2021-2022 review: Salavat Yulaev. Finding new heroes in town
KHL.ru reviews the 2021-2022 season for each of the 24 league’s teams. Today it’s Salavat Yulaev’s turn. The Ufa franchise had the best start of its KHL history, and in the playoffs it had its stake on local resources to reach the Conference semifinals.
Seven wins in a row to start the season is a new record for Salavat Yulaev in the KHL. In total, the Ufa team won 10 out of 11 games in September, including victories over Metallurg, Avtomobilist (twice), SKA, and Lokomotiv. Tomi Lamsa’s team showed good hockey, which helped them achieve results – the team’s longest losing streak was 4 games, but Ufa did not suffer any major setbacks.
In the Gagarin Cup playoffs, Salavat Yulaev took on Siberia in the first round and that series was one of the toughest at this stage. In the conference semifinals, the team, which by that time had been completely devastated by the departure of its leaders, squared off against Traktor. Even in that situation, however, Salavat Yulaev was close to winning the series: The players in the club’s system, who had not always been in the lineup before, took over the lead. Yes, Ufa lost in six games, but no one would throw a stone at them for such a result.
Best players
54 games, 40 (16+24) points, +15
Many call him the best Russian center-forward in the KHL, and for good reason. He finished the season as the team’s leading scorer with a pretty decent assist rating. Kadeikin’s strength is his play on the faceoff dots (62.1% of wins). In many ways, he took over the role of team leader when first unit’s players left Salavat Yulaev.
56 games, 35 (13+22) points, +11
The forward, who moved from Sochi in the offseason, fit in well and had an excellent showing last season. He played most of the games on a line with Kadeikin and they quickly found a common language. Shmelyov’s efforts often brought points to the team – for example, he made a double in the victorious match with Barys (2-1).
56 games, 30 (17+13) points, +20
After switching from Magnitogorsk to Ufa, Kulemin found his second youth – with a hat-trick in his first official game for the new team, and two points in games against Metallurg and Avtomobilist. All in all, he had his best season of the latest three years. In addition, he led the Ufa side in the plus-and-minus department.
Head coach
Tomi Lamsa has built one of the most flexible teams in the KHL – if necessary, Salavat Yulayev could give the puck away and roll back, on other occasions play hard and apply pressure. Special mention should be made of their stout defense: Ufa had the best defense in the League during the regular season (96 allowed goals). The Finn stayed with the team through the playoffs and left in the offseason, and his successor is now Viktor Kozlov.
Best game
Salavat Yulaev began the season with an away series, and in its third match, Ufa met with Magnitka. Kulemin, a former Steel Fox, opened the score, then the success of the guests was developed by Alexei Pustozyorov, Artyom Pimenov, and Danil Bashkirov. The hosts replied with two power play goals, but this did not deter Lamsa’s squad – three more Salavat Yulaev goals brought the score to a blowout.
Young guns
Six hockey players under the age of 23 played for Salavat Yulayev in the 2021-2022 campaign. Two of them played only one game, while each of Shakir Mukhamadullin, Bashkirov, Pustozyorov, and Danil Alalykin looked like contenders for a place in the senior squad’s lineup. The first played 45 games and scored 7 (3+4) points, the second had his best season in the KHL, with a loot of 18 (8+10) points in 54 games. Pustozyorov looked good in the playoffs and scored 8 (5+3) points in 40 games. The same amount is on Alalykin’s account: 5+3 in 41 games.
Offseason moves
The main transfer deal for the Ufa team was trading Ivan Drozdov off Spartak Moscow. In addition, Salavat Yulaev added two goalies, Ilya Ezhov, and Andrei Kareyev. Forwards Stanislav Bocharov and Evgeny Timkin also joined the team.
In addition to the foreigners, also Dinar Khafizullin and Pyotr Khokhryakov left Ufa; the first returned to Ak Bars, the second signed in Chelyabinsk. Goalie Alexander Sharychenkov moved to CSKA, while Andrei Zubarev’s deal with Salavat Yulaev run out as the defenseman is currently seeking a new team.
