BOULDER, Colorado -- Baikal-Energia Irkutsk's disappointing (pre-)season continued as they finished the second round of the Russian Cup mired in third place in their group, eliminating them from the final round tournament, to be held in Moscow November 3-5.
The second round began Wednesday in the cities of Moscow, Kirov, Kemerovo and Krasnoyarsk. The top two teams from each group qualify for the finals.
Kuzbass Kemerovo won the third group, going undefeated on their home ice. They were followed by Sibselmash Novosibirsk with a 2-1 record. Baikal's 1-2 finish put them in third, followed by Mayak Krasnoturinsk, who went winless.
After starting Wednesday's action with a 7-1 win over Mayak, Baikal was blown out by Kuzbass 13-5 (an all too familiar outcome over the past couple of seasons) on Thursday. Despite a two-goal effort from Yevgeny Yakovlev, they lost 5-2 to Sibselmash Saturday to book their tickets back to Irkutsk to await the opening of the regular season.
Joining Kuzbass and Sibselmash in Moscow will be Zorky Krasonogorsk and Dynamo Moscow. Zorky scored a surprise victory over Dynamo in the final game of the tournament, beating the defending cup champions 9-5 on the strength of five goals from the Nordic trio of David Karlsson, Sami Laakkonen and Ville Aaltonen. Vodnik Arkahngelsk and Start Nizhny Novgorod, who allowed a tournament-high 37 goals in three games, rounded out the table.
From Kirov, home side Rodina and Uralsky Trubnik Pervouralsk finished 1-2, each with two victories. Volga Ulyanovsk also registered six points, but their -3 goal differential put them in third place, while Raketa Kazan finished winless.
Finally, SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk put in a dominating performance in group 4, outscoring the opposition 26-4. Yenisei Krasnoyarsk finished second, while Sayany Abakan and Lesokhimik Ust-Ilimisk failed to qualify.
The regular season opens for Baikal on November 21st at home against SKA-Neftyanik.
Monday, October 22, 2007
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