Red-and-White record breakers, first All-Stars named

It’s been a big week for Spartak, with Alexei Zhamnov’s freescoring team powering to the KHL summit on the back of a record hot streak. Elsewhere, there was good news for some of the strugglers with important, skid-halting successes. And the fan polling is complete, giving us our first 16 All-Stars of the season.

Spartak sets record

These are great days for the Red-and-White faction in Moscow. Spartak is on a tear, winning its last eight games to reach the top of the KHL standings. The club is on a record winning streak in the KHL era, and under Alexei Zhamnov is playing some scintillating hockey. True, it’s not always textbook stuff: Zhamnov, whose Russian team at the 2022 Olympics was widely criticized for a lack of firepower, is happy to prioritize offensive flair over defensive stability. But there’s no argument about the entertainment. Spartak scored 35 goals in those eight wins, enough to cope with allowing 17 at the other end. Over the season to date, the Red-and-Whites have a league-leading 82 goals, although only five teams have allowed more than 61 goals conceded thus far.

Spartak on top, CSKA loses in Kazan. October 22 round-up

Leading the scoring race

With so many goals from Spartak this season, it’s hardly surprising that the team is dominating the scoring race. Nikolai Goldobin remains well ahead of the pack after moving to 33 (16+17) points. He’s joined in the top three by team-mates Ivan Morozov (24 points) and Pavel Poryadin (23). All three players joined the club over the summer, highlighting some great work by the team management.

First All-Stars selected

Goldobin’s form made him a hot property in the All-Star voting. However, the league’s scoring leader was not the biggest vote-winner in the poll. That honor went to Torpedo’s Vasily Atanasov, with 2,560 votes. Atanasov’s Torpedo team-mate Bogdan Konyushkov was the leading defenseman in the fan poll, getting 1,263 votes. For both players, this will be a first All-Star appearance. Dinamo Minsk goalie Alexei Kolosov was the most popular goalie, ticking 2,298 boxes. In total, 16 players representing 12 clubs were selected from the fan poll. The rest of the rosters will be selected by hockey journalists and the KHL’s own expert panel before the big event in Petersburg on Dec. 9-10.

All-Star Week news

Notable wins for strugglers

After 10 successive losses, Kunlun Red Star finally snapped its skid with a shoot-out victory at Dinamo Minsk. The Dragons rallied from 1-3 down in Belarus to snatch a long-awaited ‘W’. Meanwhile, Dmitry Ryabykin got his first victory as head coach of Vityaz. After four games in the hot seat, he masterminded a 5-2 win over Avangard. The result was doubly satisfying since Ryabykin was dismissed as the Hawks’ head coach early last season.

CSKA blanks Loko, Dragons end slump. October 19 round-up

1,000 games for Olenin

Just like the players and coaches, KHL officials like to celebrate their career milestones. And few achievements are as impressive as Konstantin Olenin’s. The long-serving ref has been in the league from its first season, and last week he took charge of his 1,000^th game. That came as he called Vityaz’s home victory over Lokomotiv on Oct. 21. 

“At first, it didn’t seem at all possible,” Olenin told KHL.ru. “I didn’t get so many games, and it took time to get started. At the beginning of my career I didn’t even think about [1,000 games], it seemed like a fantasy. Only when I refereed my 900^th, I understood that I could get to 1,000.” 

Away from the KHL, Olenin was also the first Russian to officiate at an IIHF World Championship final when he called Sweden’s 5-1 success over Switzerland in 2013. He later worked at the Olympic Games in 2014 and 2018.

Snowman wins Mascot Mania

The KHL’s annual mascot contest took place in Moscow, with Sibir’s Snowman taking the top prize. Over the weekend, mascots from all 23 teams gathered at the capital’s Central Children’s Store to show their skills in a bunch of entertaining contests. Snowman – Snegovik in Russian – won through four rounds of challenges, which included improv comedy, hockey trivia, and some special tasks set by a celebrity jury. Snowman defeated Traktor’s Polar Bear in the final, with last year’s champion Zubrik (Dinamo Minsk) also reaching the last four.