Kunlun Red Star: lack of success in the KHL and China’s first Olympic Games
KHL.ru starts reviewing the 2021-2022 season for each of the 24 league’s teams. Today it’s Kunlun Red Star’s turn.
This season, the team had to work on two fronts: In addition to the KHL championship, almost the entire Kunlun Red Star squad represented China at the Olympics on home soil. Both were somewhat disappointing: Already in January, the Dragons lost any theoretical chances of qualifying for the Gagarin Cup playoffs, and at the Olympics, they lost four games of four by a combined score of 4:23. Before the season began, KHL.ru predicted that the Chinese team would struggle to make the playoffs, but that almost seems optimistic now. At the same time, the Red Stars had plenty of local successes, with victories over Ak Bars and CSKA in the regular season and China’s first goal in Olympic history.
Best players
33 (14+19) points in 48 games
The elder of the Fu brothers had his best season in the KHL — never has he scored so many points and tallied more than nine goals. Moreover, he scored in every situation: in powerplay, penalty killing, and even strength. His main trump cards are his excellent technique, skating, quick hands, and ability to take on defensemen one-on-one.
24 (6+18) points in 48 games
He led the Kunlun Red Star defensive line with the most ice time — about 23 minutes per game on average. The blueliner had a good showing on the power play and scored 24+ points in the regular season for the second consecutive season — a very good result for a defenseman. He also had a three-game scoring streak between November and December.
28 (14+14) points in 48 games
Wong fell just short of his personal KHL record of 31 points in the 2019-2020 season, though then, he played 14 more games. Along with Brandon Yip, he was Kunlun Red Star’s main power-play option, with both accumulating six tallies. In December, he had a four-game scoring streak.
Best game
Of course, it was the Dragon’s comeback in the away game against Ak Bars — by halftime, Kunlun Red Star were trailing 0-3. But it was either the Kazan team loosened up, or the visitors added more, or all of the above: Yip scored one goal, then Spencer Foo ran toward the net in penalty killing and cut the host’s lead. Alex Riche tied the game early in the third period, and Luke Lockhart’s power play goal sealed the deal for the Dragons.
Coaching
Ivano Zanatta took over as the club’s bench boss last offseason, but it’s hard to call his work at Kunlun Red Star a success — only 9 wins in 48 games and the lowest points percentage in the League (26.0%). At the Olympics, China also did not show any outstanding results, but there objectively it wasn’t an easy task — in the group stage, the hosts faced the USA, Canada, and Germany, and in the quarterfinals, they got the Canadians again. It’s not yet known whether Zanatta will continue to work for the Dragons, as the club has not officially announced his departure.
Offseason moves
Kunlun Red Star has 28 hockey players in the Gone column in the KHL transfer chart, while only Jeremy Smith is listed in the Staying one. The club is still silent on the transfer market, and there is more talk about the departure of its former players — for example, Mikhail Abramov has already signed a contract in Sochi. As for the club’s location for the new season, it will again be the Moscow Region — this was stated by KHL President Alexei Morozov in an interview with Match TV.
