KHL Roundup

MOSCOW , RUSSIA – Like much of the rest of the hockey world the Summer is proving to be a busy time for the KHL and its teams with changes to playing staff, prospective new teams and exciting new initiatives.
 
There had been talk of new teams joining the league for 2010/2011 season – but ultimately neither Czech team HC Lev, nor Budivelynik from the Ukraine, would be joining. HC Lev seemed very likely to join, but the Czech ice hockey federation’s executive committee voted unanimously against the club featuring in the KHL this coming season. KHL President Alexander Medvedev was disappointed by the decision: “Sadly, politicking is once again an obstacle, we hope a temporary one, to fresh ideas and initiatives in sport and business,”.
 
The KHL also announced two pre-season exhibition games against NHL clubs in October. SKA St Petersburg host Carolina Hurricanes on October 4^th, whilst Phoenix Coyotes travel to Latvia to face Dinamo Riga. This will be the first time Russian top flight clubs have faced an NHL opponent since 1990, when Montreal and Minnesota North Stars played eight games against teams from the old USSR Championship.
 
But unsurprisingly the big news of the summer has been on the playing front, with KHL clubs looking to strengthen their rosters. Thus far the two biggest moves have come in goal, where SKA St Petersburg have signed former San Jose netminder Evgeni Nabokov, whilst Spartak Moscow have opted to sign 45 year old Dominik Hasek!
 
Hasek, who has twice retired only to return to the game, had a successful season in his native Czech Republic last year and assured fans of the Moscow club he is feeling good going in to the new season.
 
More recently reports that Slovak star Pavol Demitra will be leaving Vancouver for the KHL have surfaced, joining Yaroslavl on a 1 year deal, whilst SKA St Petersburg are still hopeful their mega deal will attract hockey superstar Ilya Kovalchuk back to his homeland.
 
The next generation of KHL stars were selected in June at the KHL draft. Sibir selected former Slavia Praha juniors forward Dmitry Yashkin as the 1^st overall pick, with teams hoping this year’s group of new youngsters can help propel their teams to a Gagarin Cup in the future.
 
The league is also making a big drive this season to reinforce the importance of top quality medical treatment and facilities for clubs and players. Moscow hosted a ‘Medical Support for the Major Hockey Leagues’ seminar recently, with the head of the KHL medical center, Nikolai Durmanov saying “ Unfortunately, at many clubs the leadership has underestimated the role of medical support in modern sport, and this is a big problem. Hockey teams are built on players, and a player’s health is his biggest asset. Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that we elevate medicine to its rightful place among the main priorities in a hockey club’s core activities.”
 
There has often been criticism of the standards of medical care available at some top flight Russian games, and the initiative aims to bring levels up to what Durmanov decribed as ‘international standards’.
 
Contact the author: rob.mcgregor@prohockeynews.com