Sunday’s KHL World Games action in Uzbekistan drew a crowd of 9,405 fans to Tashkent’s Humo Arena. That outstrips the crowds that came to previous incarnations in Dubai, Switzerland, Austria and Estonia in previous years. The big turn-out for Sunday’s game between Dinamo Minsk and Spartak also highlights the rising popularity of hockey in the Central Asian country. Humo Tashkent started by playing in Russia’s VHL, but after the pandemic it switched to compete in the Kazakh championship.
Representatives of Uzbekistan’s hockey federation said that there are no immediate plans for Humo to return to Russian hockey. However, KHL president Alexei Morozov highlighted the international interest in today’s game – and not just in Uzbekistan. He pointed out there were visitors from 13 countries in Tashkent, including Armenia, Georgia, the UAE and Kazakhstan. “The KHL is always ready to talk and offer assistance,” he told journalists. “We had many guests from different countries here, we’ll talk about their plans and their situations. Recently we signed an agreement to work with our partners in Serbia. We’re ready to help clubs achieve their aims, promoting hockey in general and the KHL in particular.”
If Uzbekistan does join the KHL, some of its future stars will surely emerge from the Humo academy. And those youngsters got the chance of lifetime to work with a clutch of hockey legends at the weekend. Olympic champion Valery Kamensky, three-time World Champion (and two-time Gagarin Cup-winning coach) Sergei Fedorov, three-time Gagarin Cup-winner Ilya Kovalchuk and European Champion Sergei Gimayev led a masterclass for local kids. Kovalchuk recalled a previous masterclass with Fedorov: “When I was that age, we played at the Spartak Cup and we met Vyacheslav Fetisov, Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Fedorov. That’s stayed with me all my life, and it was a huge inspiration. I hope these guys will get similar inspiration here.”
On the ice, Dinamo Minsk and Spartak served up an entertaining game. The Belarusians, notionally the home team, twice led in regulation. However, Red-and-White strike duo Andrei Loktionov and Nikolai Goldobin were a persistent threat and each assisted the other to produce a 2-2 tie. Overtime was done quickly: 26 seconds into the final stanza, Adam Ruzicka potted the winner for the Muscovites.
It’s the final week of trades in the KHL, and there’s been a sudden surge of activity. Dynamo Moscow was busy, offloading imports Hunter Miska and Eric O’Dell, and acquiring Vladislav Podyapolsky from Lada. Goaltender Miska opted to return to the USA after half a season of inconsistent performances, while long-serving center O’Dell, who has barely played this season, was traded to Ak Bars. Netminder Podyapolsky has impressed with Lada this season, claiming 11 wins from 28 games and stopping 94.1% of shots faced for a GAA of 2.02. In total he has 111 wins from 333 KHL games, stopping 92.1% of shots for a GAA of 2.47.
Slovakian forward Richard Panik is the latest arrival in Yaroslavl. The 33-year-old played 541 NHL games, compiling 200 (89+111) points before returning to his homeland. This season he had 13 points in 18 games for Slovan in the Slovak championship. His initial contract with Lokomotiv runs to the end of the season.
Podyapolsky’s departure freed up cap space for Lada to sign forward Anthony Camara. The 31-year-old is familiar to KHL followers from his time with Neftkehimik and Barys in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. In total he played 128 games and scord 60 (28+32) points. This season he was playing in Slovakia with Nitra, where he had 13 points in 16 games. He is expected to link up with his new club in mid-January.
Forwards Will Bitten (Spartak) and Brendan Leipsic (Avtomobilist) were placed on waivers by their clubs last week. Bitten has since been claimed by Sochi, while Leipsic’s immediate future remains unclear. The former CSKA, Metallurg and SKA forward was released by the Motormen to ensure they continue to comply with the salary cap after acquiring Darren Dietz from Avangard.
Fans in Chelyabinsk will be hoping not to see any more of Vadim Shipachyov this season. The KHL’s record scorer had a hand in all three of Dinamo Minsk’s goals in last week’s 3-1 win at Traktor. Oddly enough, Shipachyov also had a three-point game when Traktor visited Belarus, and again had a hand in each of his team’s goals, meaning Dinamo's six goals against Benoit Groulx's team this season yielded six points for Shipachyov. On that occasion, though, Dinamo could only manage an OT loss.