Hellberg, Kronwall, Kovalchuk and Tolvanen - Players of the Week
To mark the end of the fourth week’s play of the tenth season of the Championship, The Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of the week in four categories.
– Best goaltender was Magnus Hellberg (Kunlun Red Star), The Swedish netminder had a perfect week, in that he was given two outings and did not allow a single goal. His current shutout series now stretches to 120 minutes;
– Best defenseman was another Swede, Staffan Kronwall (Lokomotiv), The veteran defenseman made four appearances after which his account reads 4 victories, 4 (2+2) points, 8 blocks, no negative ratings and a +2 for the week. Both of Kronwall's goals, against Avtomobilist and Traktor, sealed victory for his team;
– Best forward was Ilya Kovalchuk (SKA), whose 19 shots at goal and 7 (4+3) points played a major role in the Petersburg Army Men's achieving four victories from four games. The prolific forward's haul included a double against Avtomobilist and the game-winning goal against Traktor, and he also did not receive a single negative rating on his way to earning a +3 for the week;
– Best rookie, for the second time this season, was 18-year-old Jokerit forward Eeli Tolvanen, who helped the men from Helsinki win three out of three matches (two of which were on the road), ending the week with 2 (1+1) points, 10 shots at goal, and an average of15 minutes 24 seconds on the ice. As a bonus, his goal against Amur was the game-winner.
