BOULDER, Colorado -- Baikal-Energia Irkutsk's season seems to be meeting all of the low pre-season expectations. In the span of one week, they lost to fifth-place Mayak Krasnoturinsk 4-2 and last-place SKA-Sverdlovsk Yekaterinburg 2-0.
Baikal has managed only 10 points in its first 10 games, and its 3-6-1 record has been good for eighth place in the East Division.
There was one bright spot in the season's first half, when Baikal defeated arch-rival Yenisei Krasnoyarsk 3-2 on December 25th. Baikal's two other victories this season came against Lesokhimik Ust-Ilimsk and Sverdlovsk.
Baikal remains a rather stingy team defensively, allowing only 41 goals on the season - good for middle of the pack in their division - but they have great trouble scoring goals, netting only 29. New addition Yevgeny Yakovlev has not disappointed, leading the team in goals and points (6 goals+3 assists=9 points), and Nikolai Kadakin (4+5=9) and Alexander Nasonov (5 goals) remain reliable contributors. But it has been impossible to replace six of the team's leading scorers who moved over to SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk in the offseason.
Nefytaynik, incidentally, is undefeated and sits in second place with 28 points after 10 games, while Kuzbass Kemerovo continues to dominate the division with 39 points in 14 games.
Last season's second place finish in the division is totally out of reach, but hopefully the bounces will go Baikal's way in the second half.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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