The Week of Hockey Stars is unique because anything can happen there. Well, almost anything. Women referees at the All-Star Game? A great idea! The ultimate price? The cheering of the crowd and a picture with Ilya Kovalchuk.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
In the Gagarin Cup finals, we got to know what happens when a team is backed by its whole city and republic. “We’re going for the Cup” – those were the words that united hundred of thousands of people during the series against CSKA.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
The Closing Ceremony was the last act of the tenth KHL season. Only here the people could see the main heroes of the season in regular clothes. And on one stage.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
The KHL World Games are a new project of the League to help to promote the KHL in Europe. In October, the KHL organized two games in Vienna. The hosts were HC Slovan Bratislava, and the guests were SKA and CSKA. Hockey in the Earth of Europe was one of the highlights of 2018.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
Girls on the bench? Indicate Sergei Mozyakin, Kirill Kaprizov, and Nikita Gusev when it’s time to hit the ice? It’s not a movie; it’s the All-Star Game. Four lady presenters – Daria Mironova, Natalia Clark, Maria Bass, and Sofia Gudim were one of the top attractions of the event. The challenge tested the ladies’ competence, and they succeeded. With a smile.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
Not even the well-oiled Red Army team, led by their super goalie Ilya Sorokin, could cope with Ak Bars Kazan. Eight shutouts in the regular season, and five in the playoffs were not enough to climb to the top. The Red-and-Blues surrendered at just one step to the finish line.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
Nikita Gusev was awarded the Golden Stick. And who else? He was named the best player in the regular season, and without his goal in the third period, Russia wouldn’t have won the gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Photo: Yury Kuzmin
One month later, the KHL World Games moved to Switzerland. This time, the hosts were Dinamo Riga, who faced SKA and CSKA again. The Cup didn’t lose time and had a pleasant Zurich tour.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
You can play hockey everywhere if you really want to. If possible, doing it so that there will be a sell-out. Everyone wanted so in Riga, starting from the mayor Nils Usakovs to the last fan who attended the outdoor game between Dinamo Riga and Dinamo Minsk – played close to a former landfill site that was later unveiled a slide designed for sledding, which the Riga public swiftly christened “Usakovs’ Cap.”
Photo: Yury Kuzmin
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
In his career, Pavel Datsyuk won many awards. This year, he added the Olympic Gold Medal to the Gagarin Cup, the Stanley Cup, and the IIHF World Championship gold medal, becoming an even more unique player in the hockey world. And the award he received at the Closing Ceremony was equally unique. The IIHF President René Fasel awarded him the four-pointed star Sirius trophy.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
The current season has been eventful for Avangard. The hiring of Bob Hartley, the problems with the arena in Omsk and the move to Balashikha. Force majeure is the most exact definition of the happened. However, the team, led by its coach, endures the difficulties steadily and with a big smile. And together with the fans, who did not leave the team alone in this challenging moment.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
Without a doubt, the main event in the 2018 hockey year was the Winter Olympic Games. Quite surprisingly, Team Russia’s path was quite hard and full of difficult moments. The team led by Oleg Znarok got to PyeongChang under a neutral flag and without the right to represent its country’s name. But in Russia, the most important thing was to believe in the team, to cheer and to follow the happening. That’s why the hall at the Novogorsk base hardly contained all the press members who wanted to have a look at the open Team Russia practice organized a few days before leaving.
Photo: Yury Kuzmin
Another one of the many fun traditions of winning is the shower of champagne and the measuring of the Gagarin Cup’s depth filling it with a victory drink. Of course, the first champion’s sip is the sweetest.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
On the summer the Gagarin Cup had its traditional trip with the members of the winning team. This time, the route was very diverse. For example, Ak Bars’ goalie Emil Garipov brought the cup to his native village Srednie Varezi for the Sabantuy holiday.
Photo: Vadim Kitayev
The move of a top player from a team to another, especially if the previous club is where he spent his entire career in the KHL, happens quite rarely. Nigel Dawes made such a move, transferring from Astana to Yekaterinburg, but this change did not impact his production on the ice. Now he is the leader of Avtomobilist, and Avtomobilist is unexpectedly the leading team in the Eastern Conference.
Photo: Anton Basanayev
Before departing, Team Russia visited Vladimir Putin, whose love for hockey is proverbial. The President was gifted a jersey autographed by all the players in the team.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
The most patient and lucky had the unique opportunity to touch the Cup. Still hot after the battle and the emotions of the winners.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
Maxim Sirodov, a native of Yaroslavl, brought the trophy to Yaroslavl and could not visit the places connected with the most tragic page of the KHL history. Generally speaking, the Gagarin Cup moved a lot once the season was over. For the Cup, summer is the busiest period of the year, differently from what it is for players.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
On December 22 – the birthday of Russian hockey – an incredible game took place in St. Petersburg. The top teams in the Western Conference, SKA and CSKA, played at the football stadium Gazprom Arena in front of 67,700 spectators: a new attendance record. The year ends, but the season continues. The most interesting is still ahead of us!
Photo: Yury Kuzmin
The team could not disappoint millions of fans. The Olympic Games gold medal is back to Russia. However, the Russians’ victory did not happen without hard moments, and the final game against Germany – a game to remember – is a clear example. The Russian knows how to deal with it, though. That’s why players like Nikita Gusev and Kirill Kaprizov appear at the right time and in the right place to put things back in order.
Most likely, Danis Zaripov prefers to forget how the last season started. But as the saying goes, the first step is always the hardest. No circumstances, including those far from hockey, could interrupt the tradition that wants the Cup to go to Zaripov’s team. The forward raised his record-breaking fifth Gagarin Cup, and one of the first to congratulate with him was his former linemate Alexei Morozov.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
On March 18, 2017, Sergei Gimayev passed away. He left this world playing hockey, doing his favorite thing. On August 27, 2018, a monument to Gimayev, hockey player, coach, and television journalist was unveiled at the Novulozhinskoe Cemetery. Young CSKA players were the first to lay flowers.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
After the Olympics, the 10th KHL season got to the most important stage – the playoffs. Salavat Yulaev’s fans didn’t have an easy season, as the team could create both winning and losing streaks. The team led by Linus Omark, however, in the playoffs had two incredible series concluded only at the seventh game.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
A champions’ bus, special jersey and, of course, the parade under a stormy Kazan sky. The three-time Gagarin Cup winners visited the main attractions of the city along with the Trophy.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
On September, the new, eleventh season started, and Kazan once again remembered the victorious Spring. However, last year’s regular-season champion SKA gave Ak Bars a cold shower, having won the Opening Cup game with a 6:1 score. This means that Ak Bars players will have to roll up their sleeves and defend their title.
Photo: Yury Kuzmin
January and the All-Star Game. It’s quite a bit they are synonyms in the KHL. In the first month of the year, the best players of the KHL, and now also of the JHL and the WHL join to create an unforgettable event for the fans. Last year, the festivities were held in Kazakhstan. The All-Star Game is a great way not only to admire the players’ skills but also their fantasy and sense of humor. Pavel Padakin – then playing for HC Sochi – made the All-Star Game history with both his Sochiman costume and fantastic jump to end his leg at the speed relay contest.
Photo: Yury Kuzmin
And this is the player who forced everyone to talk about himself. Eleven points in 16 games for an 18-year-old is a great reason. Vitaly Kravtsov turned from a promising player to a star in a few games and became one of the most chatted-about players in the press.
Photo: Yury Kuzmin
When a top team changes its head coach, it is always an event. And when it happens in a National team, even more so. Last year, both things happened. However, the talk is only about one man. Ilya Vorobyov was appointed to lead both SKA St. Petersburg and Team Russia. He is the successor of the Olympic Champion Oleg Znarok in both workplaces. Both teams needed a change, but the goal remains the same: winning every game.
Photo: Andrey Golovanov
September 7 will always be the Lokomotiv Memorial Day. This year, for the first time after the tragedy, regular season games were played. All the teams that hit the ice honored the memory of the players involved in the incident, and special desks were organized at all the arenas so that fans could bring flowers. The team will always live in the memories of who remembers it.
Photo: Vladimir Bezzubov
