Hockey: Russian Superleague Roundup

BOULDER, Colorado -- From now on, I will try every Tuesday to include a roundup of news from the Russian Superleague. This roundup will include scores, standings, and the biggest news stories from the week.

But first, a request.

I have no idea how many people actually read this blog. I'm guessing that it is very, very few, so the chances that someone who speaks Finnish or Swedish reads this are quite slim, but if anyone would like to submit news from those respective bandy leagues, I'd be happy to accept it and post it on this site. Otherwise, I'll continue my sporadic and slanted coverage of Baikal-Energia Irkutsk.

Now, onto the Superleague.

Spartak Moscow Vets Make Plea to Tretiak

December 5 -- A group of retired players from legendary club Spartak Moscow sent a letter to Russian Hockey Federation president Vladislav Tretiak asking him to take steps to ensure that Spartak returns to the Superleague next season, the club reported. "For Spartak's 60th anniversary season, we are asking you to consider returning the club to the Superleague for the 2007-08 season," the letter said. Despite finishing in 10th place last season, financial problems forced the team's owners to relegate Spartak to the Elite League. The money troubles have still not been resolved, and the federation has been searching for a new owner to take over the team. Among the signatories to the letter were Vyachslav Starshinov, Boris Mayorov, and Alexander Yakushev.

Fetisov Says Malkin May Still Play for Russia, Maintains Opposition to NHL Deal

December 4 -- Director of the Russian Federal Sports Agency Vyacheslav Fetisov voiced his support for Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin in an interview with the Soviet Sport newspaper. "I'm on the player's side," Fetisov said. "Most importantly, Evgeni has never said that he will never play for the national team again." Malkin abruptly left Russia in August to sign with Pittsburgh even though he was still under contract with his Russian club, Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Because Russia has not signed a transfer agreement with the NHL, Metallurg is not entitled to any compensation, though they are fighting both the Penguins and the NHL in US courts over the player. "The deal the NHL has offered is, in my opinion, simply robbery," Fetisov said. "If clubs develop a player, invest money in him, the clubs should decide whether or not to release him to play overseas."

Bykov Announces Roster for Channel One Cup

November 30 -- Russian national team coach Vyacheslav Bykov announced the roster for the Russian leg of the Euro Hockey Tour, the Channel One Cup. Of the 29 players selected, three - Krylya Sovetov Moscow goalie Dmitry Yachanov, Avangard Omsk forward Artyom Chubarov and Vityaz Checkov forward Alexander Krolyuk - had not been selected for the previous two rounds of the tour. League leader Ak Bars Kazan led all teams with six selections, including its entire top line of Alexei Morozov, Sergei Zinoviev and Danis Zaripov. The Channel One Cup will be held in Moscow December 14-17 and will also include national squads from Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic.

Belarus Grants Citizenship to 14 Russian Players

November 29 -- 14 Russians and one Ukrainian currently playing in the Belorusian Open Championship were granted Belorusian citizenship by an order of President Alexander Lukashenka, the Soviet Sport newspaper reported. As a result of this order, these players will no longer count towards their teams' foreign player quotas, and they will be entitled to play for the Belorusian national team. Five of the players play for Khimvolokno Mogileva, while the remainder play for HK Gomel, Dynamo Minsk, Yunost Minsk, Keramin Minsk, Neman Grodna and Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk.

Scores

December 1

Metallurg Novokuznetsk 3:5 Khimik Moscow Region
Sibir Novosibirsk 1:3 Avangard Omsk
Traktor Chelyabinsk 5:2 Krylya Sovetov Moscow
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5:1 Amur Khabarovsk
Severstal Cherepovetsk 1:5 Ak Bars Kazan
CSKA Moscow 0:3 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
SKA St. Petersburg 2:1 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

December 2

Salavat Yulayev Ufa 3:6 Lada Toliyatti
HK MVD Tver 4:3 Dynamo Moscow

December 3

Sibir Novosibirsk 6:3 Khimik Moscow Region
Metallurg Novokuznetsk 1:2 Avangard Omsk
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6:2 Krylya Sovetov Moscow
Traktor Chelyabinsk 1:1 Amur Khabarovsk
SKA St. Petersburg 5:2 Ak Bars Kazan
Vityaz Chekhov 2:2 Lokotmotiv Yaroslavl
Severstal Cherepovets 2:4 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk*

*Note on scores: on this site, scores will be reported in the European style, with the home team listed first and a colon between the scores (this is because I don't feel like rewriting all these scores American-style). For your convenience, winners are written in bold.