Solution for Tampa's Goaltending Woes?

BOULDER, Colorado -- The Tampa Bay Lightning currently sit in last place in the Eastern Conference, and though they have suffered some devastating injuries (most importantly to power play quarterback Dan Boyle, who recently returned after a three month absence), their atrocious goaltending can be blamed for much of their struggles.

The presumptive starter at the beginning of the season, Marc Denis was assigned to the AHL back on December 29th and has not had a whiff of the NHL since. Johan Homqvist has managed 20 wins, but he is terrible in every other statistical category, and his inconsistency has allowed rookie Karri Ramo to challenge him for starts.

This season may be a lost cause for the Lightning, but far-off Russian club Ak Bars Kazan may have provided them with an opportunity to sign their goaltender of the future.

In 2002, Tampa drafted Russian goalie Vasily Koshechkin in the eighth round, 233rd overall. Koshechkin was trained by the legendary Lada Toliyatti hockey school, and he has developed into one of Russia's few blue-chip goalie prospects. He starred for the big club for two years, posting an overall record of 34-22-12 with goals against averages of 1.56 and 2.08 in 2005-06 and 06-07, respectively.

Though Lada was an excellent defensive club during those seasons, Koshechkin performed spectacularly behind the solid defensive corps and took his team farther than expected in the Superleague playoffs. Koshechkin is also a big goalie, standing at 6'6", with remarkable quickness for his size. You can read the whole scouting report on him here, from russianprospects.com.

Before this season, Koshechkin nearly signed with the Lightning, but instead he signed a two-year deal with perennial powerhouse Ak Bars. He has struggled so far this season, posting a 5-9 record, and conflicts with domineering coach Zenitula Bilyaletdinov caused him to leave the team several weeks ago. On Monday, Ak Bars announced that Koshechkin had been given his release.

Though Koshechkin certainly will not be available for Tampa this season, his lack of a contract in Russia may make him available to challenge for a spot on their roster next season, as the Lightning can avoid paying a transfer fee to a Russian club.

It certainly is not a solution for this season, but Koshechkin's upside is tremendous, and the 24 year old deserves a chance to shine on an NHL rink.

Above: Koshechkin in goal for Lada in a game against Spartak Moscow in 2005 - notice that Russia continues to employ goal judges, who have been an unfortunate casualty of the "new" NHL (Andrew Gustafson).

378 PIMs for Ak Bars and Traktor in Superleague

Tatneft Arena, KAZAN, Russia -- This story has been all over the Internet, and was even featured on Sportscenter last night, but I thought I'd include it here. In case you missed it, in their matchup Tuesday night, Russian Superleague teams Ak Bars Kazan and Traktor Chelyabinsk managed to rack up 378 penalty minutes in a bench-clearing brawl at the end of the game.

The fight started after Traktor forward Alexei Zavarukhin thought he scored with 34 seconds left in the third period, but the puck crossed the line after the referee had whistled the play dead. Ak Bars took exception to the extra effort, and Zavarukhin was leveled in the corner by two Kazan players, sparking the melee.

The referees made a feeble effort to keep the players from leaving the bench, but within seconds it was 22-on-22 in a bruising brawl that lasted more than five minutes. As the fight started to wind down, the Ak Bars fans can be heard chanting "Молодцы!" which translates roughly to, "Good job, guys!"

Ak Bars won the game 7-5 and currently sits in sixth place in the Superleague, while Traktor remains mired in 14th.

Here's a video of the whole affair, courtesy of my old employer, RTR-Sport.



On Thursday, the Russian Hockey Federation announced suspensions for 12 players. The longest went to Kazan forward Alexander Stepanov, who received three games for leaving the penalty box. He could receive another six games unless he pays a fine of 30,000 rubles (approximately US$1,200). Traktor forward and former Hartford Whaler Andrei Nikolishin received a one game suspension plus three games should he not pay the fine.

Speaking of the Whalers, this brawl brings back memories of the legendary tilt between the New England Whalers and the Minnesota Fighting Saints on April 11, 1975 in the old World Hockey Association. That fight set a WHA record for penalty minutes in a game at 217, a paltry total when compared to this Superleague fight.

You can watch a short piece about that night at the Hartford Civic Center below, or you can listen to the call from Bob Neumier here.




I must say that in all my years of watching Russian hockey, I have seen very few fights in the Superleague, and none at a live game. I'm not saying fighting doesn't happen over there, but don't think that this incident means the rough and tumble hockey of the NHL in the 1970's can now be found in Russia. Fighting remains much rarer than it is in North America, but probably more common than in other European leagues.

UPDATE: This was one of my favorite stories from the Superleague last year. Good job, Traktor fans.

Salavat Yulayev Bans Traktor Fans, Receives Fine

December 12, 2006 -- Salavat Yulayev Ufa has decided that fans of Traktor Chelyabinsk are no longer welcome at their stadium. The announcement came after a December 6th incident in Ufa when a person, identified as a Traktor fan by Salavat Yulayev officials, tossed a smoke grenade onto the Ufa bench during a game. The fan was immediately arrested and charged. Salavat Yulayev has also begun comprehensive searches of all persons and their belongings entering the stadium, and fans expressing support for Traktor will not be allowed to attend any games. Salavat Yulayev officials stated that they held Traktor entirely responsible for the incident, but the Russian Hockey Federation still fined the home side 300,000 rubles (US$11,500), because according to federation rules, the home team is responsible for the behavior of all fans in their arena, regardless of their leanings.