MHL website "coming soon"

Today it was announced that the MHL website will be launched soon, right on time for the first match scheduled for September 4th. The site's address is the following: http://mhl.khl.ru/

The introduction is very, very nice and features CSKA's Alexei Marchenko vs Dynamo's Alexander Avtsin. The Russian text down the picture says simply "September 4th - Start of the Russian Junior League". Hopefully it will have an English version, but nothing has been announced about that.

Sorry for the short post, but there is really nothing else to say about this! In my next post I will talk about Kirill Kabanov as there are some news about his teamin the upcoming season.

Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament to host MHL stars

I've published an article at Russian Prospects about the upcoming Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, which will feature some of the top MHL young players.
Ivan Hlinka Tournament is an international Under 18 tournament which is played every year in Czech Republic and Slovakia featuring national teams of Russia, Canada, USA, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland. There will be two groups, one in Breclav (Czech Republic), and another in Piestany (Slovakia). Russia will play in the latter with USA, Slovakia and Finland. The winners of the two groups will face in the tournament's final, scheduled for August 15th.

Team Russia will play two preparation matches in Norway, against the local under 18 national team, on August 8th and 9th. Yesterday (August 6th), a match between Under 20 and Under 18 Russian national teams has been played, and oddly enough the younger team got the W 2-1 with goals by Bogdan Potekhin and Stefan Stepanov. Washington Capitals' prospect Dmitry Kugryshev scored for the Under 20 team.

The star of the selection will be undoubtedly Kirill Kabanov, but most likely he won't play in the MHL next year and thus the most interesting players for our purpose are the following (two for role):

G Pavel Suchkov (Krasnaya Armiya) and Kirill Brashkin (Ladia Togliatti)

The two players will probably share starting duties, with Suchkov maybe advantaged. They are two good goalies, but both probably a little bit undersized, especially the first. Though they are going to backstop their hometown club in the first MHL season. 

D Stefan Stepanov and Alexei Marchenko (Krasnaya Armiya)

Both premier offensive defenseman, Stepanov and Marchenko will probably play in the top two lines. Stepanov, who did score in the exhibition against the Under 20 team, has already played in the National Junior team last year in the Tyumen tournament, being one of the youngest players in the team, while Marchenko has played only for Russia-92. Though Marchenko has been portraited as one of the four "faces of the league" for the MHL. Both have NHL potential, but probably Stepanov is more NHL ready as far as now, especially regarding the physical play.

F Vladislav Namestnikov (Feniks) and Sergei Barbashev (Krasnaya Armiya)

Just as usual, the forwards are the strongest part of team Russia. Kirill Kabanov is surely the team's star, but he's going to play in the KHL for Salavat Yulaev Ufa. Vladislav Namestnikov, who plays for Khimik Voskresensk's junior team, is a skilled center with elite technique and excellent mental game who makes him a clutch player, while CSKA's Sergei Barbashev is your prototypical Russian winger, very quick and a tad small. 

Other prospects with potential are Stanislav Galiev (who's going to play for St. John in the QMJHL), Stalnye Lisy's Evgeny Grigorenko and center Ivan Telegin, who recently bought off his contract with Metallurg Novokuznetsk in order to go playing in the OHL.

But two of the most interesting players to watch will be the younger ones: Nail Yakupov and Mikhail Grigorenko. Both 2012 eligible, if we were some years ago (with less NHL-KHL conflicts) they might have been thought as possible 1-2 in the draft like Ovechkin and Malkin in 2004. Late 1993-born Nail Yakupov, from Nizhnekamsk, is a speedy, technical winger, while Mikhail Grigorenko, who is from Khabarovsk even if plays for CSKA Moscow, is a dominant playmaking center who played last year first line hockey with Team Russia-93, surely a great result for a player one year younger than the rest. This season he made a further step forward as he'll play with (and against) players two years older than him.

Q&A with Andrei Osadchenko

Andrei Osadchenko is a Russian hockey journalist who covers junior hockey (and more) for the popular portal allhockey.ru who recently moved to Canada. He actually made many of the interviews I've been translating for www.russianprospects.com

In this question and answer Andrei talked about the prospects of the new MHL and about some of the league's future stars... MHL hockey thanks Andrei for his time and for giving us this excellent reading.

- Hello Andrei. Why do you like junior hockey so much? It's not common in Russia and in Europe after all…

- Honestly, I don't even know the answer to that question myself. I guess, it's just because I love hockey in general. It really doesn't matter if that’s a pee-wee tournament or an NHL exhibition game we're talking about. Hockey has been in my life for so long that, in fact, it is my life. And I love every single part of it.

- Talking about the newly-formed MHL, what do you think about its creation? Which prospects it can offer to Russian junior players?

- Obviously it's a great improvement for Russian hockey. It's a huge step forward. We had too many players that would quit hockey just because there was no league for them to play in. You can't on that everybody is going to be as good as Malkin or Ovechkin, right? It's never going to be this way. Let's say you're 18 years old. You don’t play for your hockey-school team anymore. Yet, you can't make the roster neither of the big team like CSKA or Ak Bars, nor of it's farm-club. It's just way to competitive at this level. So what are your options? The easiest would be to quit. You can't blame those guys. They've got to do something with their lives and let's face it – hockey's a tough business. Now, on the other hand, you got the MHL where you actually can play and get a chance to improve.

- Do you think the creation of the MHL will prevent junior players walk towards the CHL?

- No, I don't think so. And let me explain why. If you look at the guys who went overseas to in the CHL, you can easily notice that they are pretty talented. You don’t see an average Russian junior playing in the OHL or QJMHL, do you? All the players that were drafted by CHL teams were the best Russian juniors at that particular time. Look at the recent draft results – Burmistrov, Kabanov, Pivtsakin… These guys won silver medals at the latest U-18 World Championship. And the list goes on. Are they going to play in Canada? Well, if they can't make to the KHL, most likely, yes, they are. Why's that? I have to say that the level of the MHL is not going to be as high as the CHL. So, in a nut-shell – the MHL is a good thing for an average player, but could easily turn out as a step-back for the best juniors there are.

- You surely have seen the first MHL logos revealed. Which one do you like the most?

- Yes, I did see the first logos that came out. To tell you the truth, there's only one that I really like. The one Sibirskie Snaipery got. This thing looks amazing. I sure hope the team itself is going to be just as the logo.

- The first MHL fotosession featured Alexander Avtsin from Dinamo, Aleksandr Khokhlachev from Spartak, Alexei Marchenko from CSKA and Arseni Kardailski from Atlant. But surely there will be other interesting players. Can you tell us some names? Do you think Ainars Podzins might be one of them?

- I'd be really happy if Ainars, who's a good friend of mine, would play in the MHL. Actually, I think he'd be one of the best in the league. But the thing is, his team has yet to confirm its participation in the upcoming season in the MHL. If not, he's going to play either in Vyschaya Liga or Pervaya Liga, which might be a good experience. Especially if Alexei Kasatonov will promote him to the main team of Krylia Sovetov. This way he'd be playing against older opponents, which is definitely way better for his development. As for the other names, I'm pretty sure that Eugeny Grigorenko from Stalnye Lisy is going to be a huge star of the MHL as well as his team-mate Bogdan Potekhin. There are a lot of talented players in Krasnaya Armiya and MHK Dynamo. Namely Barbashev, Suchkov, Zotov, Ilminskyi, Fetisov… These are just a few names but then, of course, I can go on all day.

- Many could argue that having the MHL teams playing in the same arenas as the main one might be an error as the teams will have around 100 spectators, and they also indicate that the teams should play in city where KHL or Vyschaya Liga aren't present. On the other hand one might feel like the facilities in cities like Kazan, Omsk, and so on, are undoubtfully better than the ones in minor cities. What's your opinion on this matter?

- I really doubt that there's going to be a lot of spectators at the MHL games this season. You already answered your own question. MHL teams have to play in different cities. The question is – who's going to pay for all this? For instance, why does Dynamo Moscow have to pay for some other city so just there would be a hockey team? It doesn't make any sense. In North America minor teams are independent and that's the reason of their success. It's a whole different story in Russia. Besides, hockey in general is not that popular in Russia. Of course, there are some hockey-obsessed cities like Omsk or Toliatti but there's not a lot of them. It's Canada where you can throw a puck to bunch of 13-years-old kids and there's going to be a packed arena watching them play. We still have to work to make hockey popular in Russia. Because today, I hate to say it, hockey loses to soccer and by a huge margin.

- So now the tough job of the predictions: who will win the first MHL title? Anyone is looking to CSKA, Dinamo and such teams, but the last Russian Finals have been won by Orlov's Metallurg Novokuznetsk. What's your say?

- It's funny that you brought it up. I don't even know why did Orlov and Kitsyn played at that tournament. There were on the roster of Metallurg which plays in the KHL. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm quite sure that KHL players are eligible to play in that kind of tournament. Anyway, I have to say that the favorites are as follows – Krasnaya Armiya, Stalnye Lisy, Loko and MHK Dynamo. I would probably bet on Krasnaya Armiya but I know that there's a lot of MHL players that see the Stalnye Lisy as the main cup contenders this season. I have to add that Almaz should not be underestimated. You don’t talk about these guys now, but let's wait another 2 or 3 months. A lot of people might be surprised looking at the standings. And don't forget it's junior hockey we're talking about here. It's always hard to predict.

- Another prediction, maybe a tad easier. On September 4th there will be the first ever MHL match between Krasnaya Armiya and MHK Dinamo. Alexander Avtsin told that their team will grab the win, do you agree with him?

- What else do you want to say? That's what he's supposed to say. Personally, I think it's going to be close one but Krasnya Armiya will win eventually.

New logos!

Two new logos has been announced in the last days, and both trace main team's outfit.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk's affiliates, Stalnye Lisy (steel foxes), will feature, obviously, a fox, with a smarter expression though, three stars and the text in cyrillic "Stanlye Lisy" with the same font as "Metallurg", but split in two rows.

This is the result:


Rating: 4/5
A nice logo, a true junior logo like some other ones discovered in my other post about this matter.

But not only Stalnye Lisy unveiled their logo, but also Mytischie Atlanty. If their name is questionable, the logo might be even worse:



Rating: 2.5/5

Hmm...I don't like all-text logos, and the name too. Too simple, and also I don't like that kind of Nike swoosh on the left.


But Atlanty didn't stop there. They also announced their jerseys!

One has to admit that they look better than the logo. Not much because of the wolf's head, but because of the colors, especially in the dark uniform.

Also SKA-1946 unveiled their uniform in a showcase with forward Anton Tikhomirov and defender Grigori Serkin.

Very good effort. Now let's wait to see other logos and jerseys!

MHL Stars: Alexander Avtsin

A draft gem. The new Ovechkin. These are only two of the things that has been said about the last Montreal Canadiens' draftee Alexander Avtsin. "It's like that: Ovechkin's level is at my head's height, I'm still on the floor" - admitted the young player.

MHK Dinamo's star was an unknown player up till last year. He didn't play much with the national teams, wasn't a much known name even in Russia. But then he scored 110 points in the regular season - a record for Dinamo's farm team - and many scouts wrote his name on their jotters. Probably adding that the guy can skate and can play. Many scouts saw him during the season, including Trevor Timmins, who came to Moscow just for him.

Alexander Avtsin is a forward with a good frame and physical play, excellent stickhandling and ease to get to the score sheet. It was an easy call to compare him with the Washington Capitals superstar.

"He reminds of Ovechkin. He is quick, has good technique and is not afraid to challenge. He has a great potential. We could not miss the chance to pick him up." If these words come from Timmins, you've got to believe it.

Avtsin was also recruited to play in the CHL after Patrick Roy's Quebec Remparts drafted him in the CHL import draft. But reading his interviews looked like he isn't too interested in playing in the Q and Roy admitted really early that he wasn't going to play there. But there is a chance he'll play there in one year, we'll have to wait till next summer, when the Habs will see at which level he is and what can be better for his development. "There are good chances to see him with the Remparts in the 10-11 season" - added Roy himself.

He seems really committed to play for Dinamo this season even if most likely he'll spend the whole season playing for MHL Dinamo's junior team. "I will probably play both in the KHL and MHL next year. Hardly I'll play directly in the KHL, but I'll do my best to get selected for the first team." It will be hard, Dinamo has a very stacked team as they want to win the Gagarin Cup (KHL's trophy). Let's remember that this summer they signed many players including Swedish rising stars Linus Omark and Johan Harju, getting them under the nose of their NHL teams. Though he recognizes that the MHL will be a step forward for him and for Russian hockey, as it will be "more interesting to play there, rather than with Dinamo-2" - he declared to Soviet Sports a couple of weeks ago. Let's remember that the new Russian junior league will start on September 4th with a match between MHK Dinamo and CSKA-Red Army. "We will win" - he said. But we'll check out on September!

Alexander also liked a lot his time in Montreal and differently from many other Russian peers is looking forward playing for Hamilton in the AHL, he wants to be there as he knows that he'll need some adaptation towards the NHL. He has great potential, but some parts of his game needs work. Defensive play, battles in the corners. Reaction. But he can make it through. The "Russian factor" made him go down to the 4th round, but he can be a draft steal like Evgeny Grachev last season for the Rangers.

"I was disappointed to read that Ovechkin is my idol. Yes, I like his style, but I don't want to be like him. Ovechkin is Ovechkin, and Avtsin has to be Avtsin."