The rise of the "Dragons": how the Chinese club managed to break into the leaders of the KHL

The start of the KHL regular season turns out to be eventful. The scandal with the incorrectly counted SKA puck and the lifetime suspension of the video court, the crisis of the giants — SKA and CSKA, the big problems of Salavat Yulaev and the sensational leadership of Shanghai in the West. Read more about the main events of the League in the Izvestia article.

Judicial scandal

The regular season match between SKA and Avtomobilist ended in scandal, or rather embarrassment. With an equal and relatively boring game, St. Petersburg took the lead in the 46th minute. Defender Andrey Pedan received the puck on the blue line and threw a shot towards the goal. Goalkeeper Alikin did not reach the puck, which was flying into the near corner: it ended up in the net, and this goal was the winning goal for SKA.

Already when the press conference of the head coach of the army Igor Larionov was underway, the KHL refereeing department issued a press release. "In the 46th minute of the match, after defender Andrei Pedan's throw, the puck did not cross the goal line. The referee of the video replays at the ice arena, according to the procedure, had to make sure that the goal was taken correctly during the 60-second pause and only after that extinguish the orange lantern. This specialist has been suspended from work at KHL matches for life," the message said.

Note that the judges of the Videogol system are required to watch every goal, even if the puck flew into the net in an obvious way and no one has any questions about the correctness of the goal. Why this was not done is a mystery. According to the broadcast from the Ice Palace, it is not obvious how the puck was in the goal. But this is a separate topic — this season the quality of the show from St. Petersburg has noticeably deteriorated. At the same time, it is clearly visible from at least two technical cameras of the Videogol system itself that the puck launched by Pedan does not hit the goal.

It turns out that the Yekaterinburg team had to earn at least one point. God forbid the "Motorist" will not have enough of this score at the end of the regular season. Then the incident will take on a new meaning.

— The referee's mistake, he was punished for it. So let's move on. Isn't it too harsh to suspend for life? Well, how. The team didn't get two points. We'll keep thinking. Harsh, but how? I think time will pass and it will be possible to consider this issue in a new way. And now, of course, we need to avoid such mistakes. Moreover, with today's equipment, you could safely look and see. The first decision is correct, and then we'll see," Valery Kamensky, KHL Vice President for Development, told Izvestia.

"No one goes out on the ice to lose"

Goalkeeper of HC Dynamo (Moscow) Vladislav Podyapolsky — about the goals in the KHL regular season, the return from injury and the success of the team

The first place of Shanghai

Shanghai has climbed to the top spot in the West. A solid and very unexpected result. Under the leadership of Gerard Galland, players who are not useful to other clubs are making great progress: Borna Rendulic, Nick Merkley, Nikita Paragaev, Ryan Spooner and Andrey Kareev. Shanghai surpasses all summer expectations and never ceases to amaze. A few tough newcomers can make the Dragons real contenders for the Gagarin Cup. In the meantime, such an application will be considered an advance payment.

The Chinese club's ambitions have recently become as high as possible. Shanghai is inferior to some competitors in terms of the quality of the squad, but in reality everything is different. Gallan taught the team how to play effective hockey. I can't put Dragons among the average guys. Shanghai is unlikely to disappoint over time. This project can surprise you in the spring. At least getting to the semifinals of the playoffs will no longer be considered a surprise.

SKA and CSKA are in the bottom half of the table.

Army clubs were once considered the main contenders for the trophy in the KHL. It is very unusual to see SKA and CSKA in their current positions in the standings. At the same time, there seemed to be no prerequisites for such a development. Both teams have decent lineups. But the problems of the Nevsky and Moscow army are completely different. Only it leads to almost identical results.

If SKA's main difficulties lie in the attitude and communication of the coaching staff with the players, then the CSKA team simply does not meet the requirements of Igor Nikitin. It will be easier for the Moscow team to get out of the crisis — for this, the specialist must slightly change his ideas about hockey and integrate the stars into his system. The problems of Petersburgers look more complex. Igor Larionov is not yet coping with his direct duties. On the long run, SKA will still start to score points. The light at the end of the tunnel can be traced from those to others. There are enough resources to get out of a difficult situation.

"We need to find stability and win matches more regularly"

Traktor hockey player Mikhail Grigorenko — about the team's results at the start of the KHL season and Kuznetsov's transfer to Metallurg

"Salavat Yulaev" settled on the last line of the "East"

Salavat Yulaev has been hitting the wall in recent matches. It is already obvious that Viktor Kozlov's usual coaching style does not suit the updated team. The specialist himself is aware of this fact. In the near future, we can expect bold decisions on his part. Salavat Yulaev needs changes in the game plan. The current state of affairs in the club looks sad if you look at the history and status of the organization. The fans and the players themselves certainly don't deserve to suffer like this.

It is foolish to blame the Salavat leadership and people directly involved in the Ufa team for what is happening. Everyone understands everything. Bashkiria's main brand has the only real support left in the form of Rosneft. Unfortunately, hockey is not particularly interesting for the Republic. Salavat Yulaev's management can only rely on themselves. Some prerequisites for improving the tournament position will appear soon. The squad allows Salavat to safely enter the playoffs. The club continues to look for options to strengthen in the market. Two strong legionnaires will quickly change the situation for the better. But first they need to be found and persuaded to come to the capital of Bashkiria.