VHL weekly review

RUSSIAN CLASSIC ANNOUNCEMENT

The 2017 VHL Russian Classic has been confirmed to take place in Moscow between Dynamo Balashikha and Khimik Voskresensk. Puck drop will be at 12:00 on the 14th of January at the Legends Park outside rink.

Looking back in history, the first ever Russian Classic was held in 2012. Since then, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil and Tver have all hosted the event. To add an extra bonus, this season's match will be dedicated to Russian ice hockey's 70th anniversary.

DERBY WEEK

Kazakhstan saw its two teams, Torpedo and Saryarka, face off twice within one week. Torpedo won the first fixture 3:2, while Saryarka gained revenge in the second, coming out on top 2:1 on penalty shots.

After the fixture between SKA-Neva and Dynamo, which attracted the interest of 9765 fans inside the Yubileyny Arena, Dynamo Saint Petersburg played another big game - this time against Dynamo Balashikha. They lost the first 0:4. however they managed to dig out a 3:2 triumph away in Balashikha.

Neftyanik and Bars, two sides from Tatarstan, played each other. With Neftyanik being the VHL's reigning champions, they were expected to win, and they did just that by a score of 4:1.

SERIES OF THE WEEK

After losing to Saryarka 1:2 in the shootout, Torpedo dropped their first defeat in eight matches. Sokol did almost exactly the same thing, failing to keep their six match winning streak going against Bars in Kazan. 

Sputnik are the team to watch at the moment, taking five victories on the bounce.

On a more depressing note, Ariada-NKH have lost their previous thirteen matches in a row. 

Dizel Penza surprisingly got back to winning ways against THC Tver, thrashing the league leaders 4:0.

BEST PLAYERS 

Khimik goaltender Denis Sinyagin, holding a 96.6 saves percentage and a goals against average of 0.98 over the past week, is the top goaltender.

Alexei Ishmametyev, who plays for Molot-Prikamye, has been named the best defenseman. He took one assist and a plus/minus rating of +4.

Molot-Prikamye teammate Alexander Lebedev is the best forward, having tallied three points (2+1). He also boasts a +3 plus/minus rating.

The best rookie is HC Ryazan defenseman Roman Khisamutdinov. He scored one goal, along with a +3 rating too.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation