Big Ice Report: Your weekly roundup of international hockey, week of 3/8

Welcome to your premier roundup of varying minor hockey leagues that tend not to get the media attention globally, where we will try to keep you informed of what’s happening in hockey worldwide. Each week, a contributor from Reddit’s r/hockey will give a rundown of the past week’s action in their particular league, along with what to look forward to in the next week. The playoffs are already in full force in the KHL and are beginning in both Swedish leagues this week, so there’s plenty to read about.

To jump directly to a league, just click the following links, but if you’re looking for a good hockey read, just start scrolling.

KHL – Pan (Eastern-ish) European League

EIHL – UK 1st League

DEL – German 1st League

SHL – Swedish 1st League

Liiga – Finnish 1st League

Western Hockey League – US/Canada Major Junior League

KHL WEEKLY ROUNDUP  contribution by /u/LockstheFox

The first round of the KHL’s Gagarin Cup Playoffs is finally over, and now it’s time to look at Round 2, which started the day this was posted.

First, in the West, CSKA Moskva battles surprise Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in a battle between the master and the apprentice. Before taking the reins in Nizhny Novgorod, Torpedo head coach P?teris Skudra was an understudy of CSKA head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov during his stint at Sibir. Skudra will look to add a second division leader to the kill chart after taking out Bobrov winners Jokerit in the first round. He will look to do this in a similar fashion: physicality, intimidation, and timely goals, as he knows that going toe-to-toe on talent is suicidal, with the likes of Alexander Radulov staring him down on the other side.

Torpedo Player to Watch: DF Artyom Alyayev. Alyayev is just 21 and 5’8″, but put that aside to post a solid 23 points in his first full KHL season. He is now tasked with contributing offensively against the KHL’s best defense and helping to slow down the KHL’s second-leading scorer in Radulov. This series will be a good gauge on how much he’s progressed.

CSKA Player to Watch: FW Stephane Da Costa. It’s been a frustrating year for the French international, as he’s battled injuries. But he came up big with 3 goals, including two game winners, against Slovan in the first round, and seems to be rounding into form at the right time.

The other West semifinal is one we’ve seen before, as Dynamo Moskva battles SKA St. Petersburg for a fourth time in five seasons (Dynamo winning in 2012 and 2013, and SKA winning last season). Both teams are riding consecutive shutouts into this one,  as Dynamo blanked Sochi in Games 3 and 4 of their first round series, while SKA’s Mikko Koskinen blanked Lokomotiv in the last three games of their five-game set. Ilya Kovalchuk is likely to start in the press box once more for this series.

Dynamo Player to Watch: FW Ilya Shipov. Shipov has been in great form since the introduction of new head coach Sergei Oreshkin, scoring his first KHL goal on January 16 and since potting four more, including two in the Sochi series. He will be a big part of Dynamo’s future, and could break out this series against hated rivals SKA.

SKA Player to Watch: FW Vadim Shipachyov. As Ilya Kovalchuk’s star faded with his banishment to to the press box, Shipachyov’s grew brighter. He led the KHL in assists during the regular season and chipped in four points in the Lokomotiv series, taking Kovalchuk’s captaincy in the process. His chemistry with linemates Yevgeni Dadonov and Nikita Gusev is almost telepathic, and could help crack the red-hot Dynamo keeper Alexander Yeryomenko.

Over to the East, Avangard Omsk comes off a nice long rest after sweeping Neftekhimik and battles Salavat Yulaev Ufa, who are weary after a seven-game thriller against their archrivals Ak Bars Kazan. The question is, which Salavat Yulaev will we see? The one who dominated Ak Bars in the first four games of the series, or the one that was annihilated 8-0 in Game 6? Avangard have been consistent from the start, and this will be a good test of their championship credentials.

Avangard Player to Watch: GK Dominik Furch. Furch was stupendous against Neftekhimik, including a 46 save effort in Game 3 and a triple OT marathon in Game 4. He’s quietly been one of the KHL’s best goalies all season, and against a Salavat team capable of dominating offensively, this could be the series where he makes himself known to the league as a bona fide star goalkeeper.

Salavat Yulaev Player to Watch: GK Niklas Svedberg. Salavat go as Svedberg goes. When he’s on, the team is on. When he’s off, like in Game 6 against Ak Bars in which he was chased in an 8-0 loss, the team is off. His .916 save percentage barely cut it in the regular season and against Ak Bars, but it likely won’t be enough to beat the Hawks. He needs to step up and prove he can be a playoff goalie, or else Salavat will be in big trouble.

The final conference semifinal is one we’ve seen in this round in each of the last two years, a matchup between Metallurg Magnitogorsk (who swept their opponents in 2014) and Sibir Novosibirsk (who avenged that last season). Sibir easily brushed aside Admiral in five in the first round, while Magnitka had some trouble with Avtomobilist, needing six games to bounce their Ural rivals. It’s an interesting matchup of the KHL’s best attack (180 regular season goals) and one of its best keepers, Alexander Salák.

Metallurg Player to Watch: FW Yaroslav Kosov. The Florida Panthers draft pick posted just 5 points in the regular season, but nearly matched that with 4 points against Avtomobilist. Will he be able to keep that up against one of the East’s best defensive teams, or will he regress back to his weak regular season form?

Sibir Player to Watch:  FW Sergei Shumakov. On a team like Sibir that wins by committee, it can be hard to stand out. Shumakov does. He led the team with 20 goals and 33 points during the regular season, and earned his first Sbornaya callup, in which he scored a penalty shot against the Czechs. Every playoff team needs a guy to step up and shine to win a cup, and Shumakov is Sibir’s best bet offensively.

Current playoff bracket:

EIHL WEEKLY ROUNDUP Contribution by Effy (/u/zooey1) – Sheffield Steelers fan, art student, all-round good egg. Find me on Twitter @zooey_perry & Instagram @_supersymmetry

The biggest game of the week came on Sunday 6th, as the Nottingham Panthers faced off against the Cardiff Devils in the Challenge Cup final, held in Sheffield Arena. The Panthers are the most successful team in Challenge Cup history, winning it 7 times out of 10 finals, while the Devils are the current holders of the trophy, defeating the Sheffield Steelers 2-1 in their own arena. Unfortunately this year they were prevented from winning back-to-back cups, as the Devils lost to an Evan Mosey overtime goal to give the Panthers the 1-0 win and their 6th Challenge Cup win in the past 7 years. Nottingham goals: Mosey (15th goal of season).

However, earlier in the week on Friday 4th, the Panthers and Devils would go at it in league action, with both teams still in the race to finish in first place and lift the Elite League trophy. In what could now be seen as foreshadowing, the Panthers would defeat the Devils by a hefty 6-1 scoreline. Nottingham goals: Myers x2 (14 & 15), Mosey x2, MacDonald (1), Waugh [2002 3rd rnd – Stars] (5). Cardiff goals: Martin (27).

As well as losing to the Panthers in the Challenge Cup, the Devils would also lose grasp of the first place spot in the league standings to the Sheffield Steelers, who are now 2pts ahead of the Devils with only 4 games remaining in the season. The Steelers would claim the top spot by defeating the Fife Flyers 5-2 in front of a 7000+ strong crowd in the Sheffield Arena on Saturday 5th. Steelers’ ‘British golden boy’ Robert Dowd (who is also from the same small town as your writer!) returned to the lineup after 5 weeks (21 games) missed due to injury and was able to score his first goal in his first game back. Sheffield goals: Nelson [2006 6th rnd – Bruins] x2 (22 & 23), Vestberg (14), Dowd (14), Mosienko (27). Fife goals: Sacchetti [2007 2nd rnd – Stars] x2.

Closing in on Cardiff and Sheffield at the top of the standings are the Belfast Giants, who had a mixed week consisting of a win and a defeat. First, they would defeat the Fife Flyers 4-1 in Fife Ice Arena, before falling 2-1 to the Braehead Clan in Belfast. If the Giants are serious about snatching the league away from Great Britain and bringing it back across the Irish Sea, every game needs to be a ‘game 7’ (must-win games, for those of us unaware with the NHL playoff format). In the first game vs Fife, the Giants would dominate, firing 41 shots at Fife while only receiving 13. Belfast goals: Forney [2006 3rd rnd – Thrashers] (21), Beech [1999 1st rnd – Capitals, 198 NHL games w/ Capitals, Penguins, Predators, Blue Jackets & Canucks] x2 (22 & 23), Radja (27). Fife goals: Dorr.

On Sunday 6th, the Giants would fall to the Braehead Clan 2-1 on home ice. This win would boost Braehead’s chances of winning their conference, putting them 8 points behind leaders Fife with 4 games in hand. Braehead goals: Brooks (21), Leavitt (22). Belfast goals: Higgins (11). Braehead would also defeat the Dundee Stars 2-1 away, giving them back to back 2-1 victories and dampening Dundee’s attempts to creep into the playoff spots. Braehead goals: Keith [2001 2nd rnd – Blackhawks, 20 games for CHI in 03/04] (18), Gotz (4). Dundee goals: Gray (11).

Still in the hunt to secure a playoff quarter final place, the Fife Flyers would bounce back from the 4-1 defeat to Belfast and the 5-2 loss to Sheffield with a big 8-2 away win over the Manchester Storm on Sunday 6th. With this win, Fife would become the 6th team confirmed to make the playoff QFs, along with Cardiff, Sheffield, Nottingham, Belfast and Braehead; this leaves Dundee, Coventry and Manchester to battle over the 7th and 8th playoff spots (Edinburgh were unfortunately ruled out weeks ago). Fife goals: Sacchetti (13), Caig x2 (16 & 17), Cullen x2 (13 & 14), Stockton (22), Dorr (18), Lee (10). Manchester goals: Valcak [2003 4th rnd – Bruins] (14), Swindlehurst (5).

Finally, there were 27 goals scored in the back to back games between the Coventry Blaze and the Edinburgh Capitals. The first game was a goal fest, with Coventry winning 12-4 in their own rink. Edinburgh would unfortunately be 7-0 down after the 1st period. Coventry goals: Cowley x2 (7 & 8), Fisher x2 (12 & 13), Walker x2 (7 & 8), Lauzon x2, Jorgensen (8), Tait (12), Robinson, Bruton. Edinburgh goals: Gerling x3, Kolesnikovs (2).

The next night was a lot closer, with Coventry edging out Edinburgh 6-5 in Murrayfield (Edinburgh), with the score being 5-3 at the end of the first period. Coventry goals: Lauzon x3 (16, 17 & 18), Bruton x2 (22 & 23), Robinson (21). Edinburgh goals: Gerling x2 (26 & 27), Milan (2), Beattie (2), Stuart-Dant (1).

CURRENT STANDINGS (as of 7th March)

THE WEEK AHEAD (week beg. 7th March)

(Key games in Italics)

Wednesday 9th

– Coventry Blaze vs Nottingham Panthers @ Coventry Skydome – 7:30pm GMT, 2:30pm ET

Saturday 12th

– Edinburgh Capitals vs Dundee Stars @ Murrayfield Ice Rink, Edinburgh – 5:30pm GMT, 12:30pm ET

– Braehead Clan vs Manchester Storm @ Braehead Arena – 7pm GMT, 2pm ET

– Cardiff Devils vs Belfast Giants @ Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff – 7pm GMT, 2pm ET (First game for Cardiff in their new arena, Belfast could do 1st placed Sheffield a favour by taking points off 2nd placed Cardiff)

– Nottingham Panthers vs Sheffield Steelers @ National Ice Centre, Nottingham – 7pm GMT, 2pm ET (The biggest rivals in UK hockey – Steelers could all but end Panthers title hopes, Panthers could do Cardiff a favour by beating Sheffield)

Sunday 13th

– Manchester Storm vs Braehead Clan @ Altrincham Ice Arena, Manchester – 5pm GMT, 12pm ET (Braehead need wins to close in on Fife at the top of the Gardiner Conference, Manchester need wins to hope to secure the 8th and final playoff spot in the overall standings)

– Sheffield Steelers vs Coventry Blaze @ Sheffield Arena – 5pm GMT, 12pm ET

– Cardiff Devils vs Belfast Giants @ Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff – 6pm GMT, 1pm ET

– Dundee Stars vs Edinburgh Capitals @ Dundee Ice Arena – 6:30pm GMT, 1:30pm ET

– Fife Flyers vs Nottingham Panthers @ Fife Ice Arena – 6:30pm GMT, 1:30pm ET

For more information, visit http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/

DEL WEEKLY ROUNDUP  contribution by (/u/BoilerUp218) 

The final week of the regular season has completed and we have ourselves a regular season champion: EHC München. The Red Bulls ended up with a 2 point lead over Eisbären Berlin and take the #1 seed in the playoffs.

Around the rest of the league, it seemed that the drama foreseen by last week’s standings ended up being nothing. All of the teams that were in playoff spots as of last week retained their spot.  Adler Mannheim being the only outlier, as they lost all three of their games in regulation, nearly dropping out of the playoffs. Lucky for Mannheim, Hamburg could only muster up five points, just one short of the six needed to make the jump for the final spot.

Standings:

Important games of next week:

This week is dedicated to the first playoff round, where Köln takes on Adler Mannheim in the 7 vs 10 matchup, and Ingolstadt takes on Straubing in the 8 vs 9.  The winners will advance on to play Munich and Berlin.  Both games will face off at the same time, as is tradition, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

SHL WEEKLY ROUNDUP  contribution by  /u/Jean-Paul_van_Sartre

Skellefteå AIK became regular season champs for the fourth time in a row, the longest streak in SHL history, the previous record being from 1975-78 by Brynäs IF (BIF). I’ll have more to say to you next week when the quarter final match-ups have been decided.

Headlines

One game left in the regular season, the important parts that might change in the table are:

• LHF, LHC and FBKthat could all end up as third, fourth or fifth.
• VLH and DIFcould also switch places in the very last round which would mean free ticket to the quarter finals for the team that ends up on top.
• BIF, OHK and HV71 could also all switch places in the last game creating a lot of uncertainty in the round of 16 match-ups where 7th meets 10th and 8th meets 9th.

Standings

Games to watch

Any of the round of 16 games that start on Thursday 10 March 19:30GMT+1. I don’t know what the match-ups will be yet.

Treddi

LIIGA (Finland) WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by (/u/HelloHelloMrFighter)

The regular season in Finland is coming to an end, with the last round on next Thursday and the first round of playoffs beginning on next Saturday.

This week there were pretty decisive games in Finland. Before the first games of the week, the eye was on HIFK and Kärpät, who were battling for the regular season victory, five points apart, and KooKoo, Ässät and Sport who were battling for the last playoff spot.

The week began on Tuesday with KooKoo taking some important points from Lukko with true fight against clock. Ässät lost to SaiPa in shootout, and it started to look difficult for them.
On Wednesday, Kärpät and HIFK both won and the margin stayed at two. Sport lost their game, and the playoff fight became even closer.
On Thursday, KooKoo and Ässät had a very important game against each other, with both needing victory, but only one getting it. Ässät won 0-1, with Matti Kuparinen making the important goal. Goalie Ari Ahonen was also very important for Ässät with his first shutout of the season.
On Friday, HIFK hosted Kärpät in a very important matchup. HIFK won 3-1 and increased the margin to eight, with both teams having only three matches left. Meanwhile, TPS had a crazy night in Jyväskylä, as they beat JYP 7-6 in overtime, when trailing 5-1 halfway through. Francis Pare was the most important player for TPS, scoring a hat trick.
On Saturday, HIFK had a chance to confirm the regular season victory, needing only one point, or Kärpät loss. That did not happen as Lukko won HIFK 4-1 and Kärpät smashed TPS 8-2. All three teams fighting for the last playoff spot had important victories, as KooKoo edged out KalPa 1-0, Sport defeated Blues 3-0 and Ässät beat Ilves 6-2.

Standings

Important games on next week:

All weekday games start 18.30 (GMT +2)

Tuesday:

HIFK – Ässät
Kärpät – JYP
Sport – Ilves

HIFK will have a second chance on confirming the regular season victory, needing only one point or Kärpät loss. The regular season victory would be the very first for HIFK, despite being the playoff champions seven times. Sport and Ässät are only one point apart and both want to continue, but only one gets the playoff spot.

Thursday:

HPK – Sport
Ilves – KooKoo
Pelicans – Kärpät
SaiPa – HIFK
Ässät – TPS

If HIFK does not clinch the victory on Tuesday, Kärpät can still go for it on Thursday, as the final round of regular season is played. KooKoo, Sport and Ässät still hunt for the last playoff spot, and Thursday is the day when it is decided.

All weekend games start 17.00 (GMT +2)

Saturday:

7^th – 10^th
8^th – 9^th

Sunday:

10^th – 7^th
8^th – 9^th

The first round of playoffs, the so called pity playoffs begin on Saturday. The 7^th of the regular season will face 10^th and 8^th will face 9^th on best of three series. Second legs will be played on Sunday.

The next week will be also very important for Blues, who have struggled financially the whole season. Decision on their bankruptcy could come any day, and it is possible that they will play their last games forever next week. On other hand, new ownership is also possible.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE WEEKLY ROUNDUP  contribution by (/u/82hky82), known in the real world as Michael Wood

Another Great week in the DUB, with the top teams really showing their dominance as they are looking to finish strong as the playoffs come even closer.

Two Teams I want to focus right off the bat are the # 1 and # 2 teams in the league, and really these are 1A and 1B cream of the crop WHL teams. Still #1 Victoria Royals had a dominating week with wins of (6-1), (5-1), (7-3). Granted all these wins came against lower tier teams but still dominating performances. The other team, who could have very well be # 1, is the Brandon Wheat Kings, who absolutely decimated the opposition. The scores this week are a 12-2 win, a 6-3 win (over # 13 Moose Jaw), and 7-2 win (Moose Jaw again), lastly an 8-1 win over # 14 Regina Pats. Scores like these seem to be commonplace for Brandon and really could be the favorite to come out on top when it is all said and done.

The most improved and potentially hottest team in the league is the Seattle Thunderbirds, who haven’ lost in 8 games and 9-1 in past ten. Big wins over Everett and Tri City are helping to solidify the # 1 spot in the division.

Two other teams that had good weeks were the Red Deer Rebels and the Kamloops Blazers. # 5 Red deer had a great week with two back to back wins over rival # 9 Calgary. # 11 Kamloops also had two impressive wins over # 3 Kelowna with back to back 3-2 wins. Kelowna seems to be slipping of late and needs to get their act together before the playoff start.

The players of the week, not surprisingly, all came from the hottest team in the league this week, the Brandon Wheat Kings. # 1 player of the week is easily forward Jayce Howryluk (2014 Florida draft pick), who went off with 10 Goals and 6 assists for 16 points in only 4 games. Another impressive week came from Nolan Patrick (Brandon) who potted 2 G and 10a for 10 pts in 4 games. He is eligible to get drafted in 2017. Lastly, Brandon D star and Flyers # 7 pick from last year Ivan Provorov had a great week with 5G and 4A for 9pts in 4 games. Stats like this are impressive for a D and I’m sure he will be in the Flyers lineup come the fall.

Another great week ahead, can’t wait!

Standings