KHL - Chernyshev Division - Salavat Yulaev Ufa Салават Юлаев

Based in the Region of Bashkortostan, the club is named after Salavat Yulaev, a national hero of Bashkortostan. After years of competing in the low-level divisions the team was invited to the second level of the Soviet League "Class A" in 1964 subsequently getting promotion to the elite group for the 1978-1979, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1985-1986 and 1986-1987 seasons. But it wasn't until the rise of pro hockey in post-Soviet Russia that Salavat became a recognizable major club. Salavat Yulaev were one of the founding clubs of the International Hockey League and later the Russian Superleague normally advancing to playoff stages since the first seasons. The club reached its first Russian championship semifinals in 1996-97 and eventually won its first Champion title in 2007-08 beating Lokomotiv Yaroslavl by three games to two.Salavat Yulaev Ufa has played in 77 international games against clubs from Bulgaria, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Finland, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Sweden (with a record of 67 victories, 5 ties and 5 defeats). Its first international game was played on December 30, 1961 in Ufa with Wismuth (GDR). On July 11, 2008, Salavat signed NHL rising star Alexander Radulov. On June 9, 2009, a press release was issued, stating that Viktor Kozlov had signed a three-year contract to return to Russia. The club has also signed Norwegian forward Patrick Thoresen for 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons. Salavat Yulaev marked their first years in the KHL by winning first two regular seasons and becoming the first club to be awarded with the Continental Cup. Next season the team advanced to the final with Atlant winning their first Gagarin CupRecord
Russia:
Champions - 2008
KHL:
2008-09 - 9th
2009-10 - 3rd
2010-11 - 1st
2011-12 - 9th
2012-13 - 7th
2013-14 - 2rd
2014-15 - 14th
Roster

92	defense	Arzamastsev Zakhar	06.11.1992	Russia	30.04.2017
33	defense	Bodrov Denis	22.08.1986	Russia	30.04.2017
72	forward	Chernov Artyom	28.04.1982	Russia	30.04.2017
17	defense	Derlyuk Roman	27.10.1986	Russia	30.04.2016
51	forward	Dubrovsky Yegor	18.01.1989	Russia	30.04.2017
11	forward	Engqvist Andreas	23.12.1987	Sweden	30.04.2016
27	forward	Grigorenko Igor	09.04.1983	Russia	30.04.2017
70	forward	Hartikainen Teemu	03.05.1990	Finland	30.04.2017
35	goaltender	Khakimov Rafael	04.06.1990	Russia	30.04.2016
29	forward	Khlystov Denis	04.07.1979	Russia	30.04.2016
4	defense	Koltsov Kirill	01.02.1983	Russia	30.04.2017
90	forward	Lazarev Anton	29.05.1990	Russia	30.04.2017
52	defense	Lekomtsev Ivan	19.07.1985	Russia	30.04.2016
18	defense	Lepisto Sami	17.10.1984	Finland	30.04.2016
7	forward	Lisin Enver	22.04.1986	Russia	30.04.2017
23	forward	Makarov Dmitry	06.12.1983	Russia	30.04.2016
28	defense	Metlyuk Filipp	13.12.1981	Russia	30.04.2016
32	forward	Nesterov Alexander	30.09.1985	Russia	30.04.2016
67	forward	Omark Linus	05.02.1987	Sweden	30.04.2017
74	forward	Prokhorkin Nikolai	17.09.1993	Russia	30.04.2016
6	forward	Soin Sergei	31.03.1982	Russia	30.04.2017
50	goaltender	Sokhatsky Vladimir	28.12.1989	Russia	30.04.2016
1	goaltender	Svedberg Niklas	04.09.1989	Sweden	30.04.2016
9	defense	Vishnevsky Ivan	18.02.1988	Russia	30.04.2016

Ufa ArenaLenina st. 114, Ufa, Bashkortostan Republic, Russia, 450006 Capacity 8,070

The big signing at Salavat Yulaev this summer came as a complete surprise, experienced trainer Igor Zakharkin is back in Ufa with the unusual job title of ‘coach coordinator’. 

Zakharkin has a long and successful history in Russian hockey, but this is the first major role he has taken on without Vyacheslav Bykov. Previously the pair worked together at CSKA, Salavat Yulaev, SKA and the Russian national team. With Bykov as head coach they masterminded two World Championship triumphs and two Gagarin Cups, including one with Salavat Yulaev in 2011. But Bykov quit SKA after April’s championship triumph and is not expected to return to the game for some time due to family matters. That has prompted his long-term sidekick to find a position on his own… and paved the way for Zakharkin to return to Ufa. At present he is with his new club in Nizhny Novgorod at a pre-season tournament and next week is expected to bring official confirmation of his role. 

However, the updated management structure at Salavat Yulaev does not make it entirely clear how all this will work. The club’s official statement envisages an over-arching job for Zakharkin, giving him input into every team within the organization. That is due to include SHL and MHL hockey as well as the Agidel women’s team (this year Russia’s women’s hockey league will come under the aegis of the KHL for the first time). That would seem to put the coach on the same management level as GM Leonid Vaisfeld and incoming general director Alexander Semak and requires that trio to divide its workload accordingly. 

Meanwhile new head coach Anatoly Yemelin, who arrives from Avtomobilist with Vaisfeld, already has a well-established staff if his own; Zakharkin is unlikely to be expected to do a lot of hands-on work with Salavat Yulaev’s KHL team. Yemelin will have a heavily revamped roster for the coming campaign as Salavat Yulaev looks to return to its accustomed position among the big hitters of the east. The coach has steadily built up his reputation, moving from Metallurg Novokuznetsk to Avtomobilist and winning plaudits for getting the most out of limited resources. Salavat Yulaev represents his first time behind the bench at one of the league’s bigger club. 

He will be working with two big arrivals from CSKA: Igor Grigorenko (right) is back in Ufa and looking to repeat his prolific form of last season, where he scored 45 points in 55 games. Grigorenko was part of the Gagarin Cup-winning roster here and can expect a warm welcome from the fans. He’s joined by young Nikolai Prokhorkin, a flamboyantly talented forward who seemed to lose his way last season after his break-out year in 2013-14. Playing under Dmitry Kvartalnov did not seem to suit the youngster, who even found himself dispatched to play for farm club Buran Voronezh at one stage of the season. A change of environment could be the key to unlocking his undoubted potential. 

Two other big signings have Finnish connections. Linus Omark arrives from Helsinki where the Swedish forward was a key player in Jokerit’s debut KHL campaign. As part of a potent line with Steve Moses and Petr Koukal he scored 46 points in 60 regular season games. Finnish defenseman Sami Lepisto, an Olympic bronze medalist in 2014, follows coach Yemelin from Avtomobilist. Lepisto was something of an NHL journeyman before moving to Lokomotiv in 2012 and he has yet to find a club in Russia that feels like a good fit for a player with a wealth of top-level international experience. 

The goaltending positions will be occupied by Sweden’s Niklas Svedberg, who arrives from Boston Bruins where he played 18 NHL games last season. He is joined by Rafael Khakimov, previously of Metallurg Novokuznetsk. After last season’s disappointing sixth place in the east, and a first-round play-off exit at the hands of Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Salavat Yulaev will expect better this time. The roster has the potential to deliver, but it’s a big test for Yemelin as he faces a steep hike in expectations compared with his previous jobs in Novokuznetsk and Yekaterinburg.