HC Red Star Kunlun 2016/17 Thread

hansomreiste

Registered User
Sep 23, 2015
1,625
237
Ankara
I guess we will have a lot to talk about the new boys so I just wanted to leave this one here. Kovalchuk is rumoured to be heading to China, probably not surprising for anyone. I am already looking forward to seeing how they'll do in summer and who'll join the team.

A question: How do you expect the attendance figures to look like? The arena is huge with 18,000 seats. KHL average is around 6,000 so even numbers around 4K would be OK for a newly-founded Chinese team in my opinion, though I really want to see NHLish atmosphere with at least 15K fans, for example. Answering the question: I honestly have no idea at all. It can be 3K or 12K, I would not be surprised.
 

Acallabeth

Heart ablaze
Jul 30, 2011
9,934
1,233
Moscow
I hope it will be 10k+. Kovalchuk to China will be too funny, and it will probably be easy for me to see Kunlun in person, he he.
 

hansomreiste

Registered User
Sep 23, 2015
1,625
237
Ankara

penepi shared this one in Is the KHL an established league? thread recently. Am I the only one who can't read articles on this site? It just does not allow me to view without registering. I read it thanks to view the source, it was not the best reading experience but still OK. Better than registration for a beggar website.

Anyway, to be honest, I did not like the article. For someone who have no idea at all about KHL, it may be a well round-up but for people who are already interested in KHL, it has nothing new. I mean no comments, no conclusions, no different angles or aspects... Just a KHL is this, KHL is that article, many of which you can already find on web. The things covered in this article have been discussed for a million times here already so I am not impressed.
 

Salavat Yulaev

Registered User
Jul 20, 2013
826
16
Almaty
lol you gotta love this hysteric propaganda.

Do you guys think these "journalists" actually believe in what they write or they write it because people want to read it or both?

Yes, this is what presstitutes do everyday. They pervert, they lie for being paid.
 

Swedish KHL fan

Registered User
Apr 25, 2016
44
0
Västerås
Does anyone remember Nordic Vikings? They played in for one season in Asia league ice hockey during the 2005-06. They have earlier been labeled as defunct at English wikipedia, but they have played a few games each year. See their website:

http://www.nordicvikings.com/

For example, they have met with China's national team in four games in 2014 and 2015 and won all. I assume that the team today consists of swedes working in China occasionally, and some at the most, play semi-professional. To me it says some of the level of Chinese ice hockey.

San Jose Sharks, as Well as IIHF, was involved in China Sharks (today China Dragon) between 2007-09, sending players to the club ( Claude Lemieux played two games for the club). The effect failed to appear and it never gave the rise of Chinese ice hockey.

I really hope that it will be different this time, and that Kunlun just don't will be a Russian club based in Beijing, but it will be difficult to find Chinese players at KHL-level.
 

hansomreiste

Registered User
Sep 23, 2015
1,625
237
Ankara
I really hope that it will be different this time, and that Kunlun just don't will be a Russian club based in Beijing, but it will be difficult to find Chinese players at KHL-level.

It will be a Russian team based in China... There is no other possibility in near future. The Chinese have been heavily investing for infrastructure in team sports - after football and basketball, now they are in ice hockey. To be honest, I am hopeful if everything goes planned but this will take some time. Thanks to huge amount of money spent for international stars and young player development, China now produces better footballers and their league is, thanks to those international stars with inflated prices, one of the majors in today's world. For example, two years ago, nobody even knew a Chinese team in my country which is full of football maniacs - why would they, who the hell cares about China? However, now, after Ersan Gulum and Burak Yilmaz (two Turkish players who played for top teams in our country) went to China, suddenly we have Chinese football games on TV and we can bet on Chinese teams in our local bookies. The guys who had no idea what Tianjin Teda is two years ago now speak of their tactics and injured players. :laugh: While not as big as football league, the Chinese has also taken great steps in basketball. In terms of attendance and financial capacity, it's quite big.

The Chinese are developing exponentially and their biggest problem is geography: They are neither in Americas nor in Europe; two (three?) continents where football and basketball has a soil to flourish with already established, high quality sports organizations. So it's difficult to attract people when you, let's say, play against Lokomotiv Tashkent from Ozbekistan - people are not interested in this, they want better and the Chinese cannot have it, because they are surrounded by "poor" nations in sports. In ice hockey, this major problem is solved, because the Chinese will be able to be part of one of the best ice hockey leagues in the world. Not many people will watch Chinese footballers when they have the likes of Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. Not many will be interested in Chinese basketball in place of Euroleague or NBA. But, when it comes to hockey, they have a reason to watch Red Star Kunlun: because they play in one of the best leagues in the world.

So, if things are done properly, China may produce a good amount of talent in next 10 years and make Red Star a "Chinese" team, maybe even influencing more young kids to take up ice hockey and making China a strong hockey country. However, if this is not the case, the project will most likely halt in next few years which I believe would be disastrous. But I think it will go smooth under normal circumstances, like in a world where NATO & EU and Russia are not counting days to fight... As long as China and Russia are OK, Kunlun has everything they need to become a solid Chinese team - they will have to keep in mind that Rome wasn't built in a day, though.

China for me is a very interesting country. Thanks to my personal interest, I know how much they value their DotA 2 stars. For the ones who are not interested: DotA 2 is just an online strategy game which is classified as a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). So, it's kind of "online sports" and there is the term e-sports for this. In 2014, NewBee, a Chinese DotA 2 team, won more than 5 million dollars after winning the most prestigious, yearly tournament called The International 2014. The guys playing for this team (and some others) are considered as "heroes" or "kings" and with my very own eyes, I saw them being taken to the venues of games with helicopters.

So this fantastic country is always capable of being the best in something as long as they stick to long-term plans supported by the people who are best in the business; like Russian, American or Swedish coaches in hockey's case.
 

Finnpin

"internet"
Oct 10, 2005
11,735
10
Helsinki
Looks like at least two Finns will go to China

D Janne Jalasvaara
Sochi --> Kunlun

G Tomi Karhunen
Tappara --> Kunlun

..........................................................

Kunlun is going to have almost 1 month training camp in Finland during the summer.
 

Exarz

Registered User
Jan 1, 2014
2,415
339
Helsinki
Looks like at least two Finns will go to China

D Janne Jalasvaara
Sochi --> Kunlun

G Tomi Karhunen
Tappara --> Kunlun

..........................................................

Kunlun is going to have almost 1 month training camp in Finland during the summer.
And their coach Vladimir Yurzinov has coached both Ilves and Ässät!

I also heard that Kunlun will be the first three months on the road. I believe Admiral had to do the same thing because their arena wasn't fully finished.
 

VP

Registered User
Jul 1, 2016
98
13
Red star kunlun will have a training camp in Vierumäki, Finland this month. They play one game vs traktor in Vierumäki and one game vs some other team probably in Tikkurila where they continue their training camp.
 

VP

Registered User
Jul 1, 2016
98
13
Andrei Makarov has signed a deal with kunlun according to sport-ekspress.
 

hansomreiste

Registered User
Sep 23, 2015
1,625
237
Ankara
According to eliteprospects.com, the only player they've formally signed is Karhunen. Let's add Makarov too, makes it two. I am wondering how much will it take for them to complete the roster - I guess it would not make a lot of sense to travel to Finland for a summer trip.
 

VP

Registered User
Jul 1, 2016
98
13
They will meet in Moscow next week before going to Finland. So I would expect them to have almost whole roster ready. Janne Jalasvaara is also joining the Beijing hockey club.
 

Finnpin

"internet"
Oct 10, 2005
11,735
10
Helsinki
According to eliteprospects.com, the only player they've formally signed is Karhunen. Let's add Makarov too, makes it two. I am wondering how much will it take for them to complete the roster - I guess it would not make a lot of sense to travel to Finland for a summer trip.
EP isn't any official site for world signings.

Jalasvaara signing comfirmed by Kunlun according to Jatkoaika:

http://www.jatkoaika.com/Uutiset/ja...hl-seuran-ensimmäinen-pelaajakiinnitys/179723
 

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