August 13, 2015 , Thursday
14:30 Dynamo ( Moscow) - Vityaz ( MO )
19:00 CSKA ( Moscow) - Spartak ( Moscow)
August 14, 2015 , Friday
16:00 - match MSKHL
19:00 - HST team - the team of FHM
August 15, 2015 , Saturday
13:00 CSKA ( Moscow) - Vityaz ( MO )
18:00 Dynamo ( Moscow) - Spartak ( Moscow)
August 16, 2015 Sunday
13:00 Spartak ( Moscow) - Vityaz ( MO )
18:00 Dynamo ( Moscow) - CSKA ( Moscow)
Moscow’s hockey fans are gearing up for the traditional KHL curtain-raiser, the Mayor of Moscow Cup. It’s the eighth time the contest has pitted Moscow’s KHL teams against their near neighbors from just beyond the outer ring road, and it’s a key milestone for these local rivals as they look to secure local bragging rights and set the standard before the serious action gets underway on Aug. 24.
CSKA - Will draw the main focus of attention. Their performance will be a good measuring-stick before with SKA in the Opening Cup game. Everyone is keen to see how hard Dmitry Kvartalnov’s men can push for the Gagarin Cup this time out. Regardless of the summer comings and goings on Leningradsky Prospekt, few could argue that the team’s prospects are intrinsically linked with the form and fitness of talisman Alexander Radulov. His performances in the regular season last time out were often breath-taking. Under Kvartalnov he looks a revitalized player, free from the issues that can plague his game and also capable of scoring at will. His injury in the play-offs undoubtedly hurt the team’s Gagarin Cup push and weakened Russia’s World Championship campaign, so hopes are high that the newly-wed forward will continue to terrorize defenses as before.
The big addition to the roster is Swedish goalie Viktor Fasth, who arrives from Edmonton Oilers. Meanwhile ex-CSKA players Igor Ozhiganov and Dmitry Kugryshev are back in Moscow after impressive form at Sibir last season. However there are also some high-profile departures: talented young forward Nikolai Prokhorkin is off to Salavat Yulaev, as is Igor Grigorenko. The latter has been a long-term strike partner of Radulov and recreating that chemistry up front could be the decisive feature of the Army Men’s season this time out.
Spartak - Back in the KHL this season, but still getting used to an entirely new roster. German Titov’s men already have happy memories of playing at the brand new VTB Ice Palace. The Red-and-Whites won the inaugural Arkady Chernyshev memorial last week and would love a repeat success at the same venue. Spartak clinched success in that competition thanks to a rigid defence that saw two successive shut-outs and a total run of 146 goalless minutes. That was enough to land the competition and leave Titov admitting that his players had exceeded his expectations.
Dynamo - Probably have a point to prove after failing to win a single game in the Chernyshev competition. Dynamo fans can be a superstitious bunch, many talk of a ‘curse’ on the soccer team of the same name as its league championship drought stretches on towards a fourth decade, and it’s going to be important to firmly end any sense that the club’s new home is somewhat ‘unlucky’ for the Blue-and-Whites. Head coach Harijs Vitolins is quick to remind fans that wins in pre-season count for little when the prizes are handed out next spring.
“It hurts when you host a tournament and can’t win a game. But we’re still getting ready for the season. Our task is to be at our peak when the KHL starts. Our new guys are on the right path to showing the kind of form we’re expecting from them. There’s more competition for places throughout the team and we will be stronger when the real action starts.”
Dynamo’s roster has certainly got younger compared with last season, and Vitolins is likely hoping to inject some hunger into a team that was always competitive but seldom inspiring last time round. Much will be expected of 24-year-old Daniil Tarasov, back in Moscow after a spell in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks. He spent most of last season playing in the AHL, and scored 16+17=33 points in 54 games for Worcester.
The other big addition is Finnish Defenseman Juuso Heitanen, a free agent after a good season with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. Tarasov will be expected to add some bite to an offense that has lost Sergei Soin, Denis Mosalyov, Alexei Sopin and Nikolai Zherdev. Three of them featured in the Muscovites most recent Gagarin Cup triumph, and the class of 2013 has now largely gone, while Zherdev’s move to Sochi represents another chance for that mercurial talent to finally find a home for his undoubted skills. The other incoming players are all, to a greater or lesser extent, gambles on potential. Denis Barantsev returns to the club after a season with Lada Togliatti and could well become a lynchpin on a blue line that no longer features Janne Jalasvaara or Roman Derlyuk. Alexander Avtsin, a young forward who emerged from the Dynamo youth set-up is back after a year in the VHL at Dizel Penza, while Ansel Galimov’s form at lowly Metallurg Novokuznetsk earns him a shot at a big club this time out.
Vityaz - From the Moscow Region-town of Podolsk. The team, generally are an outsider in the KHL, but pulled off a shock by going unbeaten in the competition a year ago. Club president Mikhail Golovkov says he’ll be happy with a high-quality work-out for his team ahead of the new season and isn’t demanding victory at all costs this time around.
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