Gold for Salavat Yulaev, rebuild for SKA
Salavat Yulaev edged the first ever KHL 3x3 Championship title after a nail-biting gold-medal game against Ak Bars. There was more on-ice action on Sunday, when Russia’s NHL stars came home to play in the Game of the Year in Moscow. Meanwhile, off the ice, SKA had a busy week of trading players.
Salavat Yulaev wins first 3x3 championship
The inaugural KHL 3x3 Championship title went to Salavat Yulaev. The Ufa team edged regular season leader Ak Bars in a shoot-out in Saturday’s showdown at the CSKA Arena in Moscow. Ilya Krikunov potted the vital goal in the shoot-out, and Ufa goalie Yury Sirotkin was named tournament MVP.
Ak Bars dominated the regular season, but in last week’s final stage the Kazan team qualified in second place behind Salavat Yulaev. Metallurg, the second strongest team through the regular season, surprisingly failed to qualify for Saturday’s medal games. Avangard also dropped out before the weekend.
On Saturday, Salavat Yulaev defeated Traktor in the first semi-final, before Ak Bars overcame Dinamo Minsk. Traktor recovered to beat the Belarusians to bronze, then the goal-medal game finished in a tense 1-1 tie before Krikunov decided it.
Morozov expects 3x3 to get bigger
KHL President Alexei Morozov was excited by what he saw at the final of the KHL 3x3 Championship – and is looking forward to even more next season. “We want to develop along these lines because it attracts fans,” he said. “3x3 already has a core of support which, I’m sure, will grow. Also, we expect that next year’s tournament won’t just be played in Moscow. We’re looking forward to seeing 3x3 arenas in the regions so we can play there.”
On the ice, the referees’ department has suggestions to make the 3x3 game even more attractive. “This is such exciting hockey, completely different from the classical 5x5, so it attracts a completely different audience,” he said. “We have proposals to make it even more dynamic, there are things we will work on over the summer.”
Sorokin gets commemorative medal
Goalie Ilya Sorokin, currently with the New York Islanders, is the latest KHL legend to receive his commemorative medal from league president Alexei Morozov. On Saturday, the former CSKA netminder was honored for his 60 shut-outs in KHL play. On three goalies have reached that milestone, with Sorokin joining Vasily Koshechkin (90) and Alexander Yeryomenko (63) in an elite club. Sorokin played 313 games in the league for Metallurg Novokuznetsk and CSKA. In 2019 he helped the Muscovites to their first Gagarin Cup and was named playoff MVP.
Russian NHLers triumph in Game of the Year
Sunday saw Moscow stage the 2025 Game of the Year, pitting a KHL select line-up against Alexander Ovechkin’s team of Russian NHLers. The event was a fundraiser to help children with limited opportunities. The early exchanges were tight: goals from Ilya Kovalchuk, Vitaly Kravtsov and Nikolai Goldobin had the game tied at 3-3 in the 17th minute. But after that, the NHL roster took command, powering to a 15-3 victory. Vasily Podkolzin led the way with a hat-trick, Matvei Michkov contributed a trademark “lacrosse” goal and Ovechkin and Evgeny Malkin also got on the scoresheet.
SKA’s rebuild picks up pace
It’s been a busy week in the transfer market for SKA. The Petersburg club, preparing for its first season under new head coach Igor Larionov, made several big moves.
On defense, Trevor Murphy arrives from Sibir. Last season, the Canadian was the KHL’s most productive defenseman (15+49 in 71 games) and he has 197 points from 301 games with Kunlun, Ak Bars and Sibir. He looks to be a natural two-way replacement for NHL-bound Alexander Nikishin. Another productive blue-liner, Brennan Menell, joins from Dynamo Moscow with defensive prospect Timur Kol going the other way.
Larionov also went back to his former team, Torpedo, to sign Markus Phillips on a one-year deal. Last season, the 26-year-old Canadian played 62 games, scored 13 (2+11) points and had a +6 rating. Larionov also recruited his son, Igor Jr., who played for him in Nizhny Novgorod.
But there are high-profile departures as well. Three-time Gagarin Cup winner Mikhail Grigorenko was released and signed with Traktor. Fellow forwards Sergei Tolchinsky and Andrei Chivilyov also left the club, with Tolchinsky now looking to revive his fortunes alongside Andrei Razin at Metallurg.
Former Spartak man Andrei Loktionov, 35, joins SKA and renews his long acquaintance with Larionov. Both men come from Voskresensk and Larionov was Loktionov’s agent for many years. This will be their first time working together as player and coach.
Dufour joins Lada
Canadian forward William Dufour, 23, will be throwing his sizeable frame behind Lada’s cause in the coming the season. Standing at 190 cms and weighing 96 kg, he’s a big, powerful right winger who was a team-mate of Connor Bedard on Canada’s golden World Junior roster in 2022. Since then, he made a solitary NHL appearance for the Islanders but has played most of his hockey in the AHL, most recently with Colorado’s farm-club. Dufour joins defenseman Alex Cotton and forward Josh Lawrence in Togliatti, where GM Sergei Gomolyako is banking on young North Americans to fill his import quota.
CSKA signs Gardner
Dufour isn’t the only Canadian forward arriving from the AHL. Rhett Gardner, 29, has NHL experience with Dallas, but spent last season wearing the ‘A’ at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Never a prolific scorer, Gardner is more in the mold of Lokomotiv’s Byron Froese or Traktor’s Charles Robinson – solid, physically imposing and offering plenty from a defensive perspective.
