Baikal Keeps Rollin'

BOULDER, Colorado -- Okay, I promised that I would be more responsible updating this website. I lied. And there are only four games left in the Baikal-Energia Irkutsk season, but there is still the playoffs, so you can count on some killer coverage. I've also been working on some video blogging stuff, so that should be coming soon.

Anyway, I have a deadline hanging over my head, but with the Patriots game coming up later this afternoon, I'm not going to get anything accomplished today anyway, so I might as well work on this.

Before the New Year, it was all gloom and doom for Baikal - their coach - fired; their captain - stripped of his "K" ("captain" starts with a "K" in Russian); their leading goal scorer - suspended for 10 games. But guess who is now riding a nine-game winning streak and sitting in second place in their division?

Baikal, bitches.

So, we've got a lot of matches to recap, so let's start with their match with Lesokhimik Ust-Ilimsk way back on January 11.

Lesokhimik Ust-Ilimsk 4:6 Baikal-Energia Irkutsk
January 11, 2007

Despite Lesokhimik's lowly standing, Baikal had struggled of late to score goals, and that continued to plague them in this game. Going into the halftime break, the two teams were locked in a 2-2 tie on Baikal goals from Nikolai Kadakin (the once and future captain) and Maxim Gavrilenko. Kadakin broke the tie in the 54th minute, but Yegor Gornostayev knotted at 3-3 in the 66th minute. Sergei Yusupov would put Baikal up for good when scored off a pass from Gavrilenko, but the game winner belonged to Sergei Rogulyov in the 80th minute. For insurance, he would add another with just two minutes remaining to give Baikal the 6-4 win.

Metallurg Bratsk 4:7 Baikal-Energia Irkutsk
January 14, 2007

This match with a sleeper in the first half, though Baikal would open the second period with a 2-0 lead that they would not relinquish throughout. In the 57th minute, after goals from Andrei Khlyupin and Maxim Faskhutdinov, Bratsk did manage to tie it up, but Kadakin and Konstantin Savchenko answered in quick succession. Rogulyov, Yusupov and Maxim Koshelev rouded out the scoring as Baikal rolled to a 7-4 victory.

Baikal-Energia Irkutsk 4:3 Yenisei Krasnoyarsk
January 17, 2007

After their long road trip, Baikal would award its fans with the best gift possible - a home victory over arch-rivals Krasnoyarsk. Baikal's scoring woes continued, but this match was not as close as the score indicates. By the 36th minute, Irkutsk had rushed out to a 3-0 lead off a pair of goals from Gavrilenko and one from Yusupov. In the 40th minute, Yenisei defender Yuri Vikulin got his team on the board. In the 49th minute, things got interesting when the lead was cut to one when Maxim Blem scored on his own goal. But Baikal regained their composure, and Yusupov scored the eventual game winner in the 80th minute. Yenisei tried to mount a comback, as Alexei Shcheglov scored with just two minutes remaining, but the final in this tilt still went to Irkutsk, 4-3.

Baikal-Energia Irkutsk 9:1 Sibselmash Novosibirsk
January 20, 2007

The last time these two teams met, Baikal suffered their first defeat in Novosibirsk in five years. Back on the home ice of Trud Stadium with 10,000 fans on hand, the home side exacted their revenge by quickly turning this one into a laugher. Yusupov and Kadakin each had hat tricks, and Sibselmash did not even get on the board until the 79th minute - by then the score was 6-1. Seldom-used Denis Nokhrin even got in on the action, while the other Baikal goals were scored by Rogulyov and Koshelev.


After this impressive streak, Baikal now sits in second place in the East Division standings with 37 points and a 12-3-1 record. Kuzbass Kemerovo appears to be running away with the division with 48 points and one loss (to Baikal-Energia way back in November). Yenisei is also nipping on Baikal's heels with 34 points, but Baikal has two games in hand on Krasnoyarsk.

The more likely challenger appears to be SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk, which sits five points back of Irkutsk and also has four matches remaining. However, they have a slightly tougher road to the end of the season with two games against Kuzbass, whereas Baikal's four remaining opponents (SKA-Zabaikalets Chita, Mayak Krasnoturinsk, SKA-Sverdlovsk Yekaterinburg and Bratsk Metallurg) have a combined record of 18-37-4 this season. Irkutsk also has the benefit of playing all four matches on home ice.

Moving breifly to the West Division, there are few surprises there - Dynamo Moscow holds the best record in the country at 16-1-0 and has scored 70 more goals than any other team in their division. Their lone loss this season came back on December 3 in Moscow at the hands of Uralsky Trubnik Pervouralsk, who now sits in fifth place. Zorky Krasnogorsk is just four points behind Dynamo with a 14-1-2 record, and Rodina Kirov is in third with 36 points.

The team best positioned to make a move in the final three weeks of the season is likely fourth-place Raketa Kazan, who has 30 points. After starting their season 2-3, they are 8-2 in their last 10 games, and they have three games in hand on third-place Rodina Kirov, with 36 points.