From Anttila to Znarok – an A-to-Z of 2019
2019 was another great year in the KHL. As the clock ticks down to midnight, as well as looking forward to more excitement in the future, here’s an A-to-Z of some of the key names and big moments of the past 12 months.
A – Anttila; Jokerit’s forward Marko Anttila emerged as a hero of Finland’s World Championship triumph. His goals in the semi final and final helped the Finns defeat Russia and Canada to take gold in Bratislava.
B – Bilyalov; Ak Bars goalie Timur Bilyalov went 316 minutes, 19 seconds without allowing a goal, a new record in Russian hockey for the 24-year-old.
C – CSKA; after twice losing in the grand final, the Army Men lifted the Gagarin Cup for the first time with a sweep of Avangard. The Muscovites also became the first team to win the big prize after topping the regular season table.
D – Davos; the KHL World Games went back to Switzerland as Salavat Yulaev took on Ak Bars in the Alpine town. A thrilling overtime win for Ufa was a great advert for the league in one of European hockey’s most historic venues.
E – Eighty shut-outs; a new KHL landmark established by Metallurg goalie Vasily Koshechkin on Dec. 26 in Riga.
F – Fraser; head coach Curt Fraser has inspired arguably the biggest improvement of the year at any team in the KHL. When he took over at Kunlun Red Star last January, a disjointed roster was dropping out of playoff contention. After a year of the Fraser philosophy, the Chinese team stands fifth in the East, firmly in contention for a long-awaited return to the playoffs.
G – Gazprom Arena; St. Petersburg’s soccer stadium was the venue for another huge crowd at the Russian Classic between SKA and CSKA earlier in December. 61,000 saw CSKA edge a 1-0 verdict over the host.
H – Homecoming; hockey legend Pavel Datsyuk went back to his native Yekaterinburg after signing a contract with Avtomobilist in the summer. The Triple Gold Club member began his career with Spartak Yekaterinburg in the Russian Super League back in 1995/96.
I – Increased competition; the current KHL season is more competitive than ever. The stats show more games going to overtime, more one-goal verdicts and the points more widely shared than in any previous campaign. And the standings bear it out: two points separate the top three in the league, six separate six rivals gunning for a playoff place in the East.
J – Jaskin; Omsk-born Czech international Dmitrij Jaskin quickly settled into life in the KHL after joining Dynamo Moscow from the Washington Capitals. As 2019 comes to an end, he’s the leading goalscorer in the league with 19 goals.
K – Kaprizov; aged just 22 years, 170 days, star forward Kirill Kaprizov potted his 100th (and 101st) KHL goals in CSKA’s win over Sochi. That made him by far the youngest player to score a century – not just in the KHL, but throughout the history of Russian and Soviet hockey. The next youngest player on the list, Nikita Gusev, was almost three years older when he achieved the same feat.
L – Lehtonen; Jokerit recruited 25-year-old defenseman Mikko Lehtonen from HV71 in Sweden – and reaped the rewards. He started with a goal on his debut and has scored consistently throughout the season. At the New Year break he has 29 (11+18) points in 40 games, making him the second most productive blue liner in the league.
M – Metsola; Salavat Yulaev netminder Juha Metsola had another storming season and was voted the best goalie of the year. After moving from Amur to Salavat Yulaev, the Finn showed that he was equipped to deal with bigger expectations and his playoff form – 95.6% SVG, 1.54 GAA – propelled Ufa to the conference final, against expectations.
N – Nikitin; CSKA head coach Igor Nikitin led his team to the Gagarin Cup in only his second full season behind the bench. The 46-year-old, a graduate of Kazakhstan’s renowned Ust-Kamenogorsk hockey school, built his reputation as an assistant coach both at CSKA and on the Russian national team.
O – Omark; Swedish international Linus Omark moved into the all-time top 10 KHL scorers this season when he moved past 400 points. He also overtook Alexander Radulov to become the leading scorer at Salavat Yulaev.
P – Podkolzin; SKA prospect Vasily Podkolzin continues to progress – the 18-year-old is the youngest skater on Russia’s World Junior roster in Ostrava yet wears the ‘A’ on Valery Bragin’s team. A first round NHL draft pick this summer, he’s just one of many talented teens breaking through in Petersburg this season with the likes of Danila Galenyuk and Kirill Marchenko also making an impact in the KHL.
Q – quartet – Dynamo Moscow forward Daniil Tarasov was under pressure after going 11 games without a goal at the start of the season. He answered that criticism with a quartet of goals in the Blue-and-Whites 5-1 win at Amur on Oct. 21.
R – rollercoaster. At the end of September, Avtomobilist was top of the KHL and unbeaten in 8 games. By the end of October, it was bottom of the Eastern Conference after 7 straight losses. Now the Motormen are back up to fourth.
S – Slovan Bratislava; after seven seasons in the KHL, our Slovak friends decided to return to their national championship at the end of last season.
T – Tatarstan; the hockey mad region, home of Ak Bars and Neftekhimik, hosted a unique All-Star Week back in January. In previous years, the honor went to an individual city, but here the party was spread across the whole region. Kazan, Nizhnekamsk and Almatievsk all staged events; on the ice, Team Chernyshev came out on top in the hockey extravaganza.
U – underdog; Vityaz sprang a big surprise in the early part of the season when it roared to the top of the KHL table under the guidance of head coach Mikhail Kravets.
V – VTB Arena; Dynamo Moscow opened its long-awaited new home in January and, a year later, it’s getting ready to host the FONBET 2020 All-Star Game.
W – Wolski; in more than six seasons in the KHL, Wolski won a Gagarin Cup with Metallurg and an Olympic bronze with Canada. However, he ended his time in the league earlier this season after struggling to recreate his best form in China. Currently, he’s suiting up for Ambri-Piotta in the Spengler Cup in Davos.
X – eXtra; the KHL’s new Smart Puck project means extra layers of statistical data for everyone – coaches, fans, broadcasters and more – to help further enhance our understanding of the action.
Y – Ying; Beijing-born Rudi Ying became the first Chinese-born player to score in the KHL when he found the net in Red Star’s 6-3 win over Admiral in February.
Z –Znarok; legendary head coach Oleg Znarok returned to the KHL after a one-year sabbatical. The Olympic champion took charge at Spartak Moscow in the summer.
