The trophy was won by Salavat Yulaev under new coach Erkka Westerlund, but the men from Ufa had a huge helping hand from Spartak Moscow. The Muscovite Red-and-Whites defeated tournament hosts and favorites Torpedo, which allowed the Bashkortostan Boys to claim top spot with a hard-fought win over Metallurg (Novokuznetsk).
Torpedo (Nizhny Novgorod) vs. Spartak: 1-3 (0-0, 1-1, 0-2)
Metallurg (Novokuznetsk) vs. Salavat Yulayev (Ufa): 1-2 (0-1, 1-0, 0-1)
Russia beat Canada in the battle of the pre-Olympic teams to seal top place in Group B and earn a place in tomorrow's final against a rampant SKA Saint Petersburg.
In Group A, Magnitogorsk bounced back from yesterday's defeat at the hands of SKA to claim victory over former Magnitka boss Mike Keenan and Kunlun Red Star. There was an ominous sign for defensemen in the KHL - a second goal in successive days for Sergei Mozyakin.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs. Kunlun Red Star: 3-1 (1-0, 2-0, 0-1)
Team Russia vs. Team Canada: 3-2 (2-0, 1-2, 0-0)
On Day 2 of the Astana tournament, there were victories for Andrei Skabelka's Avangard over Traktor and for Andrei Nazarov's Neftekhimik over the hosts, Barys.
Avangard (Omsk) Traktor (Chelyabinsk): 2-0 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0)
Barys (Astana) vs. Neftekhimik (Nizhnekamsk): 1-2 (0-0,1-2,0-0)
Day One of this competition, which runs from the 7th to the 12th of August in Le Sentier, Switzerland, featured the sole KHL participant, CSKA, and Moscow's Army Men hit three unanswered goals against Swiss side Geneva-Servette.
Geneva-Servette (Switzerland) vs. CSKA (Moscow): 0-3 (0-0, 0-1, 0-2)
Goals: 0:1 Kuzmenko (Robinson, 29.40), 0:2 Telegin (Karnaukhov, 56.25, SHG), 0:3 Chmykhov (Svetlakov, 59:55 – empty net).
In the other preseason friendly played on Monday, Sibir, currently at camp in Valkeakoski, Finland, suffered a 1-5 loss at the hands of HPK Hameenlinna.
Sibir (Novosibirsk) vs. HPK (Finland): 1-5 (0-0, 0-1, 1-4)
Sibir goal: Sharov (Artyomov).