BOULDER, Colorado -- I am writing this post with a heavy heart indeed. It's been a foregone conclusion for a while now, but nine players from last year's roster have left Baikal-Energia Irkutsk, six of them going to divisional rival SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk, including my favorite player, Sergei Yusupov (pictured right).I had been holding off posting this terrible news, hoping some of them might return, but it was confirmed when Neftyanik announced their roster for the Russian Cup.
Along with Yusupov, Maxim Gavrilenko, Konstantin Yeryomenko, Sergei Rogulyov, Maxim Koshelev, and Andrei Kovalyov have moved to Khabarovsk. In addition, Dmitry Sokolov and Vasily Levi have moved to SKA-Zabaikalets-Energia Chita.
The offensive contributions of Yusupov and Rogulyov will be difficult to replace, as last season they scored 27 and 25 goals, respectively; Rogulyov led the team in overall scoring with 45 points, while Yusupov finished fourth with 31.
Finally, Baikal will be without defenseman Alexei Petrov, who has left after four years with the club, though it is still unknown where he will play this upcoming season.
But Baikal has a number of new additions. Forward Yevgeny Yakovlev and midfielder Yury Timofeyev have both moved over from Chita; Yakovlev led Chita in goal scoring last season with 22. Also, defenseman Andrei Veselov has arrived from Sayany Abakan, and midfielder Andrei Artyomenko has come over from Yenisei Krasnoyarsk.
On Friday, the Russian Bandy Federation also approved the transfers of defenseman Andrei Stolnikov from Volga Ulyanovsk and midfielder Pavel Naumov from Swedish side IFK Malmo.
Yusup, you will be missed. But tune in to Rambler audio to hear him play against his old club at 2am ET on Sunday, August 26 (this broadcast will be, of course, in Russian).
Baikal-Energia's first Russian Cup match will be on Thursday against Yekaterinburg, also at 2am ET (blame the 13 hour time difference).
Here's an updated version of their full Russian Cup first round schedule (all times Eastern):
August 23 - SKA-Sverdlovsk Yekaterinburg, 2am
August 24 - SKA-Zabaikalets Chita, 2am
August 26 - SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk, 2am
August 27 - Mayak Krasnoturinsk, 2am
August 28 - Kuzbass Kemerovo, 5am
September 9 - Yenisei Krasnoyarsk, 8am
September 11 - Sayany Abakan, 8am
September 12 - Metallurg Bratsk, 11pm
September 15 - Sibselmash Novosibirsk, 8am
September 16 - Lesokhimik Ust-Ilimsk, 8am
Update: Forward Nikolai Semyashkin has also joined Baikal-Energia from Vodnik Arkhangelsk, though he was only listed on the team's roster for the Russian Cup, according to rosters filed with the federation August 8. Former Baikal defenseman Alexei Petrov has joined Chita, but he is also currently only on the Russian Cup roster.
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