Upcoming Week’s KHL Action

Just a quick post about what you can look forward to seeing this week.

Tuesday. KHL’s leaders Atlant Mytischi host Ak Bars Kazan.

Wednesday. The brand new IIHF European Champions League starts. The KHL is represented by last year’s Russian Superliga champions Salavat Yulayev Ufa and last year’s European Cup winners Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Magnitka does not have a game this Wednesday, but Salavat will take on HC České Budějovice, last year’s regular season champs in the Czech Extraliga, and we’ll have that game for you to check out.

Thursday. Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Cherepanov and the rest of Avangard Omsk visit Moscow to take on Spartak.

Friday. Salavat Yulayev Ufa are flying all the way to Khabarovsk, the Eastern most KHL city to take on Amur.

KHL Games Streaming Video: Sep 30 – Oct 5 (Top 2 Collide)

Sep 30

CSKA Moscow @  Severstal Cherepovets
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Oct 1

Metallurg Novokuznetsk @  AK Bars Kazan
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One of those games we got a chance to see for ourselves. A great, open game played at an incredible pace. Boris Mikhaylov’s troops from Novokuznetsk were not afraid to get into a run and gun contest with the one of the KHL’s powerhouses, Ak Bars Kazan. It was also our first chance to see the 16-year old Maxim Kitsyn, the youngest player in the KHL. He’s #91 (sporting a full face shield) on the Metallurg squad.

Oct 2

Spartak Moscow @  Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
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Oct 3

Atlant Mytischi @  Avangard Omsk
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This week’s must see game features currently the top 2 teams in the KHL. These are also two hottest teams in the league coming into the game on long winning streaks. Atlant won 6 straight while Avangard is on a 7-game winning streak (which coincidentally or not started right after they fired their coach… who said Jaromir Jagr can’t be a player coach?). The game also features the current points leader in the entire league, Sergei Mozyakin of Atlant and the current top goal scorer, Jaromir Jagr (10). New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov is coming into the match on his own streak having scored goals in 5 straight games and having scored points in 7 straight. If all of this weren’t enough the game also features two former NHL goalies, John Graham of Ak Bars and Ray Emery of Atlant. Both are playing very well so far sporting a .930 save percentage. We just had to check this one out for ourselves and it didn’t disappoint.

Oct 4

Traktor Chelyabinsk @  Metallurg Magnitogorsk
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Magnitka’s first game after the Victoria Cup game vs. the New York Rangers turned into quite an ill tempered affair. Fans of hockey fisticuffs might want to check this one out. Who says Russians don’t fight?

Spartak Moscow @  Severstal Cherepovets
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Severstal is flying high after a slow start having won their last 4 games coming into this one. 18-year old Montreal Canadiens prospect Maxim Trunev is in the line-up for the club from Cherepovets.

Oct 5

Metallurg Novokuznetsk @  Salavat Yulayev Ufa
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Another chance to see the 16-year old Maxim Kitsyn, this time in a game vs. last season’s Russian Superliga champs, Salavat. For Salavat this is the last KHL game before they make their debut in the brand new European Champions League.

Streaming Video of Last Week’s KHL Games

Sep 25

Avangard Omsk @  Amur Khabarovsk
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Severstal Cherepovets @  Atlant Mytischi
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Sep 26

Dinamo Moscow @  Spartak Moscow
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Another Moscow derby and another great game. Packed crowd, great atmosphere, intensity and the last few minutes full of drama.

Sep 28

Salavat Yulayev Ufa @  Metallurg Magnitogorsk
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Magnitka’s last KHL game before they take on the NHL’s New York Rangers in the Victoria Cup (live on NHL Network and MSG in North America) and they have to play last season’s Russian Superliga champs.

Dinamo Minsk @  Severstal Cherepovets
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Sep 29

HK MVD Balashikha @  Avangard Omsk
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Wayne Fleming, former Calgary Flames assistant makes his debut as the new head coach of Avangard Omsk.

Spartak Moscow @  SKA St. Petersburg
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Sibir Novosibirsk @  AK Bars Kazan
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Avangard Omsk Head Coach Fired

It didn’t take long for the first coaching casualty in the KHL. Avangard’s head coach Sergei Gersonskiy and his assistant Igor Zhilinskiy were fired after just 6 games. Avangard, one of the best teams in the KHL on paper, got off to a 2-4 start on the ice despite making the biggest offseason signing in Jaromir Jagr.

The new coach will be announced in a matter of a couple of days and he won’t be Russian. According to Avangard’s board all the good Russian coaches are currently under contract so they’re looking to sign someone from abroad.

Today’s KHL Game: Metallurg Magnitogorsk @ Avangard Omsk

Metallurg Magnitogorsk @ Avangard Omsk

Great rivalry game and the chance to see Jaromir Jagr in action. This game would be especially interesting for New York Rangers fans as they get to see Jagr vs. a team the Rangers will soon face in the Victoria Cup. This is also Jaromir Jagr’s home debut since Avangard’s first 3 games were on the road.

Rest of This Week’s KHL Games Preview

Watch for links to the following games later this week.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk @ Avangard Omsk
Great rivalry game and the chance to see Jaromir Jagr in action. This game would be especially interesting for New York Rangers fans as they get to see Jagr vs. a team the Rangers will soon face in the Victoria Cup.

Dinamo Moscow @ Ak Bars Kazan
Another great rivalry game. Kazan features what is arguably the best line in the KHL, Morozov – Zinovyev Zaripov as well as last year’s Finnish NHLer, Niko Kapanen.

HK MVD Moscow Region @ Dinamo Riga (Latvia)
The terrible Far East / Siberian 5-game road trip Dinamo Riga had to endure is over and there’s been huge buzz among the completely obsessed with hockey Latvians for the first regular season home game in Riga. Should be very interesting to see what the crowd will be like.

Salavat Yulayev Ufa @ Avangard Omsk
Jaromir Jagr’s powerhouse from Omsk is off to a slow start. Jagr himself has one assist in the first 3 games. This will be his first look at last year’s champions from Ufa and their controversial new signing, Alexander Radulov.

RSL Game of the Week: Salavat Yulayev Ufa @ Avangard Omsk 02.13.2008

Same deal here. Just getting up as soon as possible. Will add more info later. This is your first chance to see the Russian version of the Detroit Red Wings (read “runaway league leaders”) Salavat Yulayev Ufa in action vs. another top club Avangard Omsk.

You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.

We recommend the free VLC media player for playing it.

We Ain’t Dead

For those who are wondering we have not gone to the edge of the Earth and dropped off the cliff. There were a few technical difficulties with the host of the games, which prevented us from posting the last RSL Game of the Week prior to the RSL going on a bit of a hiatus due to the international break for the European Hockey Tour. The technical issues have now been resolved.

To make up for our brief absence watch for 3 great RSL games to be posted later today. The first one will be the aforementioned game that was played just before the break (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl @ Dinamo Moscow). The other two will be games played in recent days since the RSL got back to business and will feature a couple of truly great match-ups: runaway league leaders Salavat Yulayev Ufa @ Avangard Omsk and a battle between last year’s finalists, Ak Bars Kazan @ Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

If there is interest we will also try to post the 2 games that the Russian national team played during the international break in the Euro Hockey Tour vs. Finland and the Czech Republic. Either comment or use the contact form to let us know if you’d like to see these games.

RSL Game of the Week: CSKA Moscow @ Avangard Omsk 01.25.2008

For our second RSL Game of the Week we have chosen a clash between one of the most famous Russian clubs, Central Sports Club of Army (CSKA) Moscow (known better in North America as the Red Army Club) and one of the perennial leaders of Russian and European hockey in the new era, the oil rich Avangard Omsk. CSKA is back to being a force in Russian hockey and in this game they’re visiting one of the best modern hockey arenas in Russia in Omsk.

The New York Rangers fans might have a special interest in this game as they would get an opportunity to check out how one of their top prospects, Alexei Cherepanov, is doing. Watch for # 7 on Avangard. Other notable players for Avangard are #8 Yevgeniy Kurbatov, one of the best defensemen in the recent World Junior Championships, who is still undrafted; #33 Anton Babchuk, one of the Russian players who have recently returned home from the NHL (Carolina Hurricanes); same goes for #15 Alexander Svitov (Columbus Blue Jackets); #19 is another talented Russian junior Anton Kuryanov; also in this game is #39 Pavel Rosa who played a few games in the NHL for the Los Angelese Kings.

CSKA Moscow features #7 Canadian defenseman James Pollock who has played 9 NHL games with St.Louis, but spent most of his career in the AHL; #28 talented offensive defenseman Denis Kulyash (whose rights belong to the Nashville Predators); #44 Yevgeniy Artyukhin who spent a full season in the NHL with the the Tampa Bay Lighnting; #24 Pyotr Schastlivy, one of the top RSL scorers in recent years; #71 Ladislav Kohn who had 4 very decent seasons in the NHL with the St.Louis Blues and finally #91 Oleg Saprykin, another NHL returnee who played for the Calgary Flames and the Phoenix Coyotes.

Note: We have discovered that the end of this game got cut off during our original upload. The issue has been fixed and the game is now available in its entirety.

You can watch the game in the streaming player or download the file to your computer by clicking the “Open Containing Folder” link below the player, right clicking the file and selecting the “download” option.

We recommend the free VLC media player for playing it.