Bright debuts and excellent confirms. Week 21 top imports
Huska backstops Torpedo, Sulak helps Admiral sailing to the playoffs. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.
Slovakia
G, Torpedo, 3 G, 3 W, 97.06%, GAA 0.97, 1 SO
The Slovak netminder has been in fine shape of late, shining last week with two wins in as many appearances and excellent numbers. The goalie helped Torpedo gaining three straight victories, including an SO win in Minsk. But the highlight of the week was Huska’s performance in Torpedo’s 4:0 win over Spartak, when he stopped all 34 Red-and-Whites’ shots to record his second KHL shutout. The playoffs are coming, Torpedo is riding high in the Western Conference standings, and Huska will be even more important now. For his efforts, the Slovak was awarded the Best goalie of the week.
Czechia
D, Admiral, 2 G, 4 (1+3) points, +4
Sulak has been once again incredible for the Sailors, posting four points in two key encounters last week. Admiral gained points in both matches, and Sulak enjoyed two multi-point performance as the Sailors traded wins with Sibir. In the first game the productive d-man had a goal and an assist, with Novosibirsk getting the last laugh after SO. But in the revenge match, Sulak had two helpers – including on Danil Faizullin’s game-tying tally with fewer than two minutes to go in the closing frame, with Nikolai Chebykin winning the game for Admiral in OT. If the Sailors are currently in seventh place in the East, a lot of merit lies on Sulak’s shoulders. The large-framed defenseman has been awarded the Best defenseman of the week for his efforts.
United States
F, Barys, 4 G, 5 (2+3) points, +1
The 25-years-old American forward is having a strong debut season in Kazakhstan, and is currently tied with veteran Linden Vey for the most point for Barys, with 36 (13+23) in 52 regular season games. Last week, however, Bracco was even more productive for Barys, leading the league tied with Sibir’s Valentin Pyanov with five points. The winger, who won gold medals at both U18 and U20 level with Team USA, most notably posted a hat-trick of assists in Friday’s Barys win over Traktor (4:3). Bracco also tallied the lone Barys’ goal in Sunday’s loss to Dynamo Moscow, and had the same feat when the Kazakhs lost to Metallurg on Monday. Barys’ struggle to get to the playoffs is in full swing and the team needs Bracco’s production to secure a spot in the top eight.
Canada
D, Traktor, 4 G, 2 (1+1) points, +2
Traktor’s season has been a rocky one, but the signing of Rob Hamilton has been one of the few bright moments in this year’s campaign for the Southern Urals franchise. The Canadian blue-liner started producing right away and is currently the second scorer on the blue line for the Black-and-Whites, tied with Albert Yarullin, trailing only Sergei Telegin. However, Hamilton only required 21 games to reach 14 (2+12) points, while Yarullin had 56. Telegin produced 17 in 47 appearances. The Canadian has joined Traktor with the season already started, and has adapted exceptionally well – thankfully for the franchise, he inked a contract valid through the next season. Traktor will now have to fight hard to keep its chances to fight for the last playoffs spot in the East.
