The 2017–2018 VHL season will run from September 2017 to April 2018. In the 8th edition of the championship, 27 teams will compete for victory, five of which are newcomers to the tournament. Some of them will win the Vladimir Petrov Cup, the main trophy of the Major Hockey League championship. Fans will learn the name of the lucky winner only in the spring of 2018. Until then, they can enjoy the matches, many of which are worthy of the final series!
The tournament lost 4 teams at once. THC (Tver), Dynamo (Balashikha), Kristall (Saratov) and Ariadna (Volzhsk) said goodbye to the Major League. It is especially painful for hockey fans to see Dynamo, the current winner of the VHL championship, on this list. Unfortunately, HC from Balashikha became a victim of the “optimization” of the parent team - Dynamo Moscow, whose farm club it was.
The following HCs came to replace the departing teams:
- "Gornyak" (Uchaly);
- "Metallurg" (Novokuznetsk);
- CSK VVS (Samara);
- "KRS Heilongjiang" (Harbin);
- "Tsen Tou" (Jilin).
Among the debutants, of course, Novokuznetsk Metallurg stands out. The legendary “Kuznya” was expelled from the KHL for “low game results” and poor attendance at matches with its participation. It will be interesting to see how the hockey players from Novokuznetsk will get used to the new championship.
Another news is that the main trophy of the tournament has changed its name. Now it is called not “Bratina”, but “Vladimir Petrov Cup”. Thus, the championship organizers decided to perpetuate the name of one of the greatest Soviet hockey players Vladimir Petrov, who passed away in February 2017.
When does the 2017/18 Major Hockey League season start?
So far, sports officials remain silent. The start and end dates of the upcoming drawing are unknown. But fans of the tournament should focus on the date of the last edition: September 8, 2016 – April 18, 2017.
VHL Teams 2017/18
A total of 27 hockey teams will take part in the 8th edition of the tournament:
- "SKA-Neva";
- "Falcon";
- "Torpedo";
- "Saryarka";
- "Trans-Urals";
- "Hummock";
- "Star";
- "Ermak";
- "Chelmet";
- "Neftyanik";
- "Dynamo";
- "Diesel";
- "Izhstal";
- "Satellite";
- "Ryazan";
- "Ruby";
- "Sarov";
- "Leopard";
- "Molot-Prikamye";
- "Chemist";
- « Southern Urals»;
- "Buran";
- "Miner";
- "Metallurgist";
- CSK Air Force;
- Heilongjiang cattle;
- "Tsen Tou."
Latest transfers in Major League clubs 2017/2018
Clubs are actively adding new players to their rosters. This is what the table of recent transitions looks like.
| Name | Old team | New team |
| Konstantin Savenkov | "Arlan" (Kazakhstan championship) | "Ruby" |
| Egor Aleshin | "Hummock | "Ruby" |
| Kurt Gogol | "Florida Everblades"(ECHL) | "Ruby" |
| Artyom Zagidullin Arthur Boltanov Artyom Ikamatskikh | "Metallurg" (Magnitogorsk) | "Trans-Urals" |
| Dmitry Bezrukov | "Rocket" ( MHL ) | "Sarov" |
| Mikhail Zheleznov Alexey Zakarlyukin | "Amur" (KHL) | "Falcon" |
| Edward X Hugo Janson | "Zemgale" ( Latvian hockey league ) | "Neftyanik" |
| Fedor Kukin | "Hodonin (3rd Czech division) | "Neftyanik" |
| Maxim Alyapkin | "Torpedo | "Satellite" |
| Bruno Mraz | Zvolen (Slovak championship) | "Metallurgist" |
| Dmitry Tsybin | "Izhstal" | “Irtysh” (Kazakhstan championship) |
| Sergey Banashkov | "Syryarka" | Edinburgh Capitals (British Elite Hockey League) |
VHL standings 2017 – 2018
From September 2017 to February 2018, the clubs will play each other in the regular season. Based on its results, the 16 best teams will qualify for the playoffs. The knockout games will begin for them from the 1/8 finals. In the final final series, the two best PHCs will meet. The one who wins in 4 meetings will win.
So who will be victorious? standings and playoffs? Novokuznetsk Metallurg is being wooed to play the role of the winner of the 8th edition of the VHL. The team participated in the championship for a long time Continental League. The club has extensive experience in playing matches with strong opponents. And “Kuznya” probably wants to return to the KHL... But for this, the Novokuznetsk team will have to show spectacular and effective hockey in order to impress the KHL functionaries.
The Zauralye hockey players defeated Tseng Tou away, and Artem Zagidulin scored his second shutout of the season.
For the game in Jilin, Mikhail Zvyagin’s team was forced to enter with an incomplete squad, since there was simply no one to replace Alexey Knyazev, who received a minor injury in the first period of the match with KRS Heilongjiang. Thus, only 19 field players took to the ice, and Yuri Maslov received the captain's letter for one meeting.
However, these problems did not spoil the mood of the Kurgan team, who ran forward from the very beginning of the match. “Zauralye” dominated throughout the entire opening period of the game, during which the Tseng Tou hockey players never really created any problems for Artem Zagidulin. However, the defense of the Chinese team held out for a very long time, only in the 17th minute Denis Sander opened the scoring, successfully placing his foot under a throw from Evgeniy Shakurov. The judges, after consulting briefly, counted the goal - 0:1. And before the break, another puck hit Igor Tyalo's goal - Artur Boltanov was the first to finish after Yanchevsky's click from the center of the ice. 0:2.
In the second twenty minutes the situation on the ice remained virtually unchanged. The guests created attack after attack, without forgetting about defense. In the 26th minute, Mark Yanchevsky skated freely through the center and sent the puck into the top nine, and a couple of shifts later, Artur Boltanov scored a double, completing a quick combination after a won throw-in - 0:4. The hosts almost immediately replaced the goalkeeper - Alexander Pechursky entered the game, who managed to stop the Kurgan pressure for some time. In addition, “Zauralye” remained in the minority twice in a row and “Tseng Tou” had chances to upset Zagidulin, but it was all in vain.
In the final period, the Kurgan team scored twice again, not allowing Alexei Akifiev's team to create anything. First, Denis Sander scored his second goal of the match, and then Yuri Maslov put the finishing touches, whose powerful shot from the blue line Pechursky failed to cope with - 0:6.
This success allowed Zauralye to rise to 16th place, earning 16 points in 10 games. The Kurgan team will play its next match at its home court on October 16, with Izhstal visiting Izhevsk. The meeting will begin at 18:30.
“Tseng Tou” (Jilin) - “Zauralye” (Kurgan) 0:6 (0:2; 0:2; 0:2)
Main judges: Andrey Baturin, Ivan Frolov. Linesmen: Evgeny Antonov, Alexander Smirnov.
“Tseng Tou”: Tyalo (Pechursky, 27:06); Grebenyuk, Polinin, Ilminsky, Popov, Eremenko, Bitkin, Guan Tianyi, Zhang Jiaqi; Shvetsov, Kasitsyn, Kamaev, Yachmenev, Polozov, Zhang Hao, Shiafotdinov, Gizdatullin, Lukin, Mitrofanov, Huang Peng.
"Trans-Urals": Zagidulin; Krotikov, Glebov, Shakurov, Maslov (K), Olshansky, Sulimov, Yanchevsky, Fast; Isaev, Pervukhin, Mushtaev, Sander, Tsyganov, Avramenko, Kolgotin, Rekhtin, Petrov, Abmetka, Boltanov.
Goals: 0:1 - Denis Sander (Boltanov, Shakurov, 16:39). 0:2 - Artur Boltanov (Shakurov, Yanchevsky, 18:17). 0:3 - Mark Yanchevsky (Tsyganov, 25:10). 0:4 - Artur Boltanov (Abmetka, Sander, 26:45). 0:5 - Denis Sander (Boltanov, 47:09). 0:6 - Yuri Maslov (Olshansky, 54:05, bol).
Penalty: 12 (Shvetsov - 2, Polinin - 4, Eremenko - 2, Mitrofanov - 2, Gizdatullin - 2) - 4 (Isaev - 2, Glebov - 2).
Clubs from the Middle Kingdom will play in the Continental, Major and Youth Leagues
On Tuesday, the Russian Hockey Federation approved the composition of the participants in the Major Hockey League championship for the 2017/18 season. 27 clubs will take part in the tournament and two will make their debut Chinese teams- Kunlun Red Star Heilongjiang (Harbin) and Tsen Tou (Jilin). In addition, he is preparing for his first season in the Kunlun Red Star Junior Youth Hockey League. Thus, four clubs from China have already been incorporated into domestic hockey. Let us remind you that Kunlun Red Star has been playing in the Kontinental Hockey League since last year.
A year after debuting in KHL Chinese They also joined two other Russian professional hockey leagues - the VHL and the MHL. At the same time, Kunlun Red Star has completely built a club vertical, in which KRS Junior is a youth team, and KRS Heilongjiang is a farm club. Molodezhka, like the main Red Star, will be based in Beijing, and the farm is located in Harbin, located in Heilongjiang province (hence the name). "Tsen Tou" represents the city and province of Jilin (Girin in Manchu), which is also located in the northeast of the country.
“With the emergence of two Chinese clubs, the championship of the Major Hockey League is entering a serious international level“- emphasized the chairman of the VHL organizing committee Dmitry Kurbatov. “The geography of the Major League is expanding,” stated FHR President Vladislav Tretyak. “This, of course, increases interest not only in the VHL itself, but also in our hockey as a whole.”
The Chinese, who have set themselves the ambitious task of raising hockey for the home Winter Olympics in 2022, are systematically implementing their program and doing this at all levels. For example, in the next five years, about 100 thousand children should get on skates and pick up sticks. The number of arenas is planned to be increased fourfold - from 250 to 1 thousand. Still, at the moment There is an acute shortage of quality home-grown hockey players in the country. Thus, only two Chinese were able to make it into the Kunlun main team - defender Zach Yuen and forward Rudy Ying. There are still not enough players of our own even for youth team and a farm club, although the personnel situation there is gradually changing in better side. According to preliminary data, 15 Chinese will play for the KRS Heilongjiang, and the remaining positions will be taken by the Russians. At KRS Junior, more than half of the 30 hockey players who started pre-season training are Chinese. Plus players from Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, Belarus and Canada. By the way, this team is trained by Russian specialists Alexander Barkov ( head coach), Mikhail Sarmatin and Igor Gorbenko (assistants).
Simultaneously with the development of children's and youth hockey - it is interesting that one of the KRS junior teams is based in Canada - serious funds are being invested in the club playing in the KHL. The leaders of “Red Star” do not want him to lose to everyone and thereby suffer significant image losses, so in this area they are still relying on foreign players. Last season, Kunlun managed to put together a combat-ready squad that immediately made it to the playoffs. And judging by the current selection campaign, in the next championship the club will be at least no weaker. The Beijingers signed contracts with good craftsmen, among whom are the Pole Wojtek Wolski, the Swedes Richard Gunge, Andreas Thuresson and Magnus Hellberg, the Canadian Kyle Chipchura, the Belarusian Andrei Kostitsyn and the Latvian Arturs Kulda. And the fact that the Canadian Mike Keenan headed KRS is a good move both in a professional sense and from a PR point of view. Iron Mike enjoys great authority in hockey world and already has experience working in the KHL. His predecessor, Russian Vladimir Yurzinov Jr., played his role, providing a bright debut.
True, Kunlun will have to solve the problem of attendance. In the 2016/17 championship, the club set a KHL anti-record: only 550 spectators were present at its home match with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk in Shanghai. In Beijing, interest in hockey was higher, but the average attendance in the regular championship was still modest - 2,952 people. This is the fourth result from the bottom (only Cherepovets Severstal, Khanty-Mansi Ugra and Novokuznetsk Metallurg have worse results). However, in the playoffs, much more people went to Kunlun - an average of 7,150 people. Nevertheless home arena“KRS” is designed for 14 thousand spectators, so we still need to work with the fans.
On Tuesday, the Russian Hockey Federation approved the composition of the participants in the Major Hockey League championship for the 2017/18 season. The tournament will feature 27 clubs and two Chinese teams making their debut - Kunlun Red Star Heilongjiang (Harbin) and Tsen Tou (Jilin). In addition, he is preparing for his first season in the Kunlun Red Star Junior Youth Hockey League. Thus, four clubs from China have already been incorporated into domestic hockey. Let us remind you that Kunlun Red Star has been playing in the Kontinental Hockey League since last year.
A year after their debut in the KHL, the Chinese joined two other Russian professional hockey leagues - the VHL and the MHL. At the same time, Kunlun Red Star has completely built a club vertical, in which KRS Junior is a youth team, and KRS Heilongjiang is a farm club. Molodezhka, like the main Red Star, will be based in Beijing, and the farm is located in Harbin, located in Heilongjiang province (hence the name). "Tsen Tou" represents the city and province of Jilin (Girin in Manchu), which is also located in the northeast of the country.
“With the emergence of two Chinese clubs, the Major Hockey League championship is reaching a serious international level,” emphasized Dmitry Kurbatov, chairman of the VHL Organizing Committee. “The geography of the Major League is expanding,” stated FHR President Vladislav Tretyak. “This, of course, increases interest not only in the VHL itself, but also in our hockey as a whole.”
The Chinese, who have set themselves the ambitious task of raising hockey for the home Winter Olympics in 2022, are systematically implementing their program and doing this at all levels. For example, in the next five years, about 100 thousand children should get on skates and pick up sticks. The number of arenas is planned to be increased fourfold - from 250 to 1 thousand. Still, at the moment there is an acute shortage of quality home-grown hockey players in the country. Thus, only two Chinese were able to make it into the Kunlun main team - defender Zach Yuen and striker Rudy Ying. So far there are not enough players even for the youth team and farm club, although the personnel situation there is gradually changing for the better. According to preliminary data, 15 Chinese will play for the Heilongjiang Cattle, and the remaining positions will be taken by the Russians. At KRS Junior, more than half of the 30 hockey players who started pre-season training are Chinese. Plus players from Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, Belarus and Canada. By the way, this team is coached by Russian specialists Alexander Barkov (head coach), Mikhail Sarmatin and Igor Gorbenko (assistants).
Simultaneously with the development of children's and youth hockey - it is interesting that one of the KRS junior teams is based in Canada - serious funds are being invested in the club playing in the KHL. The leaders of “Red Star” do not want him to lose to everyone and thereby suffer significant image losses, so in this area they are still relying on foreign players. Last season, Kunlun managed to put together a combat-ready squad that immediately made it to the playoffs. And judging by the current selection campaign, in the next championship the club will be at least no weaker. The Beijingers signed contracts with good craftsmen, among whom are the Pole Wojtek Wolski, the Swedes Richard Gunge, Andreas Thuresson and Magnus Hellberg, the Canadian Kyle Chipchura, the Belarusian Andrei Kostitsyn and the Latvian Arturs Kulda. And the fact that the Canadian Mike Keenan headed KRS is a good move both in a professional sense and from a PR point of view. Iron Mike enjoys great authority in the hockey world and already has experience in the KHL. His predecessor, Russian Vladimir Yurzinov Jr., played his role, providing a bright debut.
True, Kunlun will have to solve the problem of attendance. In the 2016/17 championship, the club set a KHL anti-record: only 550 spectators were present at its home match with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk in Shanghai. In Beijing, interest in hockey was higher, but the average attendance in the regular championship was still modest - 2,952 people. This is the fourth result from the bottom (only Cherepovets Severstal, Khanty-Mansi Ugra and Novokuznetsk Metallurg have worse results). However, in the playoffs, much more people went to Kunlun - an average of 7,150 people. Nevertheless, the KRS home arena is designed for 14 thousand spectators, so we still need to work with the fans.
Major League Hockey is becoming an increasingly international league. Only it is growing not with Russian clubs, not with Siberia, as many dreamed, but with Chinese ones.
Following the KHL, the “comrades from the Middle Kingdom” have now opened the second strongest Russian division. And in the amount of two clubs at once.
Tower players now have to learn the names of clubs such as Kunlun Red Star Heilongjiang (Harbin) and Tsen Tou (Jilin), and managers wonder how to get there. Moreover, if Red Star Heilongjiang, as the name suggests, will be the pharmaceutical club of Kehael’s Kunlun, then Tsen Tou will be an independent team.
Where they will find high-class hockey players in such numbers is still unknown. Last season " Chinese dragons“It was difficult to find three players with Chinese roots in the KHL. From North America. Of these, only one had a permanent place in the lineup - Zach Yuen.
Naturally, there will be no Chinese players for two more Chinese clubs and the places will be filled by foreign players. Let's hope that at least Russian ones.
Indeed, next season the place of the VHL will be taken by the joint Russian-Chinese (or Chinese-Russian) Silk Road Cup. And over time, the number of participants from the largest country in the world should be increased to ten. Plans worthy of Ostap Bender, who told the Vasyukin residents about the interplanetary chess tournament.
Well, the number Russian clubs in the major leagues everything really decreases. Four more clubs died. Including last season's Bratina winner Dynamo (Balashikha), which is certainly a shame for the league. In addition to Dynamo, Ilya Kovalchuk’s home club, THC (Tver), which last season became the basis for the Russian team that won the Universiade, will not play next season. As well as Saratov “Crystal” and “Ariada-NH” (Volzhsk), which have rich hockey traditions.
There are also newcomers: the Bashkir Gornyak (Uchaly) (which became the “farm” of Avtomobilist), the Samara CSK VVS (will cooperate with Lada) and the Novokuznetsk Metallurg. Of these, only Kuznya, which was recently planning to play in the KHL, will be the favorite.
Among the 27 participants in the VHL championship next season and two St. Petersburg club- “SKA-Neva” and “Dynamo” (St. Petersburg).
Opinions
Dmitry Kurbatov, Chairman of the VHL Organizing Committee:
With the emergence of two Chinese clubs, the VHL championship is reaching a serious international level. The league is getting younger, which has a positive effect on training personnel for the KHL and the emergence of more professional hockey players high level. Next season we will do everything possible to make the championship even more interesting, unpredictable, and the financial position of the clubs more stable.
Vladislav Tretyak, President of the FHR:
I think that the upcoming VHL season should be very interesting. The geography of the league is expanding, five new clubs will join the tournament. In addition to the well-known teams - primarily, of course, Novokuznetsk Metallurg - two Chinese teams will take part in the competition. All this, of course, increases interest not only in the league itself, but also in our hockey as a whole. Sure, new season will give us bright, unforgettable hockey confrontations, and the league will have new loyal fans - the VHL deserves it.
Composition of participants in the VHL Championship 2017/18 season:
1. Bars (Kazan)
2. “Buran” (Voronezh)
3. “Gornyak” (Uchaly)
4. “Diesel” (Penza)
5. Dynamo (St. Petersburg)
6. “Ermak” (Angarsk)
7. “Trans-Urals” (Kurgan)
8. “Star” (Chekhov)
9. “Izhstal” (Izhevsk)
10. Kunlun Red Star Heilongjiang (Harbin)
11. “Metallurg” (Novokuznetsk)
12. “Hammer-Prikamye” (Perm)
13. “Neftyanik” (Almetyevsk)
14. “Rubin” (Tyumen)
15. “Saryarka” (Karaganda)
16. “SKA-Neva” (St. Petersburg)
17. “Falcon” (Krasnoyarsk)
18. “Sputnik” (Nizhny Tagil)
19. “Toros” (Neftekamsk)
20. “Torpedo” (Ust-Kamenogorsk)
21. HC "Ryazan" (Ryazan)
22. HC "Sarov" (Sarov)
23. “Khimik” (Voskresensk)
24. "Tsen Tou" (Jilin)
25. CSK VVS (Samara)
26. “Chelmet” (Chelyabinsk)
27. “Southern Ural” (Orsk)
