Menshikov, Lukoyanov and 12 more players who rose from the VHL
Not so long ago, the Major League was a haven for older hockey players whose careers were on the decline. They went there to finish the game, not hoping to get out back. Much has changed with the creation, above all - the age composition of the league. The youth and middle-aged players now dominate the veterans, but the league's reputation hasn't been crystal clear from that. Among fans, specialists, and most importantly, club leaders, there is an opinion that it is impossible to find a really cool player in the Major League. Second echelon Russian hockey does not give the return that the AHL provides for the NHL. However, if you look in detail, during the operation of the vertical -, a lot of notable players climbed the stairs to the top. The call of the Siberian defender Vitaly Menshikov to the Russian national team for the Karjala Cup prompted us to draw up a list of former VEHEL players who have consolidated their foothold and play safely in the strongest league in Europe. As the main criterion, we took at least one full season spent before moving to.
Vladimir Sokhatsky. Goalkeeper
Sergey Magarilov. Goalkeeper
Yaroslav and Stanislav Alshevsky. Forwards
Who were in the VHL: Nizhnekamsk twin brothers ended up in the Major League after they reached their ceiling in the Youth Hockey League. This couple at first tore apart everyone and everything in the "Reactor", and then, as if not noticing the changes in the scenery, continued to light up for "Diesel". By that time, Yaroslav had already had several matches for the base of Neftekhimik, while for Stanislav this was the first experience of adult hockey. As a result, in their only season in the VHL, the Alshevsky brothers, in the top three with Andrei Sigarev, put the whole league on their ears, and Yaroslav did not have one point at all to become the top scorer of the championship.
Who became in the KHL: After one season in the VHL, the brothers were given a chance at the base of Neftekhimik, but they failed to demonstrate the same effective game at the highest level. And the use of young forwards in the KHL began in a completely different way. The Alshevskys were forced to fight in the third or fourth link, using their aggressive style to the maximum. Yaroslav and Stanislav could also have forgotten about playing in the majority. To shake up the brothers, they were sent to Vladivostok, but even in the "Admiral" not everything goes smoothly. Yaroslav has already received two injuries in several months in the Far East.
Vladislav and Vyacheslav Ushenins. Forwards
Who were in the VHL: like the Alshevsky brothers, the Ushenin twins walked along the vertical MHL - VHL - KHL together, not apart for a minute. Once in Perm, residents of Magnitogorsk fell into the hands of one of the most promising coaches of the Higher League. Alexander Gulyavtsev cut the Ushenin brothers, allowing not the most bulky, but hockey-smart guys to create with his Hammer-Prikamye. V last season under the leadership of Gulyavtsev Vyacheslav Ushenin, acting as a central striker, was recognized best striker VHL.
Who became in the KHL: the twin brothers started their way to the KHL with "Admiral". Having fallen into the hands of Dushan Gregor, the Ushenins really revealed themselves only after the change of coach. Sergei Shepelev is one of the last adherents of classic Soviet hockey to remain in the league. When the combination game is at the forefront, it is enough for guys like Vyacheslav and Vladislav Ushenin to prove themselves. It is not surprising that when Shepelev and the entire leadership of "Admiral" moved to neighboring Khabarovsk, the Ushenins followed them, becoming participants in the most massive exchange in the history of the KHL.
Alexey Sopin. Attack
Who was in the VHL: Dynamo player Sopin, who at one time played for the junior national team of Russia, made his debut for the blue and white in the Super League back in 2005. but further career the up-and-coming striker followed a winding path. Alexei left for St. Petersburg, returned to Moscow, but played exclusively in the vastness of the Higher League. Adding from year to year, by the 2012/13 season, Sopin has become a leading player in the Dynamo farm club and a VHL star. However, he did not light up as part of the team from Balashikha, but in conjunction with Alexander Shibaev. Shibaev became the league's top scorer at the end of that season. At one point, Oleg Znarok drew attention to this killer combination.
Who became in the KHL: Sopina and Shibaeva called Dynamo into the base as a reinforcement for the playoffs, but if Alexei began to prove his worth from the very first matches, his team-mate never scored a single point for Dynamo. Sopin became a real discovery of the 2013 Gagarin Cup, having scored 10 goals in 21 games! The Major League guy became the joker in Znark's champion deck. Ironically, the heyday of Sopin coincided with the beginning of Shibaev's decline. If one changes KHL clubs, running between Moscow, Omsk and Nizhny Novgorod, then the other ended up in Tver, where he cannot yet reach the previous level.
... Attack
Who was in the VHL: the successor of the hockey distance of the Solodukhins began his career in his native St. Petersburg. Until the age of 24, he left the Northern capital only once to try his hand at the Finnish Ilves. Despite the devotion hometown, spent only one season as a base for SKA, after which he again went to the farm club. Speaking for the Navy, the striker once hammered 24 goals for the "sailors", becoming the top scorer of the St. Petersburg team, for which Ilya Yezhov, Artyom Voroshilo and Alexei Sopin played at that time.
Who became in the KHL: Solodukhin's finest hour was his exchange from SKA to Siberia. The remarkable thing about this deal is that Vyacheslav was exchanged for ... Vladimir Tarasenko! With all the unequal value of the exchange, Solodukhin started off well, but after changing the coach he left Siberia. It would seem that the attacker is about to drown again in the abyss of the Higher League, but instead Solodukhin really found his team. This is the second season the 27-year-old striker has been holding as the captain of Vityaz, and at the end of the last championship with 21 goals he became the best sniper of the Podolsk team. Dmitry Yushkevich's words that Solodukhin will play in the national team do not seem so fantastic now.
... Attack
Who was in the VHL: As practice shows, in order to break into the base of Ak Bars, it is not enough to be born in Kazan. Even such talented students as Kirill Petrov and Alexander Burmistrov went to this in a roundabout way. What can we say about the guy from Almetyevsk? As a graduate of "Neftyanik", he played for this club with early childhood and up to his 23-year-old. For four seasons in a row, the young striker fulfilled the norm of 10 goals, which is an application for a promotion for a young guy. Lukoyanov got a unique chance to appear in the main team of Tatarstan during the 2011/12 season. Ak Bars took the promising striker in the status of the best sniper in the Major League.
Who became in the KHL: Who would have thought that a simple guy from Almetyevsk would become the captain of Ak Bars? Let it be temporary and connected with the injury of Alexander Svitov, but it speaks about the current status of Lukoyanov better than any statistics. By the fifth season with Ak Bars, he came up as one of the leaders of the Kazan club. Always an active and good-natured evil player, he only made a quantum leap last year. 25 points for the generally defensive Ak Bars is quite good. But the main thing is that Lukoyanov plays with his heart and always gives himself up to the game, and outside the court he remains the same simple guy without star fever. Sooner or later, he will certainly attract the attention of Oleg Znark.
Andrey Sigarev. Attack
Who was in the VHL: the story of Andrei Sigarev is completely atypical. Khabarovsk, who started playing hockey in Prokopyevsk, made his debut in the MHL in Togliatti, and fled across the ocean from Siberia, which drafted him. After a short American business trip, the forward returned to Russia, but not to the MHL, where he could still play by age, but to the Major League. The game against the men was good for the forward. At the age of 18, he was the leading center forward of Diesel, not shading himself against the background of more experienced partners and rivals. Is it any wonder that a real transfer war broke out behind the junior sniffing gunpowder? The main contender for Sigarev was considered “Neftekhimik”, which had the right of the first night for all the players of the Penza team.
Who became in the KHL: unlike the Alshevsky brothers, with whom he went out together in the strike unit of Diesel, Sigarev turned off the Penza - Nizhnekamsk route. This is due to the great and mighty SKA, who had his eye on the striker and was generous with monetary compensation. Petersburgers seriously invested in Sigarev, and his transfer to this day remains the loudest in the history of relations between the two leagues. Alas, Andrei did not manage to withstand the highest competition, but he really played in the KHL in distant Vladivostok, where he scored 11 goals in the Admiral last season. Where is Sigarev now? Moving to Lokomotiv, he missed due to injury not only the entire preseason, but also two months of the championship. The 22-year-old striker was expected to return in late October but is still on the injured list.
... Attack
Who was in the VHL: It is wrong to fully consider Kagarlitsky a product of the Major League. In this league, the outstanding striker spent only one full season, but it was he who became for Dmitry a transitional from youth hockey into an adult. Kagarlitsky once played for the Russian national team at the YChM-2007 and was generally considered a talented guy, but he attracted the attention of the heads of the KHL clubs after a season spent at Wings of the Soviets. Dmitry scored 28 points in the legendary Moscow team, after which he went to Novokuznetsk to watch.
Who became in the KHL: Kagarlitsky is one of the most successful finds in Leonid Vasfeld's managerial career. The general manager of "Forge" found him, as well as Andrey Kuzmin and Alexey Kurepanov, in the open spaces of the VHL and invited him to watch in the summer of 2011. In the end, everyone received a full-fledged contract, but Kagarlitsky sparkled especially brightly. In Novokuznetsk, they still remember the magnificent three Kagarlitsky - Robitaille - Bumagin, and when Metallurg started to have financial problems, the sale of the forward to Donbass made it possible to pay off the debts. If Kagarlitsky was bypassed by injury, with each season he only increased momentum. Participation in two All-Star Games also speaks volumes. At 26, Kagarlitsky is the leader and assistant to the captain of his native Severstal.
There is KHL, NHL, VHL, MHL ... What other leagues are there? :
- WHL - Women's Hockey League
UHL - Youth Hockey League - Oooh .. .Yes, there are a lot of them.
In Europe:
EIHL - England
Extralga - Belarus
DEL - Germany
Serie A * - Italy
Slovnaft Extraliga - Slovakia
SM-liga - Finland
Tipsport extraliga - Czech Republic
Nationalliga A - Switzerland
Elitserien from Sweden
Well ... these are the basic ones. There is also an Estonian hockey league, but it is not popular in the world because there are only three clubs. 🙂* In some countries there are also second divisions. For example, in North America it is AHL, and in Switzerland Nationalliga B.
In Australia:
AIHLIn Asia:
ALIH - RussiaKontinental Hockey League (KHL, 2008-)
Youth Hockey League (MHL, 2009-)
Major Hockey League (VHL, 1992-)
First Hockey League (1992-)
Second Hockey League (1992-)
Super League (PHL, 2000-2008)
Russian Hockey League (RHL, 1996-1999)
International Hockey League (MHL, 1992-1996)
USSR Championship (1946-1991)
Khabarovsk Amateur Hockey League xnxl.ru (LHLH, 2006-)
Belarus Belarusian Extraliga (2006 -)
Major League of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Championship (2002 -)
EIHL British Elite Hockey League (2003)
English National Hockey League (1997)
British National League (1996-2005)
British Hockey Super League (1996-2003)
British Hockey League (1982-1996)
Scottish National League
edit Germany German Hockey League (DEL) (1995)
Bundesliga (1958-1994)
rule Slovakia Slovak Extraliga (ST-Extraliga, 1993)
edit Finland SM-liiga (1975)
Czech Extraliga (1993)
edit Switzerland Swiss National League (NLA, 1938)
edit Sweden Swedish Elite Series (Elitserien, 1975)
show Major hockey leagues in Europe
International Belarusian Extraliga Kontinental Hockey League
National Austria Belgium Bulgaria United Kingdom Hungary Germany Denmark Ireland Spain Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Lithuania Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Slovakia Slovenia Turkey Ukraine Finland France Croatia Czech Republic Sweden Switzerland Estonia
Other IIHF Hockey Champions League Continental Cup European Cupedit North America Amateur Hockey Association (AHA, 1893-1898)
Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL, 1898-1905)
Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey League (ECAHL, 1905-1906)
Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA, 1906-1909)
Canadian Hockey Association (CHL, 1909-1910)
National Hockey Association (NHA, 1909-1917)
National Hockey League (NHL, 1917)
American Hockey League (AHL, 1936)
World Hockey Association (WHA, 1972-1979)
Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Central Hockey League (CHL, 1992)
Western Hockey League (WHL, 1966)
edit Asia Asian Hockey League (ALIH, 2003)
edit Australia Australian Hockey League (AIHL, 2000)
A voucher to big hockey to the pupil of Penza hockey he presented the 2007/08 season in his native Diesel, when Lyuduchin scored 58 (26 + 32) points in 60 games of the regular championship of the Higher League. The breakthrough of the 20-year-old striker was noticed at Spartak, and Roman moved to Moscow, where for four seasons he was one of the best forwards of the red and white. The peak of Lyuduchin's career was an invitation to the Russian national team and the subsequent transfer to Lokomotiv.
But starting from Yaroslavl, Roman's career began to slide down. Having played in Lokomotiv for less than half of the season, Lyuduchin moved to Neftekhimik, and then to Torpedo, but nowhere did the striker come close to his Spartak level. The performance for HC Sochi seemed to revive the once hammered striker a little, but the second season in the Black Sea club turned out to be inexpressive, and before the last championship Lyuduchin turned out to be of interest only to Ugra.
After a year in Khanty-Mansiysk, 29-year-old Roman was left without a contract in the KHL and decided to return to his homeland, signing an agreement with Diesel, playing in the VHL. This season, he has 14 played matches and quite an ordinary statistic of 5 (2 + 3) points scored.
At the dawn of the KHL, Kirill Knyazev also fired up Milos Rzhiga in Spartak with Luduchin, and the fates of these players turned out to be very similar. Knyazev started his career in his native Izhstal, but best time in the Major League for Kirill it was a performance for the Neftekamsk "Toros", where he revealed himself as a scorer and moved to the camp of red and white. Like Lyuduchin, Knyazev spent several bright seasons for "Spartak", received a call to the national team, and then went for a promotion, which, as in the case of the Penza hockey player, did not bring the desired result.
Knyazev dissolved in the "Ak Bars", then played in "Neftekhimik", and on next year ended up in Moscow Dynamo. With blue and white, Kirill won the Gagarin Cup, but his contribution to this achievement, like playing time in Oleg Znarka's team, was minimal. This was followed by two nondescript seasons at Ugra, a short business trip at Torpedo, and for the third year now Knyazev has been playing in the VHL for Izhstal. With each season, the striker's statistics deteriorate, and in the current championship, after 12 games, Kirill has only one point for an assist.
Ivan Kasutin was born in Vologda, received his hockey education in Yaroslavl, and began his career at Diesel Penza - with such initial data, the goalkeeper simply had to become a player-traveler. Kasutin had to break into big hockey through CSKA, from where Ivan was taken by Vladimir Krikunov, who was in charge of Neftekhimik, and made the main goalkeeper of Nizhnekamsk.
It was during this period that Kasutin flourished as a goalkeeper. In Omsk, they still recall with shudder the first round of the 2011 playoffs, when the star attack of Omsk from match to match could not do anything with the short but agile Ivan, who showed miracles of reaction and practically did not give the “hawks” a second chance at finishing off ... Kasutin's successes did not go unnoticed, and in the same year the goalkeeper played his only match for the Russian national team in his life.
As it turned out later, this was the peak of the goalkeeper's career, and the transition in the summer of 2011 to Spartak launched a mechanism for Kasutin to travel from club to club. After the red and white Kasutin played for Ak Bars, Vityaz, SKA, Severstal, Torpedo and Lada, but nowhere did he even come close to the level of the game he showed in Nizhnekamsk.
Ivan started last season at Nizhny Novgorod, did not convince Pēteris Skudra and returned to Neftekhimik during the season, but there, too, he disappointed with his performance. Now Kasutin, who is only 31 years old, plays in the VHL as part of the newcomer of the league of Novokuznetsk Metallurg and is the main goalkeeper of the club from the Kemerovo region. His statistics in six meetings held: 2.50 goals conceded on average per game and 92.5% of reflected shots.
The oversized defender has established himself in the KHL as a tough and uncompromising defensive player who rarely attacks. On the highest level In Russia, the pupil of Ust-Kamenogorsk played for Spartak, Salavat Yulaev, Neftekhimik, CSKA and HC MVD, and in the KHL he was remembered for his performances for Barys and Traktor.
For the last two seasons Vasilchenko has been playing for Novokuznetsk Metallurg, he, together with the team, survived a demotion and continues to show simple, simple and reliable hockey. In the current season, he has 1 (0 + 1) point for performance in 12 matches, but in the case of Vasilchenko it is better to pay attention to the utility coefficient - "+2"
The tradition of Lyuduchin and Knyazev to finish their careers in their native VHL club is picked up by Artyom Chernov, who was born in Novokuznetsk and returned to the Kuznya at 35 years old. Artyom started his career brightly, looked great at Metallurg and Avangard in the early 2000s, and then unexpectedly ended up in the Belarusian championship, where he settled for several seasons in Yunost Minsk and won the national championship twice.
Then there was a return to Russia, a couple of good seasons in the HC MVD and two years without big hockey. Chernov was able to return after a forced downtime, got into the championship Dynamo and won the Gagarin Cup, but still continued to look for himself in hockey. Artyom traveled across Russia, playing for Torpedo, Avtomobilist, Atlant, Salavat Yulaev, Neftekhimik and Vityaz, and before this season he decided to return to his homeland. In Novokuznetsk, Chernov does not even come close to reminding himself of best years, he has 2 (0 + 2) points in 11 meetings.
In VHL in this season turned out to be one of the most technically equipped Russian hockey players Artyom Bulyansky, who was really prevented from opening up by chronic instability. The pupil of Ufa hockey Bulyansky could not really play in Salavat and went to seek his fortune in the Higher League, where he ended up in Ugra, won the Brothers Cup and joined the KHL with the team.
Bulyansky is the main old-timer of the Khanty-Mansiys, he spent all seven seasons in the team in the elite of Russian hockey and only now got into the VHL. Artyom is one of the strongest hockey players-individualists, who always lacked stability and team play skills, which is why nobody took the "techie" Bulyansky from Ugra.
Now the forward has played 4 games for Tyumen, scored 3 (3 + 0) points and may well return to Ugra this season.
Another hockey player who would hardly have stayed in the KHL if not for Ugra. Prior to the KHL, Sitnikov played very successfully in the Major League, first for his native Sputnik, and then for Avtomobilist, with Yekaterinburg residents he went up for promotion in 2009, and with the appearance of the Khanty-Mansiysk team in the KHL, he joined the newcomer of the league.
Sitnikov played six seasons at Ugra, last year he tried his hand at Severstal, but during the championship he was exiled to Saryarka. Now Vitaly plays in his native Nizhny Tagil as part of Sputnik, in 13 games he has 6 (2 + 4) points.
Without a doubt, Alexander Semin is now the most stellar hockey player VHL... The native of Krasnoyarsk made a name for himself in Togliatti, from where Semin went to the NHL, where he looked brilliantly in Washington. Moving to Carolina, and then to Montreal, did not affect Alexander's career in the best way, there he was no longer so good and after a few years returned to Russia to win the Gagarin Cup with Magnitka.
But the second season in the Urals showed that Semin can no longer play consistently at a high level, Alexander failed the playoffs and was left without a contract before the start of the new championship. Without waiting for offers from the KHL, Semin began to play for his native Sokol, in 10 matches this season he has 10 (4 + 6) points.
One of the brightest and most eccentric Russian goalkeepers Georgy Gelashvili found himself in the VHL. A native of Chelyabinsk, he clearly declared himself as part of "Traktor", becoming the opening of the 2006/07 season, after which Gelashvili's career took off. Georgy was the main goalkeeper of Lokomotiv in the first KHL championship, when the railroad reached the final of the Gagarin Cup, at the same time he played for the Russian national team. After Yaroslavl Gelashvili moved to Metallurg, but his statistics in Magnitogorsk worsened and Georgy dropped out of the list of the best Russian goalkeepers.
The goalkeeper known for his emotions on the ice after Magnitka played in the KHL for Torpedo, and before the VHL, like many other hockey players, Gelashvili spent a year and a half at Ugra. In the second-strongest division of our hockey, the goalkeeper managed to restart his career, now he feels great at Saryarka, and this season he shows simply grandmaster figures: after 8 matches Gelashvili concedes less than one goal per game on average, reflecting 95.9% of shots ...
Sergei Borisov has never defended the colors of the top clubs of Russian hockey, but for a long time he was in the team of the KHL, playing for Amur, Severstal, Spartak, and Atlant. The last club at the highest level for Borisov was the Khabarovsk team, with which the goalkeeper parted not on the most pleasant note.
After leaving Amur, Borisov seemed to have completed his playing career, began working on television and missed two years. But this season, the 32-year-old goalkeeper returned, having signed a contract with the VHL Ermak. Now Borisov feels great in Angarsk, after 12 matches he concedes an average of 1.97 goals per game, reflecting 93.4% of shots.
Recent VHL player Alexander Sudnitsin became the main goalkeeper of "Neftekhimik" and got into the second national team of Russia. Artem Borodkin now one of the best defenders of Traktor. Egor Dubrovsky is the new favorite of Salavat Yulaev fans. For the overrated and downright weak KHL players there is an alternative - hardworking and not spoiled guys from the VHL, who just need to be given a chance.
Now is the time to pay attention to the VHL. This season, the Major League championship has become even more interesting, the competition is more serious, the matches are more unpredictable. V standings there is a real cut for leadership, the points gap between the teams is minimal, and in case of victory, you can move up several places at once. In matches, it can be difficult to single out favorites and outsiders, and it is problematic to predict the outcome of the game.
Always available broadcasts of all (!) Championship matches, which the KHL cannot boast of. A club that failed to host the broadcast will face a hefty monetary fine. So the difference between the current VHL and the “tower” that was headed by the FHR is still significant.
The league is looking forward to 19 January at football stadium in Chelyabinsk. VHL has launched an extremely interesting project, and the first video of this series is recommended for everyone to watch hockey fans- its content is so unique.
The VHL has gotten younger this season, thanks in part to an increase in applications for players born in 1992 who have outgrown the MHL. Almost every club has its own "stars". Young coaches also appeared. In "Chelmet" - Evgeny Galkin and Alexey Tertyshny who have just finished their playing careers. Vitaly Yachmenev entered the coaching staff of Rubin. Vladislav Bulin after resignation Andrey Sidorenko in "Diesel" became the head coach of the team. Example Alexandra Savchenkova, who went on promotion from Dynamo Balashikha to Atlant, speaks of the opportunity to get a job in the KHL.
The most popular club in the VHL in this championship turned out to be "Chelmet", however, not by its game, but thanks to the attraction of generosity from the side of "Traktor". An example of "Salavat Yulaev", which at one time showed Sushinsky and Tverdovsky in their place in the "Toros" proved to be contagious for many. Oleg Kvasha, for example, very well settled down in "Ermak". And the victory of Chelmet in a friendly match with Traktor with a score of 5: 0 simply stunned everyone.
From VHL to KHL
Until recently, there were not so many players who would have moved from the VHL to the KHL and were fixed there, until recently. In the press and in interviews, the same names are traditionally called - first of all, Alexey Sopin, by the way and no is constantly mentioned Valery Nichushkin, and Maxim Karpov, Ilya Ezhov and Andrey Sigarev... The latter, however, in his first season sat on the SKA bench for a long time. And this is not the fault of the VHL, but the reluctance of some KHL clubs to look for players in the lower leagues, to get rid of the "logs" that we see in teams every year. However, positive developments can be seen this season.
Alexander Sudnitsin, who for a long time was considered one of the the best goalkeepers in VHL, got his chance at Neftekhimik and used it. 25-year-old goalkeeper won the competition from the Canadian Matt Dalton, and then was included in the second national team of Russia.
"Traktor" put two defenders on the draft refusals at once - Renata Mamasheva and Alexandra Guskova, which, in theory, were supposed to strengthen the composition, but found their own nugget in "Chelmet". The young defender of the “wrong” 1991 (that is, no longer the limiter) Artem Borodkin became an indispensable player in the first team. In "Traktor" Semyon Kokuev: "Kazakhstani Jagr" (as he was nicknamed in "Saryarka") acts in the third link. Also, a few more Chelmet players appeared in the roster, although this is more of a forced measure.
Another discoverer of talents from the VHL turned out to be Atlant, who pleases with their competent work with Buran. Pavel Kopytin scored in the first three games in the KHL, although then his fuse subsided. The team was on trial Egor Aleshin, 21 year old best sniper and the scorer of the Voronezh club. In turn, Atlant sent to the VHL Nikita Soshnikova and Igor Levitsky who play well there.
Wonderful school "Toros" passed Ildar Isangulov, Efim Gurkin, Alexander Mereskin, Alexander Pankov and other players of Salavat Yulaev. Egor Dubrovsky was finally called up to the KHL and pleases the Ufa fans with his enthusiasm for the fight and the desire to play.
25 year old defender Vladislav Egin, summoned from HC Ryazan, successfully established himself in Avtomobilist. Yuri Koksharov moved from "Toros" to "Vityaz", gaining points at the level Maxim Afinogenova(and if there is no difference, why pay more?). Alexander Toryanik from HC "Sarov" moved to "Donbass". Andrey Nazarov, as you know, likes to take on the overall hockey players and has already begun to promote (“Ukrainian Artyukhin!”) his new ward.
Also, "Magnitka" is raising young people with the invaluable help of the "South Ural". Avangard is actively cooperating with Ermak, Ak Bars - traditionally with Neftyanik, Torpedo - with HC Sarov, Avtomobilist is in close contact with Sputnik, and so on. Now almost all KHL clubs work with the VHL, but some more are still conditional.
Waiting for your chance
“Artem Podshendyalov? And where do you get these names? " - surprised Milos Riha at a press conference, when he was asked about the possible arrival of the forward of Ermak to Avangard. Podshendyalov I never got my chance in the Omsk team - and in vain. 33 points last season, the best VHL sniper in this championship - all this suggests that the hockey player is persistently knocking on the doors of the KHL.
Defender of "Rubin" Sergey Karpov was named the best defender last season and now continues to play at his level. Latvian forward Kaspars Saulietis- the most productive striker of "Toros". 23 year old Pavel Kurazhov- the best in efficiency in HC "Sarov". Traditionally, you can see in the lists of the best Aslana Raisova, a former player of the Russian junior national team, known as the first Chechen hockey player. He consistently scores over 30 points per season. They are asking for Balashikha to join the main Dynamo Alexander Shibaev,Vladimir Korotkov and Alexey Yushin.
Among the league's goalkeepers, acquaintances lead by missed opportunities in the elite division Denis Franskevich, Sergey Horoshun and Vitaly Evdokimov... However, there are more than enough young goalkeepers. Alexander Sharychenkov, who became a “victim” of his year of birth, having ceased to pass through the limiters in the KHL, plays with dignity in Dynamo near Moscow. Ermak goalkeeper Oleg Shilin, who became the best in one of the weeks of the VHL, would have looked clearly no worse than the guards of the Avangard gates. 21 year old Igor Saprykin- the main goalkeeper of "Titan". Also definitely worth mentioning Vladimir Sokhatsky from "Toros", which has long been worthy of a chance to prove himself in the KHL.
Magnitogorets Dmitry Mikhailov, playing for "Ariada" - the best young player in the VHL in October. 19 year old Alexander Barabanov scores with enviable regularity for VMF-Karelia, and Mikhail Tikhonov and the first number KHL DraftDenis Alexandrov(both born in 1995) are the main defenders of the team. Kazzinc-Torpedo has its own prodigy - Semyon Koshelev... He aroused the interest of CSKA, which received the rights to the hockey player from Neftekhimik, who had chosen him in the draft.
Now we can no longer talk about the veteran caste, which does not allow young players to enter the Major League. VHL is the best hockey school that can be. The vacant KHL seats for limiters relax the players, they get a good salary for sitting on the bench. Clubs keep other young hockey players in the MHL to the last, they grow beards, have families, become top scorers and snipers, and then they can not show anything at an adult level.
When such specimens, brought up "in the greenhouse", find themselves in the VHL, they cause bewilderment among coaches and teammates - their unwillingness to play and fight for the team. When there was no MHL yet, there were duplicate teams in which young guys were gaining experience in games against men, and now, for some reason, there is a desire to protect them from real hockey.
It is clear that for many VHL clubs the word “farm club” is offensive, and teams such as “Rubin” or “Lada” may well qualify for joining the KHL. Openly robbing Major League clubs, taking the strongest and throwing off frank slag, is not the best solution to the problem. As well as stealing young local players without any compensation thanks to the junior draft. There should be mutually beneficial cooperation between the KHL and VHL clubs. Interaction with "Salavat Yulaev" helped "Toros" to become a champion, and the Ufa club - to run in their youth there.
For promising players, the VHL could become a springboard in big hockey. But this requires a constant rotation of players, the "lift" must work much more actively so that neither the KHL nor the VHL stagnates their "swamp".
The bosses of the Kontinental Hockey League have recently stirred up the entire Russian hockey community with the news of the creation of a new project - the Hockey Premier League (or, for short, KHPL). Seemingly new professional league- this is good and correct, but life has shown that the KHL has set out with its new league to cut out a whole layer in the system of domestic competitions - the Higher Hockey League. The main prerequisite for the creation of a new league is that the KHL clubs need a springboard to test young hockey players who graduated from the Youth Hockey League. At the same time, it is assumed that the participants in the new tournament will be "pure farm clubs" under the "care" of the KHL clubs.
Background to the conflict
For a long time, the KHL tried to do something similar from the Higher Hockey League, but invariably the "tower" fought back with all its might. And this is no wonder - in the VHL there are quite independent teams with their own history, school and, most importantly, their own tournament goals, and often these very goals went against the desire of the KHL clubs to provide their young players with playing practice at all costs. And it doesn’t matter that often the “exiles” did not take the game in the VHL seriously, and sometimes they didn’t pull at all. And you take out the place in the start and put it all the same.
Another reason for the declaration of war by the KHL was the figure of the managing director of the Higher Hockey League - German Skoropupov. Of course, this personality is extremely ambiguous, even among the members of the VHL there is dissatisfaction with Skoropupov, but on the issue of pressure by the KHL on the VHL, he expressed his point of view - the competition of the VHL farm clubs will not be:
- There is an option that the VHL participants will be teams affiliated with the KHL teams.
- Farm clubs or what? It's impossible. It is impossible to imagine that Rubin will only be a farm club for Ugra. And in the law there is no such concept - the championship of the farm clubs.
The result was the creation of the so-called HPL. And everything would be fine, if not the words of the head of the KHL players' union, Andrei Kovalenko:
- The Major League, as we see it, did not completely fit into the vertical of the MHL-VHL-KHL, it has isolated somewhere, having initiated its own legal norms and has not yet adopted a single Regulation with the KHL. The VHL did not manage to fulfill the main task - to feed the KHL with strong players. If you carefully study the lineups of the KHL clubs, you will see that the contribution of the MHL to the education of players for Continental League significant enough. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the Major League, which has become a thing in itself and a very old league. It is very important that young players who have left the MHL, but have not yet made their way to the KHL, receive regular playing practice in the new league. At the same time, the understudy tournament should not turn into a second, albeit somewhat older one, youth championship... The best age hockey players up to 35 years old are obliged to play in the KHL along with the teenagers. We are convinced that only by filling big shots in matches with men, our youth will progress.
It is not clear what "main task" Kovalenko is talking about. The goals and objectives of the league are quite clearly spelled out in the competition regulations:
Is there something written somewhere about "feeding the KHL with strong players"?
Conflict development
Again, another professional league in Russia is probably good and correct. But not when the raider tricks come into play, which Skoropupov told about in an interview with Sportfakt:
- President of the KHL Dmitry Chernyshenko says that the Premier League is not an attempt to destroy the VHL, but the final phase of building a clear vertical line. But his words run counter to the actions of the KHL management, which persuades the Major League teams to move to the Premier League. And this concerns not so much the farm clubs as the leading teams of the competition. I can call this an attempt to destroy the VHL. The clubs in our league are under pressure. They are indeed being lured into a new league. Understand that the regions are behind the clubs, the teams solve their goals and objectives. Free rotation of players between leagues without a deadline turns the competition into a banal farce. How will the club leaders explain to the fans that now a team from a large region is someone's farm club? In my opinion, this is humiliating.
It would seem that everything is logical and understandable. But all hockey people, from the bosses of the Continental League and ending with ordinary hockey amateurs far from HSE, persistently insists that the VHL does not give the KHL replenishment, therefore, the VHL is not needed.
But wait a minute! Does the whole world revolve around the KHL? No, I personally understand the desire of the elite to provide their young players with gaming practice. But should this elite, in this case, dictate its terms to the VHL teams, which have their own history, traditions, fans and, attention, their own school? After all, HSE clubs set their own goals, and everyone wants to achieve them. And often, the interests of the KHL in this situation run counter to the interests of the VHL clubs.
As a result, the KHL has now decided not only to take away the farm clubs, but also in a very real way "buy out" some independent teams from the VHL. The same "Sportfact" writes that the KHL clubs are ready to take on 50% of the budgets of "defectors" from the VHL if they agree to move to a new league. To put it in your own words, the KHL is going to outbid a number of Vyshka clubs.
The KHL thus kills two birds with one stone. Firstly, in a number of cases, the KHL clubs divide the costs of their farm clubs in half, and secondly, it pretty much spoils the life of the so hated VHL in general and Skoropupova in particular. A very sophisticated method of revenge, what can I say.
Will we not see the confrontation between "Ermak" and "Toros" again?
At the moment, Toros, Chelmet, Dynamo Balashikha, SKA-Neva, Sarov, Zvezda, Bars (farm clubs) are leaving the VHL for the KhPL, and Saryarka's transfers are also possible. "(Under the leadership of" Avangard ")," Oilman "(under" Ak Bars ")," South Ural "(under" Magnitka ")," Trans-Urals "(under the" Kuznya "). Personally, I would not yet rule out the possibility of the departure of Ryazan, which has established a close interaction with Lokomotiv (although Loko has enough resources to declare its own team in the KhPL), Ust-Kamenogorsk Torpedo and Voskresensk Chemist ". Of course, the largest losses will be Toros, Chelmet, Neftyanik, South Ural and Torpedo. The listed teams have their own identical style, interesting young hockey players constantly perform among Chelyabinsk citizens. But the main problem lies not even in the number of possible lost clubs, but in the numerical losses among hockey players, because now there is talk that there will be no special age qualification in the KHL, and in this case, the outflow of players from the VHL to the new one is quite likely. league, which will deal a significant blow to Skoropupov's estate.
What can we expect?
As you know, you need to hope for the best, but you need to prepare for the worst. VHL may leave from 9 to 14 clubs, and this is only a preliminary estimate. Even aside from the loss of player numbers, the departure of almost half of the league's members is a failure. True, there are already talks about the possible entry of St. Petersburg Dynamo and HC Chelny from Naberezhnye Chelny, plus there is also the VHL championship, where some of the teams - Tambov, Rostov, CSK VVS - would be very interesting see in the championship. Rostov last season became the strongest team the last draw of the RHL, now in the final it is fighting just the same with "Tambov", CSK VVS was eager to enter the championship back in 2015, but was not allowed due to the state of the arena. Perhaps the VHL in this case will change the input data in order to accept new members and somehow reimburse the number of lost clubs.
As for the KHPL, my attitude towards it is purely skeptical. And not even because I am an ardent supporter of HSE. I find it hard to believe that the farm club competition will be successful in terms of player development. So far, this tournament seems to be training, devoid of a competitive moment. It is also hard for me to believe that this tournament will attract fans' interest. Consequently, if there were three clubs in the VHL, whose tribune attendance tended to zero, then in the new league there will be much more of them.
Another problem that I see is that the creation of the KHL can lead to an even stronger differentiation of the level of teams in the KHL. Many tricks like extended end-to-end order can make strong KHL teams even stronger, and the weak even weaker. There is no need to go for examples - even now Dmitry Kvartalnov in the KHL playoffs has the ability to painlessly change 6-7 players in the starting lineup in each new match. Could it be that the conditional CSKA or SKA in the new season will have ten ready-made fives, collected at the expense of some Novokuznetsk Metallurgists, Cherepovets Severstals and other Vityazs near Moscow? I will not be surprised that with the ability of the current leaders of the KHL to carry out "innovations and modernization", this will be the case.
But one thing is clear: important KHL officials do not consider fans in the regions to be people, and they do not consider it shameful to take hockey away from them. Take away hockey FROM US.
UPD: Literally at the time of the publication of the material, it became known that the appearance of the KhPL team is likely in Samara. Thus, the option with the CSK VVS in the VHL probably disappears.