Tributes to a legend and a historic medal for Vitolins

Last week was dominated by the World Championship, and even in Russia’s absence there was plenty of KHL-related chat. Meanwhile, Metallurg picked up one of the rising stars of that tournament after signing a promising Kazakh forward.

Historic medal for Latvia

Harijs Vitolins, a well-known coach in the KHL, led his native Latvia to its first ever World Championship medal over the weekend. Vitolins, who was part of Oleg Znarok’s coaching staff at Dynamo and also worked on Russia’s World Championship and Olympic gold medal teams in 2014 and 2018, inspired one of the biggest shocks in recent years when his team came from behind in the third period and defeated the USA in overtime. That wasn’t the only surprise in this year’s tournament, which concluded with Canada defeating Germany in the gold medal game. Germany’s silver medal was its first at a World Championship since 1953 as the European nation continues to develop following its Olympic run in PyeongChang.

Latvia wins first medal, Canada gets 28th gold

Zetterberg in Datsyuk tribute

During the World Championship, the IIHF inducted Swedish legend Henrik Zetterberg into the Hall of Fame. Zetterberg was a team-mate of Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit, and paid a warm tribute to the Magic Man in his acceptance speech in Tampere on Sunday. “My son is seven, and he’s started watching some clips of my games,” Zetterberg set. “I realized if it wasn’t for Pavel, I wouldn’t have half the points I got. So many times I would give the puck in center ice, and suddenly I’d have an assist, or he would give me an empty net to score in. I love you, buddy, I miss you and I hope I can see you soon.”

SKA swoops for two Hawks

Sergei Tolchinsky and Arseny Gritsyuk are among SKA’s newest recruits after moving from Avangard. Tolchinsky, one of the last remaining players from Avangard’s cup-winning team of 2021, agreed a five-year deal beside the Neva and is set to become one of the marquee players on the team. Gritsyuk, one of the brightest Russian prospects, is also swapping Avangard for SKA. He has 84 points in 144 career KHL appearances to date, and moves to Petersburg as a restricted free agent.

Barberio to Severstal

Severstal has signed experienced Canadian defenseman Mark Barberio from Dinamo Minsk. The 33-year-old has more than 300 NHL games as well as playing for Ak Bars in the KHL. He also represented his country at the Beijing Olympics. Barberio is a natural replacement for Robin Press, who left Cherepovets for Magnitogorsk, and will bring experience to a youthful roster curate by new head coach Andrei Kozyrev.

Metallurg signs Kazakh prospect

Kazakhstan’s encouraging performance at the World Championship has put players in the Kazakh league into the spotlight. Metallurg responded by signing 24-year-old forward Maxim Mukhametov from Nomad Astana. He scored three goals in Riga to help his country to 11th place, and produced 59 points in 54 games in his national championship.