Trophy for Russia, Canadian coach moves on

The KHL paused for this week’s international action, which saw Russia rattle in the goals in Novosibirsk while Raphael Richer swapped Traktor for Avangard.

Russia dominant at Channel 1 Cup

The Channel 1 Cup went to Novosibirsk for the first time, and the three-team international tournament attracted sell-out crowds at the Sibir Arena. They saw Russia-25, a national team roster with an average age of 25, power to victory over Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Severstal’s Danil Aimurzin was the key player in the opening 3-1 win over the Belarusians. He scored twice and missed a penalty shot. Then, on Sunday, the Russians secured the title with a 9-0 thrashing of a youthful Kazakh roster. Kazakhstan relied heavily on players from its national championship, and struggled to compete. Aimurzin scored again, and there were two goals apiece for Prokhor Poltapov and Yegor Surin. Belarus finished second thanks to a 4-1 win over Kazakhstan. 

Record attendances

During the international break, the KHL held its traditional meeting of club directors. Impressive attendance figures for the first part of the season were high on the agenda, along with news that brand awareness had doubled in the 13-25 age group and online engagement was increasing.

KHL President Alexei Morozov said: “We’re already setting attendance records: on average, we’re seeing almost 8,000 fans at each game, which is 80% of the full capacity. We see this growth and we put the emphasis on attracting a younger audience. Over two years, this has doubled. We’ve put together hundreds of events and projects to get kids into hockey.”

Richer to Avangard

Canadian coach Raphael-Pier Richer left Traktor at the start of the week, and later agreed a move to join his compatriot Guy Boucher at Avangard. Richer, 31, set a record as the youngest ever head coach – albeit interim – when he took Benoit Groulx’s place for a game against Avangard last season aged 30 years and 300 days. More recently, he has spent the last three weeks as interim head coach after Groulx left Chelyabinsk last month. However, a heavy defeat at home to Dynamo Moscow persuaded Traktor to look for a new coach – although no appointment has yet been confirmed. Now Richer is on the way to Omsk, where there is a gap in Boucher’s coaching staff after Alexei Svitov ran into health problems.

Sochi trades away record scorer

Artur Tyanulin, who overtook Ilya Krikunov as HC Sochi’s all-time scoring leader earlier this season, is moving to Lada. The forward posted 133 points for the Leopards after joining from Torpedo in 2022, moving past Krikunov’s mark of 122. As part of the deal, Danil Bashkirov is going the other way, departing Togliatti after just 20 games following his summer move from Avangard.

All-Star line-ups complete

The pause in KHL action also gave time to confirm the final line-ups for February’s 2026 Fonbet KHL All-Star Game. Host city Yekaterinburg is represented with four players on the KHL Ural Stars team: goalie Vladimir Galkin, defenseman Jesse Blacker and forwards Roman Gorbunov and Maxim Denezhkin. The rest of the roster includes goalie Semyon Vyazovoi (Salavat Yulaev), D-men Alexei Vasilevsky (Salavat Yulaev), Grigory Dronov (Traktor) and Yegor Yakovlev (Metallurg), and forward Josh Leivo and Mikhail Grigorenko (Traktor), Vladimir Tkachyov, Roman Kantserov and Dmitry Silantyev (Metallurg) and Alexander Zharovsky (Salavat Yulaev).

KHL World Stars features goalies Zach Fucale (Dinamo Minsk) and Adam Scheel (Barys), defensemen Mitch Miller (Ak Bars), Yanni Kaldis (Severstal), Joey Keane (Spartak) and Adam Clendening (Shanghai Dragons), and forwards Sam Anas, Vitaly Pinchuk (Dinamo Minsk), Max Comtois (Dynamo Moscow), Kevin Labanc (Shanghai Dragons), Daniel Sprong (CSKA), Riley Sawchuk (Lada), Adam Ruzicka (Spartak) and Andrew Poturalski (Avangard).

KHL RUS Stars has goalies Filipp Dolganov (Neftekhimik) and Maxim Dorozhko (Amur), defensemen Damir Sharipzyanov (Avangard), Daniil Pylenkov (Dynamo Moscow), Yegor Alanov (Sibir) and Nikita Lyamkin (Ak Bars), and forwards Alexander Radulov, Georgy Ivanov (Lokomotiv), Danil Aimurzin (Severstal), Konstantin Okulov (Avangard), Andrei Belozyorov (Neftekhimik), Daniil Seroukh (HC Sochi), Daniil Gutik (Admiral), Marat Khairullin (SKA).

KHL U23 Stars line up with goalies Dmitry Gamzin (CSKA) and Sergei Ivanov (SKA), defensemen Anton Silayev (Torpedo), Daniil Orlov (Spartak), Nikita Yevseyev (Amur), and forwards Yegor Surin (Lokomotiv), Matvei Korotky (SKA), Yegor Vinogradov (Torpedo), Mikhail Ilyin (Severstal), German Tochilkin (Neftekhimik), Prokhor Poltapov (CSKA), Vadim Moroz (Dinamo Minsk). Two more players will be added to the team following the Junior Hockey League Challenge Cup.