Back to work
This week sees the KHL’s players returning for pre-season camps. With barely six weeks to go until the opening game, it’s time to look at some potential record breakers, as well as the latest trades.
Andreoff completes Sibir’s import stable
Sibir’s new head coach, David Nemirovsky, secured his third import player with the signing of Canadian forward Andy Andreoff. The 32-year-old has been in the NHL for eight seasons, playing almost 200 games for LA, Philadelphia and the Islanders. However, he’s made a bigger impact in the AHL, where he led the league in goals (37) last term. Andreoff is the third Canadian on Nemirovsky’s team. He joins defenseman Trevor Murphy and forward Taylor Beck, both of whom are familiar to the club. That represents something of a change of course for Sibir’s GM Kirill Fastovsky, who has tended to recruit from Europe in the past. However, with Toronto-born Nemirovsky behind the bench, a North American accent to the playing staff makes sense this season.
Yakupov goes home
Nail Yakupov arguably became Nizhnekamsk’s most famous export when he was selected as #1 in the NHL draft in 2012. He never turned into the player the Oilers hoped for, but his career did bring Gagarin Cup glory with Avangard in 2021. However, apart from a brief spell on loan during the 2012-2013 lockout, Yakupov didn’t get to play for his hometown team in the KHL. Until now. A decade after his previous appearances for Neftekhimik, Yakupov is back. Released by Avangard, he signed a one-year deal with his home club – and there will be big expectations on him in the coming campaign.
Millennium men
The coming season could see the first player complete 1,000 KHL games. Evgeny Biryukov is in pole position. The Salavat Yulaev D-man has been involved for 15 full seasons, making 968 appearances. If he plays in every game from the start of the season, he’ll reach the landmark on Nov. 18 in the Green Derby against Ak Bars. In that game, he’ll likely be up against Vadim Shipachyov, another man closing on 1,000 KHL games. He currently has 920 appearances, and will need to go deep into the playoffs to reach the landmark this term. However, Shipachyov played 92 games for Ak Bars last season, making this an attainable target.
Biryukov could also move up to second in the all-time appearance charts, including games in the Russian Superleague. He currently has 1,117 games, 64 behind Vitaly Atyushov on 1,181. Danis Zaripov, who retired at the end of last season, is far ahead of the competition with 1,324 career appearances.
Who is going to break the 1000-game milestone?
Shipachyov eyes scoring records
Not only is Vadim Shipachyov one of the longest-serving players in the KHL – he’s also among the most prolific. As things stand, the forward has 874 points in the KHL. In regular season play, he has compiled 749 – just seven behind Sergei Mozyakin’s KHL record. Meanwhile, he is 54 points behind Mozyakin’s overall KHL record of 928 points. Shipachyov might also get close to Mozyakin’s assist record. Moving from 600 to 656 in one season might be a long shot, but the Ak Bars forward is highly likely to get there in two campaigns.
Vadim Shipachyov. Closing in: 7 points to regular season record, 54 to KHL record
Rule changes
The new season will see a few tweaks to the rules of the game, with a view to encouraging attacking hockey and punishing foul play. The most visible change affects face-offs at the start of a period (or overtime): now, if a team is short-handed it will have to defend a face-off in its own end, rather than at center ice. Other changes mean that players will no longer be able to hold the puck in the trapezoid zone behind their net. A first offense yields a warning and a face-off in front of the defending team’s net; subsequent violations will bring a minor penalty. This rule was trialled in last year’s JHL. In addition, scoring goals gets slightly easier. Now, if an attacking player displaces the net due to contact with an opponent and the puck then crosses the line, a goal can be awarded.
Back to work
Temperatures across Russia soared last week – in Siberia, Omsk recorded 36C, while in Ufa the mercury reached 40C. But don’t assume that it was too hot for hockey. Many KHL teams welcomed their players back from vacation in the past few days. Salavat Yulaev, Severstal, Dinamo Minsk, Sochi, Neftekhimik, Admiral and Dynamo Moscow were among the clubs who celebrated a return to pre-season on their social channels.
