Best players of January

The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the Regular Season’s fifth month in four categories.

In December, the League’s teams played 118 games, with 646 players (52 goalies, 214 defensemen, and 380 forwards) taking part in the action. Scoring was at 5.60 goals per game.

- Best goalie for the third time in his career was Vladislav Podyapolsky (Dynamo Moscow), who won six games from seven last month. The goalie faced 204 shots, or 29.1 per night, posting a saves percentage of 94.61% and a goals-against average of 1.69. Podyapolsky posted a shutout in Dynamo Moscow’s road win against HC Sochi on Jan. 7 (2:0).

- Best defenseman for the first time in his career was Grigory Dronov (Traktor), who scored 9 (4+5) points in twelve January games. The Chelyabinsk blueliner ended the month with a plus-9 differential. In his team’s road victory over Neftekhimik on Jan. 17 (4:2), Dronov potted the game-winning goal. Telegin made five hits, blocked 25 shots, made one pass interception and had nine takeaways.

- Best forward for the first time in his career was Joshua Leivo (Salavat Yulaev), who scored 19 (13+6) points in ten January games. The Ufa forward ended the month with a plus-11 differential. Leivo posted two doubles and three hat-tricks, and blocked two shots, made five pass interceptions, and had three takeaways.

- Best rookie for the third time in his career was forward Ivan Demidov (SKA), who scored 14 (9+5) points in eleven January games, ending the month with a plus-2 differential. The young forward potted one double and one hat-trick, and made six hits, blocked three shots, made three pass interceptions, and had nine takeaways.