December’s finest: Yeryomenko, Martynov, Gynge and Tkachyov
To mark the end of the fourth full month’s play of the ninth season of the Championship, The Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of the month in four categories.
– Best goaltender was Alexander Yeryomenko (Dynamo Moscow), who featured in 6 matches and celebrated 5 wins, including two shutout victories. Yeryomenko recorded a December save percentage of 96.57 and a goals against average of 0.98;
– Best defenseman was Yegor Martynov (Avangard), who made 9 appearances and helped his team triumph in 7 of them. The Omsk D-man contributed 6 points (2+4), 20 shots, 10 blocks and he merited an efficiency rating of +6 for the month;
– Best forward was Richard Gynge (Neftekhimik), with a haul of 12 points (9+3) – the highest December total of any player in the League. The 29-year-old Swede notched points in eight of his 11 games and scored goals in seven of them, including doubles on the road at Admiral and HC Sochi (against whom he also struck the game-winner in the home encounter), fired off 47 shots, blocked 5 from the opposition, and his average ice time - 20 minutes 32 seconds – was the highest for any forward;
– Best rookie, for the second time this season, was September’s winner, Admiral forward Vladimir Tkachyov. The 21-year-old was given 10 outings and his figures for the month include 10 points (3+7) and a +5 rating - topping the rookie standings in both categories - as well as 22 shots, 7 hits and an average of 15 minutes and 52 seconds on the ice. Vladimir also captured two consecutive Rookie of the Week awards in December.
