Schedules — We Have ‘Em! (Updated)

What with the pandemic and everything, schedules for the 2020-21 seasons in Russia’s various leagues are appearing late this summer, but appearing they nonetheless are! Today saw the release of the team-lists and schedules for the 2020-21 seasons of KHL and MHL, with other leagues likely to follow soon. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from a done thing, so there is a chance that there will be delays, reschedulings, and other such unfortunate news to come. However, for the moment, all is anticipation for the new season — read on, for a quick look at the KHL and MHL schedules, with details on other leagues’ calendars to be added as soon as possible!

August 19th: ZhHL schedule notes added.

Where We Stand, as July Approaches

Our new arena's construction is underway in Shenzhen. We can’t wait to play our first game at new home! #KRS #VankeRays pic.twitter.com/ZOBx26RJ28

— HC Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star (@KRSVankeRays) June 11, 2020

KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen of the Russian Women’s Hockey League will have a new home rink in the (hopefully) near future!

Russian hockey teams are beginning to return to the ice in preparation for the new season, with the KHL clubs starting their camps in mid-July. And while we still do not have official team lists for 2020-21, there has been some news over the past couple of months regarding which clubs are in, and which are out. Read on, as we take a preliminary look at how the various leagues in Russian hockey will look in the coming season, all being well.

The Bragin Era Begins (Updated)

New Russian men’s national-team head coach Valery Bragin. (Image Source)

A move that had been rumoured for a month or so became official today, and for the second straight summer the Russian Hockey Federation has announced a new coach for the senior men’s national team. At about this time last year, it was Alexei Kudashov taking over for Ilya Vorobyov; now it is Kudashov’s turn to be replaced, and his replacement both with the national team and with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg club will the longtime coach of Russia’s national U20 men’s team (i.e. the World Juniors squad), Valery Bragin. Hall-of-Famer Igor Larionov will be the new head coach of the U20 team, a very interesting move in its own right. Read on, for more details, and some thoughts!

More Early Off-Season Doings

Justin Danforth, here in action with Lukko in Finland’s Liiga, is one of the intriguing imports signed by Vityaz this past weekend. (Image Source)

The weekend brought further interesting developments in the KHL off-season; we have, for example, an old school player-for-player trade to report! And little Vityaz Moscow Oblast have made a big splash in the opening days of free agency, bringing in intriguing imports and proven KHL talents both. Read on, for that and more!

May 1st, and Hello, 2020-21!

Veteran scoring forward Roman Starchenko will be staying with Barys for the next couple of seasons, although the rest of the news from Day 1 of the signing season was not so good for the Kazakh club. (Image Source)

We are still miles from knowing when the next hockey games will be played, but May 1st nonetheless saw the opening of the 2020 off-season signing period in the various Russian leagues. The KHL, its 2019-20 season prematurely ended by the pandemic, is embarking on the era of the “hard” salary cap; a late attempt, led by CSKA Moscow, to get that limit raised to 1.3 billion rubles was voted down by the clubs last week, and it will remain at 900 million. The introduction of the “hard” cap should make for an active off-season, and indeed Day 1 of it saw some big moves. Read on, as we resume blogging here after a bit of a brain break, and take a look at the biggest of them!

Admiral Vladivostok Withdraw From the KHL for 2020-21 (More to Come)

(Image Source)

Per an announcement on the club’s official website, Admiral Vladivostok will not participate in the 2020-21 KHL season. This development follow a decision by the Primorsky Krai regional government to withdraw all funding from professional sports; those monies will now be used for measures to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the reports, funding for youth hockey initiatives will be maintained, and Admiral’s MHL junior team, Taifun Primorsky Krai, will play next season.

Much more to come on this story today — below the jump are some questions and answers about the situation, with appropriate links, and there are more to come. And of course if you have questions that you do not see there, feel free to fire them into the comments section, and I’ll do my best to find answers!

Looking Ahead in the KHL

A very Happy Birthday to Mr. Sergei Mozyakin! The KHL’s greatest-ever player turns 39 today, and his playing future will be one of the big stories of the 2020 off-season.

And just like that, the 2019-20 hockey season in Russia has come to an official end — probably. Most leagues have either finished their season (the ZhHL) or have declared the current campaign cancelled (the KHL, VHL, and PVHL as of last week), and only the two junior leagues are still holding out any hope of completing their playoffs at a future date. For all intents and purposes, we are now into the off-season, and beginning the consideration of the 2020-21 campaign. Read on, therefore, for some early KHL storylines as we look ahead (with any luck) to this Fall!

Hockey and the Coronavirus: Updates

Below the jump, an attempt to put together a running list of hockey competitions that have been cancelled, suspended, or otherwise disrupted by the outbreak of COVID-19. The list will be updated, and heads-up notes etc. will be much appreciated! Read on, and do check back for further updates…

LATEST UPDATE: March 26th (international hockey update)

The KHL Salary Cap, Revisited

Alexei Morozov (right) with the man he replaced as President of the KHL, Dmitri Chernyshenko. (Image Source)

In a post last month on the appointment of Alexei Morozov to be the KHL’s President, I mentioned that one of the first issues he was likely to face in his new job would be a disagreement with the Russian Hockey Federation over the league’s hard salary cap, which will be instituted beginning next season. Well, that disagreement came to the fore late last week, when the FHR reportedly sent a letter to the KHL requesting that they raise the cap from its planned 900 million rubles to 1.3 billion rubles per team per season. And early test for the new President KHL — read on, to find out how, and what, he did!

KHL Playoff Storylines!

Sibir Novosibirsk Oblast announced their long-awaited return to post-season action with a Game 1 upset of Avtomobilist in Yekaterinburg.

The 2019-20 Gagarin Cup playoffs are underway, which series now one game in! High time, therefore, to check in on some of the storylines we’ll be following as this post-season rolls along. Some of these tales will fall by the wayside, or at least be of brief duration, while others we will still be discussing in April. Read on, therefore, for a very quick look at each of the eight first-round series!