Apologies, and Baikail-Energia Undefeated 2 Weeks Into Season

BOULDER, Colorado -- I would like to start off this post by apologizing for my delinquency. It has been well over a month since I posted any information, and neglect is the surest way to kill any website, weblog or otherwise. The demands of graduate school have put Bandy Central on the back burner, but getting back up to speed with the bandy world has been a welcome reprieve from my work as of late, much more welcome (and productive) than watching Oprah or listening to my police scanner.

So, onto the news...

Krylatskoye Stadium, MOSCOW, Russia -- The biggest news since my last post was Dynamo Moscow's victory in the Russian Cup way back on November 7th. Baikal-Energia Irkutsk had the misfortune to face off with the Moscow juggernaut in the semifinals, a match Dynamo won 10-5. Irkutsk was coming off a huge victory in the quarterfinals over archrival Yenisei Krasnoyarsk, a game that was decided in the 78th minute when captain Nikolai Kadakin put Baikal up for good with his third goal of the game. Konstantin Savchenko added an insurance goal six minutes later to give Irkutsk the 7-5 victory.

In the semis, despite the five-goal margin, Baikal kept it close late in the match. Baikal held a 2-0 lead almost 30 minutes into the game, but seven unanswered goals by Dynamo put them in a hole they could not crawl out of. But in the 83rd minute, Sergei Yusupov offered some hope as his goal off a corner cut the lead to 8-5. But Maxim Chermnykh's two goals in quick succession in the final minutes iced the game for Moscow and put them in a position to win their second consecutive Russian Cup on home ice.

Facing regional rival Zorky Krasnogorsk, Dynamo exploded out of the gate, and the outcome of this game was decided by the 22 minute mark when Rinat Shamsutov netted the second of his three goals to give Dynamo a commanding 6-0 lead; by the end of the half, Zorky was staring at a 8-0 defecit. In the second half, Zorky's legionnaires tried to mount a comeback against a lineup largely of Dynamo reserves as Laakkonen netted a pair, but the lead was too large, and Dynamo raised the Russian Cup beneath the rafters of Moscow's Krylatskoye stadium for the second year in a row after an 8-4 victory.

Trud Stadium, IRKUTSK, Russia -- Turning to the Russian League, Baikal-Energia remains at the top of the tables in the East Division with an impressive string of home victories over SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk (6-2), Sayany Abakan (8-0), Kuzbass Kemerovo (4-3) and Lesokhimik Ust-Ilimsk (8-4). Yenisei and Kuzbass sit behind Irkutsk in the standings, both with 3-1 records.

In the west division, the odd scheduling has Dynamo Moscow sitting in first place with eight wins through eight games, while no other club has played more than four. Zorky is also undefeated with four wins, while Rodina Kirov sits in third place with a 3-0 record.

Keep checking in for more bandy news, as I will be more diligent in the future at keeping this site updated, and I will soon be posting the box scores for Baikal-Energia's first four matches.