Ukraine: Ukrainian Hockey Championship

ozo

Registered User
Feb 24, 2010
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Clearly a lack of decent arenas is a killer for hockey in Ukraine. .

Nope, general lack of money and interest in hockey is the real killer. For what currently Ukrainian hockey is, arenas are quite fine.
 

SoundAndFury

Registered User
May 28, 2012
11,309
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I'm really starting to hate people who keep talking about the arenas as a main issue everywhere with passion. My town's basketball team, Žalgiris Kaunas, played in an arena built in 1939 until 2013. And it was packed, literally none of the fans gave a single **** how old it is. I don't know if it's NA fans being spoiled or whatnot but importance of arena is so, so overrated on these boards. Especially when there are so many so much bigger issues. And here comes the NA fan who, I quote, "clearly" knows what the killer is.

Most of the arenas in Finnish Liiga are around 40 years old and yet somehow their hockey is on the rise.
 
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Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
I'm really starting to hate people who arenas as a main issue everywhere with passion. My town's basketball team, Žalgiris Kaunas, played in an arena built in 1939 until 2013. And it was packed, literally none of the fans gave a single **** how old it is. I don't know if it's NA fans being spoiled or whatnot but importance of arena is so, so overrated on these boards. Especially when there are so many so much bigger issues. And here comes the NA fan who, I quote, "clearly" knows what the killer is.

Most of the arenas in Finnish Liiga are around 40 years old and yet somehow their hockey is on the rise.

Whoa chill out there cowboy. I love old arenas too. I stopped watching the NHL when they got rid of Maple Leaf Gardens, the Forum in Montreal, the old Chicago Arena and the Boston Garden. This is not about the newness, it's about the fact that most of the arena's these teams in Ukraine are playing in only seat a few hundred people. The local community arenas I played in as a kid were larger. Believe it or not, for a professional hockey player the facilities they play in matter. If you want to raise the quality of talent in your league, you need better venues to play in. This is a serious problem for Ukrainian hockey, and will probably never be resolved because of the lack of money and investment in Ukraine.
 

ozo

Registered User
Feb 24, 2010
4,320
425
This is not about the newness, it's about the fact that most of the arena's these teams in Ukraine are playing in only seat a few hundred people. The local community arenas I played in as a kid were larger. Believe it or not, for a professional hockey player the facilities they play in matter. If you want to raise the quality of talent in your league, you need better venues to play in. This is a serious problem for Ukrainian hockey, and will probably never be resolved because of the lack of money and investment in Ukraine.

Broke semi-pro teams can't fill 500 seaters, yet they need huge new arenas to get the ball rolling? You wan't to approach the problems Ukrainian hockey has from the wrong end.
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
Ozo, when having a conversation with someone, it's not polite to put words in their mouth to build a strawman argument. I never said anything about huge arenas. But the arena's they play in are not meant for professional hockey. Anyone can see that, including the players themselves. And please I'm not suggesting this is the only problem Ukrainian hockey is facing. I agree with you that there is a general lack of interest in hockey in the west of Ukraine, and that needs to change as well if professional hockey is ever to take root in that country.

But if that changed overnight, and suddenly Ukrainians loved hockey, they would still be facing a massive problem in that they are playing in sub standard facilities that were never designed to house professional hockey teams. That problem is not going to be resolved because there's not going to be any investment in that kind of infrastructure, so it would seem that Ukrainian hockey will almost perpetually be condemned to semi-pro status.
 
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Milos Krasic

Best Serbian Footballer (2009) / Serie A Winner
Jul 1, 2008
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The recent Shakhtar-Dynamo match in Kharkiv had 40,000 spectators. Ukraine is just football obsessed.
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
The recent Shakhtar-Dynamo match in Kharkiv had 40,000 spectators. Ukraine is just football obsessed.

For big matches sure. I'm a Dynamo fan and watch their games when I can. I watched a game from Kiev this year that maybe had 3 or 4 thousand people in the 69000 seat Olympic Stadium.

That being said, football is WAAAAAAYYYY more popular in Ukraine than hockey, especially in the west. I imagine in the east with a larger Russian population that hockey has more of a niche.
 

Milos Krasic

Best Serbian Footballer (2009) / Serie A Winner
Jul 1, 2008
1,827
43
Zenit-CSKA by comparison had 17K, anyway back to Ukrainian hockey :)
 

ndd17

In Eaves we trust!
Jul 14, 2012
1,420
5
Russia
Zenit-CSKA by comparison had 17K, anyway back to Ukrainian hockey :)
Petrovsky stadium is just 20000 seats. I hope everyone will steal as much as they need and Krestovsky stadium(around 69000) will be completed, fans will be more.
On the whole you are right, back to Ukrainian hockey. Yesterday's games:
Donbass beat Vityaz 7-2 and Krivbass beat Belyi Bars 6-0.
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
Petrovsky stadium is just 20000 seats. I hope everyone will steal as much as they need and Krestovsky stadium(around 69000) will be completed, fans will be more.
On the whole you are right, back to Ukrainian hockey. Yesterday's games:
Donbass beat Vityaz 7-2 and Krivbass beat Belyi Bars 6-0.

My boys Generals eked out a 4-3 win over Vityaz
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
So what happens with the Ukrainian Championship going forward? It would seem there's 3 teams with any kind of money to pay players: Donbass, Krivbass and Kremenchuk. Generals Kiev have been relegated to a glorified junior team due to financial problems, and Vityaz and Byli Bars are in the same boat. It's unlikely there will be any expansion to the league, at least this year. Is there any momentum here, or is it just a matter of time before the thing collapses again?
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
They should just join Belorussian league like Sokol did in the past.

Probably makes the most sense. There isn't enough hockey interest in western Ukraine to have a proper Ukrainian hockey league. The 3 best teams are in the east, and if they joined the Belorussian league, they'd at least have a shot at the Champions Hockey League.
 

Pan

Registered User
Apr 11, 2017
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133
Minsk
Probably makes the most sense. There isn't enough hockey interest in western Ukraine to have a proper Ukrainian hockey league. The 3 best teams are in the east, and if they joined the Belorussian league, they'd at least have a shot at the Champions Hockey League.
Considering the attention that the CHL attracted in Belarus I doubt that Belarus would share its place in the CHL with other parts of this imaginary joint league.
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
Generals Kiev announced they won't be participating in the championship next year, and at least one other club (not sure who) made the same announcement. At this point it's a 4 team league, so looks like another year without a Ukrainian Championship.
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
So Generals Kiev, Krivbass, and Vityaz Karkov have all suspended operations for next year, and Byli Bars announced today that they will continue to operate but as a U-20 team. That all but kills the league, with only Donbass and Kremenchuk left. Not sure if there's another league for them to join. Would be nice to have some Ukrainian hockey at the professional level.
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
Looks like the rumours of the death of the UHL were greatly exaggerated. At this point there's an agreement for an 8 team league next year, with 5 of the 6 teams from last year participating. Kharkov will have a team again, but with a different name, Dynamo. There are 3 other teams joining to make it an 8 team league and Odessa and Sokol Kiev may also join to make it a 10 team league.

The focus will be on young players. No player born before 1993 will be allowed to participate. Hopefully this all works out, as this would be great for the development of Ukrainian hockey if it does.
 

SoundAndFury

Registered User
May 28, 2012
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At the same time, Ukrainian players born after '93 are going to do what? This might be ok for the future, but terrible for the present.
 

Go Donbass

Registered User
Sep 27, 2013
831
103
Vinnitsa, Ukraine
At the same time, Ukrainian players born after '93 are going to do what? This might be ok for the future, but terrible for the present.

I know I'm not telling anything you don't already know, but it's obvious that this is designed to be a developmental league for Ukrainian hockey. It's also designed to ensure some sense of competitive balance (whether it works or not is to be seen). The best Ukrainian players, over 25 can always find work in other leagues. I like this move, as it creates some stability for the league. Hopefully it works.
 

Cams

Registered User
May 27, 2008
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Windsor, ON
I watch this thread closely as my mother's side of my family are Ukrainian Canadians, so I always had/have a soft spot for Ukraine in general, as well as international sports, mostly hockey.

I remember in the '90s Ukraine had a team in the top tier of the World Jr Championships (Canada, etc. had no problem with them, but still...), and were a tier below the top for the world championships even (I think). Is there a chance we see that again in the near future? You still get the odd player in the CHL, and maybe N American pro, but to have players like Ponikarovksy, Khristich, Fedotenko, and others make it (although likely developing in Russia) should spur on the current generation of Ukrainian hockey hopefuls. You even Dmytro Tymashov (Toronto), but he plays internationally for Sweden. I get it that other sports are higher up, like soccer, track and field (?), etc.

What does Ukrainian hockey need to get to the next level? More/better grassroots development? Or is the interest just not there?

Also - was it not recently when if a Ukrainian wanted to play pro in Russia they had to assume Russian nationality?
 

Albatros

Registered User
Aug 19, 2017
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Ostsee
What does Ukrainian hockey need to get to the next level? More/better grassroots development? Or is the interest just not there?

In my opinion stable structures and money, currently very little is there and conditions for development do not seem to exist practically speaking. Berkut Kyiv's U18 team plays in the better Belarusian league, but that's just one team.
 

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