Now the VHL competitions are entirely called: "VHL - Cup Silk road" ... There is no logic behind this decision, as the Silk Road Cup is being awarded regular season winner, and the Petrov Cup (thanks for leaving) - the strongest team play-off... Curry favor with the "Chinese partners" ...

Silk Road. Personally, I immediately remembered the caravans loaded with Chinese tea and porcelain, then the rally passing through the territory of Russia, Kazakhstan and China. Also, the Silk Road is a pan-Asian project transport system... A harmless, seemingly at first glance, change, behind which a far from rosy prospect for the League may be hidden.

The name was changed "within the framework of international cooperation, as well as taking into account the development strategy of the Higher Hockey League." Judging by the words Roman Rotenberg, The strategy is that in the near future, a separate tournament will be created on the basis of the VHL - the Silk Road Cup, which will include the clubs of HSE, European and Asian Leagues. It is not without reason that two more Chinese teams wanted to be included in the VHL this offseason. And we forget about domestic clubs. VHL as a project "hockey - for Russian regions" is gradually fading into oblivion, as is the tube atmosphere of those distant times when THK, "Titan", "Kristall", "Kuban", "Ariada", "Lipetsk" and "Dynamo" played from Balashikha. Stayed somewhere youth team in the NHL, as in Tver, "Kristall" competes in the VHL Championship. Quite recently we saw Sputnik die with complete connivance. The people of Tagil did not get off with little blood, since "Sputnik" was not allowed even in the VHL-B. Almost the entire off-season was by a hair's breadth “Hammer-Prikamye”. Izhstal is in relative suspended animation. The Izhevsk club was admitted to the championship, but it still does not have a head coach and does not have a preseason. And FHR is an organization that conducts VHL competitions, talks about development, is engaged in international cooperation, when in its homeland it's not like smoke is a fire.

Add Chinese VHL Clubs to Competition? Not really. One world smeared "KRS-Heilongjiang" and "Tseng Tou" showed mediocre results. The first did not reach the playoffs at all, taking the third line from the end, and "Tseng Tou" in the decisive stage was delayed for a short time, without creating special problems"Oilman". Even the Angarsk "Ermak" with a more modest budget and almost equal flight distances but with a great desire, he confidently took sixth place in the regular season, and was eliminated in the playoffs in the second round.

Kindly, let's compete, where the majority - Russian teams, Russian names! And if you are already drawn to the Cup of Tracks, then we offer the option - "Transsib Cup" or "Siberian Highway Cup". The latter name, by the way, would fully reflect the geographical boundaries of the VHL, because the Siberian tract is an old land route from the European part of Russia, through Siberia, to the borders of China.

Question of the day: Why was the VHL turned into the "Silk Road Cup"?

On Tuesday The Chinese Ice Hockey Association and FHR signed a memorandum of cooperation, deciding to create a new one on the basis of the VHL international tournament.

As part of the event, a document was signed, according to which Russia and China undertake to provide comprehensive support in the development and popularization of ice hockey, including the exchange of experience, information cooperation, as well as the search for advertisers, sponsors and partners in the Russian and Asian markets.

Also, documents were signed on the entry into the VHL of the second Chinese team. This time from the city of Jilin (the first Chinese club to appear in Major league, based in Harbin). Thus, already this season, our second league will be replenished with two Chinese teams.

But the main point was, of course, a fundamentally new competition on the basis of the VHL. From the 2018/19 season, it was decided to organize the Silk Road Cup international tournament. And I would like to talk about him in more detail.

WHO WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE SILK ROAD CUP?

Sports journalists were primarily interested in how the new tournament will be combined with the current VHL championship? But it turned out that there is no conflict of interest here. Because the Silk Road Cup, in fact, will become the successor to this tournament, which is much more familiar to Russian fans.

All teams of our current VHL, including clubs from Kazakhstan, will take part in it. And also clubs from China, the number of which will eventually increase to ten. In addition, it is planned to attract teams from Japan and Korea to participate in the tournament. And, as the organizers assured, guests from Europe (for example, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Finland) will also be welcome. Unless, of course, they themselves want to participate in a new league, which will still develop primarily in the Asian direction.

The FHR management did not hide the fact that it is now the Asian market that is of great interest to it. On the other hand, the IIHF, for its part, calls for support to the developing hockey powers. And its president, Rene Fasel, has already appreciated Russia's actions in this direction.

WHO WILL PAY FOR THE NEW TOURNAMENT?

But any new sports project initially needs powerful financial investments. Who will pay for the Silk Road Cup?

According to the organizers, and in particular the FHR, an active search is under way to attract new financial investments. The search for sponsors for a global project will go not only in Russia or China, but all over the world. The Chinese themselves are sure that many large American companies will want to take part in a new hockey tournament in terms of promoting their products in the vast Asian market. But the main focus will still be on Chinese companies, banks and funds.

It is also planned to build new skating rinks - both in China and in Russia.

Moreover, for Russian clubs VHL, at least in the next championship, where two new Chinese teams will perform, no additional costs for flights to China are expected. The FHR and the China Ice Hockey Association are taking over.

WHAT DO CHINA THINK ABOUT COOPERATION WITH RUSSIA?

Today is a very memorable day for us, says Long Yu Xiang, Chairman of the Center for International Culture of China. . - With the support of the leaderships of China and Russia, we have achieved cooperation in various fields. And especially in sports and culture. We signed an agreement to create the Silk Road Cup. This is a great joy and a very solemn event. This is very important for the development of ice hockey in China and the strengthening of relations between our two countries. We are very grateful to FHR for their help in creating this project. The heads of Russia and China highly appreciate the development of hockey in our countries. We will learn from our Russian colleagues. First of all - to develop their youth, to teach them hockey. To do everything for our players to reach the world level as soon as possible.

P. S. In conclusion, it remains only to note once again that China continues to develop our hockey territories. Following the Kunlun from the KHL, who made their way to the Gagarin Cup in their opening season and does not intend to stop there, the Chinese have also “captured” the VHL. Moreover, here they have much more ambitious plans. And it's not just more teams. But also in the very name of the tournament, where the "Chinese note" clearly sounds.

Can we help our eastern neighbor develop hockey? Indisputably. We taught the Finns and the Swiss to play it. So much so that now they sometimes teach us ...

source: "Soviet sport"

It's good that without America! It's bad that without Russia! Examining the calendar of the new season The International Biathlon Union has published full schedule competitions in the 2019/20 season. 05/07/2019 13:00 Biathlon Tigay Lev

Samsonov ate Holtby? Washington beat Toronto thanks to 29 saves of the Russian goalkeeper. It looks like Washington has begun clearing the club's payroll. 10/17/2019 09:00 Hockey Slavin Vitaly

Sergey Shakhrai: Shcherbakova's brilliant performance allowed her to hit the jackpot in Las Vegas Russian Anna Shcherbakova brilliantly debuted as an adult figure skating by winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix stage. 20.10.2019 12:16 Figure skating Volokhov Yuri

Dmitry Kudryashov: Gvozdik felt from the first rounds that Beterbiev was a car Russian boxer the first heavy weight(up to 90.7 kg) Dmitry Kudryashov summed up the results of the meeting between IBF champion Russian Artur Beterbiev and WBC title holder Ukrainian Alexander Gvozdik. 19.10.2019 13:35 Boxing Usachev Vladislav

Dynamo set up a memorial plaque for Yashin Before the match between the blue and white against Krasnodar, near the Dynamo arena, solemn events were held in honor of the 90th anniversary of the legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin. 20.10.2019 19:32 Football Grigorievskaya Julia

Well, the first round in the VHL championship - the Silk Way Cup - has been completed. It was completed by our squad in Samara, where CSK VVS was beaten today.

VHL - Silk Road Cup | Regular season

CSK VVS (Samara) - HC "Tambov" (Tambov) - 1: 4 (0:2, 1:2, 0:0)

CSK VVS:Zhuchin (00.00 - 20.48), Skatov (20.48 - 60.00); Bulatov - Shafigullin, Mnikhovich (K) - Kutyavin - Avtsin; Manukhov - Semenov, Ugolnikov - Nabiullin - Poryadin; Ryzhikh - Gusev, Khafizov (A) - Teslenko - Yungov; Sennikov - Pangelov-Yuldashev (A), Razumnyak - Gareev - Syromyatnikov.

Tambov:Lozhkin; Marchenko - Dynkov, Shingareev - Nogin (K) - A. Voronkov; Pavlikov - Ignatov (A), A. Gimbatov - M. Gimbatov - Bain; Krivosheev - Ermoshenko, Klochkov - Krasheninnikov - Nikiforov; Islyamov - Konkov, Efimov - Svintsitsky - Zhilov.

Goals:0: 1 - KLOCHKOV (Krivosheev, Nikiforov, 02.07); 0: 2 - KLOCHKOV (Nikiforov, 08.13); 0: 3 - M. GIMBATOV (A. Gimbatov, Pavlikov, 20.48, big); 1: 3 - Teslenko (Manukhov, Khafizov, 28.18); 1: 4 - SHINGAREEV (Nogin, Ignatov, 39.02, men.)

Throws:42 (5 + 22 + 15) – 21 (6 + 10 + 5)

Refereeing Panel: ZABOLOTNEV, MISUR. Khafizov, Safiullov.

Fine:10 – 10

After the defeat in Togliatti, coaching staff residents of Tambov decided to vary the composition. So, Nikita Lozhkin took the place at the gate. Instead of Alexander Rodionov, who was injured in the match against Lada, Nadir Islyamov was announced. Evgeny Viksna was not included in the application. But Vitaly Konkov was announced as a defender. Vasily Zhilov and Nikita Svintsitsky, who had not played for a long time, appeared on the court.

The game itself began without swinging. And already in the third minute Alexey Klochkov opened the scoring - 0: 1. A few minutes later, he doubled the score, realizing a 1 on 1 exit in a beautiful style. In general, in the first twenty minutes, the Tambov team had an advantage and were rightfully leading the score.

At the start of the second period, Magomed Gimbatov's flawless shot made the refereeing panel doubt that the puck had hit the top nine. But either there was a hole in the net of the Samara goal, or Magomed threw it so bitingly that the puck flew right through. Not the essence - 0: 3. After that, the hosts stepped up and created a dozen dangerous moments. In one of them, Nikita Lozhkin was still pierced. But towards the end of the second dvadtsatiminutki Timur Shingareev clearly completed the magnificent combination of the Tambov guys. Thus, summing up the point in today's match, since we no longer saw the abandoned washers.

Thus, HC "Tambov" played 28 games in the first round, in which he scored 25 points. The playoff zone is close and we very much hope that according to the results of the second round, that is, the regular season, the top 16 will be within our reach. Tambovites will play the next match at home. On November 29, Andrey Lunev's charges will fight with the Angarsk "Ermak". We cheer for ours!