Foreign affairs: who will be included in the legionnaires' team at the First Channel Cup

At December's Channel One Cup of Hockey they plan to use an experimental team of foreign KHL players among the participants. It should be headed by two famous Canadians - Mike Keenan and Mike Pelino. Keenan is a hockey legend: in 1994 he won the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers, and in 2014 he took the Gagarin Cup with Metallurg, where he was assisted by Pelino, who later worked as an assistant at Avangard and Lokomotiv. About the difficulties of the realization of this idea and its novelty - in the material "Izvestia".

Huge potential

After the IIHF suspended the Russian national team from international tournaments, the Channel One Cup (CPC) became the main event involving the national team. The upcoming tournament will be the most intriguing in recent years. The return of hockey to SKA Arena will allow more spectators to attend the matches of the national team than if the tournament were held in the Ice Palace, but the main highlight of the competition will be the participation of a team that has never been there before.

A team of KHL legionnaires will be created specifically for the KHL - the league has given this team the official name "KHL World Team". It's still unclear who will play for this team, but the potential roster of the national legionnaire team is impressive. Just imagine Deangelo from SKA, Bouchet from Avangard, Gernat from Lokomotiv, Yashkin from Ak Bars, Wil from Dynamo and the powerful Salavat Yulaev legionnaire brigade in one team.

The fantasy roster has no weaknesses at all. The main goalie without question is Zach Fucale from Traktor. Among the defensemen, two cool lineups can be drafted, and the Deangelo - Gernat pairing looks monster. Plus, we shouldn't forget about Murphy, Kaempfer, Gross, Mitchell Miller and Jeremy Roy. The offense is a great choice, too, even without Cedric Paquette, who received Russian citizenship.

But there's no guarantee that the team will be able to lure the league's top stars. What's the point of Khmelevsky, Fukala or Da Costa playing extra games instead of the planned rest and recuperation? Especially for many foreigners the December break is a great opportunity to fly home and see their families. So why should they change their plans? Besides, there is always a risk of getting injured.

Probably, good bonuses could motivate foreigners - hardly any of them would refuse additional money. But there is another way - disqualification of hockey players who will miss the tournament without valid reasons. But this is not the national team: it is unlikely that such disciplinary measures will be adequately perceived by hockey players and their clubs. If not everyone wants to go to the Match of Stars, where partying prevails over hockey, then what can we say about a tournament that is not the most obligatory.

In any case, the FHL and KHL should definitely be praised for this initiative - it will add interest to the First Channel Cup. The Legionnaires' team is much more interesting than the Stars and VHL team that played in the tournament last year. The "ours vs. not ours" format has always been interesting to fans, and meetings with Belarus and Kazakhstan were not enough. Given that most of the legionnaire team will be made up of representatives of Canada, the upcoming meeting can be served as a return of the legendary confrontation, albeit with a small convention.

A glorious duo

While the KHL World Team roster is still unknown, the league has already decided on the head coach. He is the legendary Mike Keenan. What has Iron Mike been doing for the last few years? Leaving the KHL in December 2017 after resigning from Kunlun, the Canadian returned to Toronto. Next came a battle with prostate cancer, which he was diagnosed with at one of the early stages. After the unfortunate disease four years later was defeated, the winner of the Stanley Cup and Gagarin Cup in the fall of 2022 returned to work, becoming head coach of the Italian national team.

However, the North American did not stay long in the "Scuadra Adzurra". Under Keenan, the Italians, now settled in the first division of the World Cup, in the spring of 2023 failed to return to the elite, losing in Group A to the Poles and the British. The Italian federation forgave the failure of the Canadian coach, but a couple months before the World Cup 2024 replaced by Pelino, who worked in the staff as an assistant. As it turned out a little later, he had to leave his post because of new health problems and open heart surgery.

But Mike Pelino all these years was really in demand in the KHL. After leaving Metallurg in the spring of 2018, the Canadian with Italian roots managed to work as an assistant in Avangard, Lokomotiv, Ak Bars and even returned to Magnitogorsk, where he assisted Ilya Vorobyov. This past offseason he had a real chance to reunite with his former colleague in CSKA.

- I'm very happy to be coming to Russia in a couple weeks and coaching at the First Channel Cup," Mike Pelino told Izvestia. - I think it will be an amazing tournament. It's a pleasure to work with Mike Keenan again and to be a part of the KHL again. Keenan is one of the greatest coaches in the history of not only hockey, but all of sports. I consider him an outstanding coach. It's a great opportunity for me to work with him again, especially in Russia where we had a great 2013/14 season with Metallurg. We hope to relive those glory days again. Keenan and I have been in touch every day since the KHL invited us. We are already talking about tactics, system and some things we will do with the team. Once the lineup is determined, we'll understand our strengths. We'll study what our majority combinations will be, who will play in the minority or who we'll use if the match goes to a shootout. We'll be ready for everything. When we arrive in St. Petersburg, we'll have one day to prepare.

Indeed, a Magnitogorsk fan could have a stinging tear rolling down his cheek when he learned about the imminent return of the champion duo to Russia. Nostalgia will probably overwhelm Iron Mike, who after his return to Canada always spoke warmly about our country and the time spent in the KHL. He will surely find a common language with the scattering of North American hockey players at the short tournament.