The SKA Report: Winning Ugly

This past week wasn't the best of times for the SKA offense, but they still got away with three wins in the four games.  Monday was the team's chance to avenge a loss to Lokomotiv a few days earlier, and much like the previous meeting, SKA struggled to get its offense moving.  Dmitry Kalinin got the scoring started for the good guys, but that would be all they get for the game.  Ilya Gorokhov would tie the game to make it 1-1 after the first period.  It remained that way until the closing minutes of the third period, when Sergei Plotinkov scored the game winner to give Lokomotiv its second win in as many games against SKA.  Alexander Salak was the hard luck loser in the game.  Wednesday, SKA welcomed Severstal, and much like the Lokomotiv game, the offense was hard to come by.  However, SKA was on the right side of the close game, as they would get goals from Roman Cervenka and Evgeny Ketov sandwiching a Severstal goal from Anatoly Nikontsev, making it a 2-1 win for Salak and SKA.  Friday, they welcomed Traktor and like the previous meeting, SKA shut down Traktor.  Evgeny Skachkov, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Maxim Chudinov scored in the first period, and Salak made it stand up, as SKA shut out Traktor again, this time being a 3-0 score.  Sunday, Neftekhimik came to town to exact some revenge, but it was not to be, as Ketov opened the scoring for SKA in the first period.  Nikolai Belov tied things in the second period, but Chudinov netted the game winner to make Ilya Ezhov and SKA a 2-1 winner.

This coming week will be a light time for SKA, as they welcome Atlant on Friday before hitting the road next week.

The SKA Report: Kicking Off the Rust

SKA started the first game after break in Yaroslavl on Thursday and a matchup with Lokomotiv.  Their offense didn't get the memo, as they failed to score a goal in the game.  For most of the game, it was their defense that carried the game, and certainly, Alexander Salak deserved a better result than he did, as SKA held Lokomotiv off the board for two periods.  Emil Galimov broke the tie early in the third period and Sergei Plotinkov added an empty net goal to hand SKA a loss to start the second stanza.  Saturday, the offense showed up enough to get past Atlant 2-1.  Alexander Kucheryavenko made it 1-0 SKA after one period, but Alexander Kadeikin would score the equalizer in the second period.  Viktor Tikhonov would score early in the third period, and Salak would make it stand up, giving SKA three points in the standings.

SKA is home for the week, and they get their first chance at revenge on Monday as Lokomitv comes into town.  Severstal arrives for a Wednesday game, Traktor will be looking for revenge on Friday, and Neftekhimik will look to gain some momentum on Sunday.

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.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

HC Lokomotiv is a member of the Tarasov Division and plays their home games in the city of Yaroslavl, Russia.  The origins of the team date back to 1959, and they have gone through five different names, all of which incorporate the city of Yaroslavl into the name.  They have been HC Lokomotiv since 2000 after changing from Torpedo Yaroslavl.  More recently, Lokomotiv was in the news for a 2011 plane crash prior to their season opener against Dinamo Minsk, killing all on board except for a flight crew member.  That tragedy forced Lokomotiv to sit out the 2011-12 season.  Their current roster includes Vitaly Vishnevsky, Staffan Kronwall, and Curtis Sanford, and is coached by Tom Rowe.