is going back to the KHL, let's look at his NHL tenure: both of them.

In 2004, he was the 15th overall pick of the Predators, and would come to North America to play for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL for two seasons.  His NHL debut happened in the 2006-07 season, and he would go on to play that season and the next, where he amassed 44 goals and 51 assists in that time.  After the 2007-08 season, he would bolt for the KHL.  He made his return to the NHL this season after Salavat Yulaev's season ended, and he would play nine games, with 3 goals and 4 assists.  For all of the talent he flashed in his time in the NHL, it was what happened in the playoffs this year that garnered him headlines, as he was benched for games 3 and 4 in the Conference Semifinals against the Phoenix Coyotes along with Andrei Kostitsyn.  His time with the Predators ended when he was made a restricted free agent, which opened a door to go back to the KHL.

As you can see, Radulov does indeed have talent, but with all of the talk about changing leagues and his off-ice behavior, is it any wonder why no NHL team jumped at the chance to get Radulov?  Sure, he can get you 30 goals a season and brings an edge that sometimes gets him in trouble (see: 2007 playoffs against San Jose), but would you want a player who has commitment issues, particularly when it comes to North American hockey?  That answer won't have to be answered by any NHL club, as it is now in the hands of CSKA.

The Day the Hockey World Stood Still

"I like you, but I am beginning to like this place less and less."  A quote from Dario Argento's Tenebre, it could just as easily be used when talking about hockey, as in having to go down this road again.  This Summer has not been kind to hockey.

This morning, as I was putting the finishing touches on today's team for the 2011-12 NHL Season preview, this bit of news came across the wire from Dignity After Hockey, a group that aims to help those who gave their all for the game they love with their lives after retirement from the game.  Around 8 AM (local time here in Kansas City), news of a plane crash that claimed the lives of many of those in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team: players, coaches, personnel.  Obviously, this was not how I wished to start the morning, and in many respects, the hockey world came to a crashing halt today.  Like many of the KHL teams, the Lokomotiv team had its share of NHLers, including Pavol Demitra, Josef Vasicek, Ruslan Salei, and coach Brad McCrimmon.

Demitra was possibly the most accomplished member of the team, having established himself as a star in St. Louis and Minnesota.  More recently, he was a star on the Slovakian team in the 2010 Olympic Games.  Vasicek was best known in the NHL for his years with the Carolina Hurricanes, where he a part of two Stanley Cup Finals teams and winning it all in 2006 with the Hurricanes.  Salei was a former first round pick that liked to play physical.  He is best remembered as a Mighty Duck, but also spent time with the Panthers, Avalanche, and Red Wings.  Karlis Skrastins spent time with Nashville, Dallas, Colorado, and Florida, and was best known for being an iron man, appearing in 487 straight games at one point.  McCrimmon played 18 seasons in the NHL before becoming an assistant coach after retiring.  He had recently taken the Lokomotiv coaching job this past May.

Also in the crash were Karel Rachunek, who spent time with Ottawa, New Jersey, and the New York Rangers.  Assistant coaches Alex Karpovtsev and Igor Korolev also had spent time in the NHL as players, and goaltender Stefan Liv was a part of the 2006 gold medal winning Sweden team and was a one time Red Wings prospect.

Today has been a hard day in the world of hockey, as many of the players, coaches, and personnel on the plane had at some point or another, had an impact on their fellow players and fans alike.  Regardless of how you feel about the players or team itself, every one of the people on the plane were a part of the game that they loved.  Condolences and prayers go out to all of their families, and may they find their way to the heavens.