KHL Playoffs / Gagarin Cup 2013 • Round of 16

[Latgale_fan]

I guess he wasn't fired because of Nadezhda Cup. They just wanted to think about last season a bit.

And yes, though it's a nice tournament, you don't fire someone because of it.

Ok, maybe so... But still why do firing when you still can win this cup. Maybe they have better chances with the new coach though, who knows? On the other hand it again would look stupid if Supler won this cup and they sacked him then. Maybe they are afraid that Supler will win all the ''losers'' and the club will be happy and will allow him to continue to work, but next season they don't get in the play-offs again

 

[Vicente]

Ok, maybe so... But still why do firing when you still can win this cup. Maybe they have better chances with the new coach though, who knows? On the other hand it again would look stupid if Supler won this cup and they sacked him then. Maybe they are afraid that Supler will win all the ''losers'' and the club will be happy and will allow him to continue to work, but next season they don't get in the play-offs again

Exactly.

 

[Shrimper]

Go on Yaroslavl!

 

[BalticWarrior]

In the end SKA won 7-0!! What a demonstration once more!

In the second round we will see the Moscow derby CSKA vs Dynamo. Tough decision but I would give Dynamo the advantage. A conference final SKA vs Dynamo should be very promising!

In their current form SKA are the top favourites for the Gagarin Cup IMHO.

Never were,never will be,SKA will not win the cup,i can almost assure you that.

 

[cska78]

Never were,never will be,SKA will not win the cup,i can almost assure you that.

I hope so...

 

[Peter25]

Why all this hatred for the SKA? At least they can draw a full crowd every night.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Never were,never will be,SKA will not win the cup,i can almost assure you that.

You are bound to be wrong if not this season then the next one. Or the next one. Truth is with such a superior team they will win it pretty soon.

Meanwhile Barys looks like they're done.

 

[Vicente]

My question also: why do you guys all hate SKA St. Petersburg? What happend in the past?

I think they do a superb job keeping interst in KHL very high in the non-KHL markets. They have good marketing, have almost always a full arena, they have great players (also from other European nations so fans from there follow the team).

 

[Vicente]

Looks like we might see top 4 in West and East in the next round. Just as last year...

Not a good sign for the parity in the league, right?

 

[vorky]

My question also: why do you guys all hate SKA St. Petersburg? What happend in the past?

I think they do a superb job keeping interst in KHL very high in the non-KHL markets. They have good marketing, have almost always a full arena, they have great players (also from other European nations so fans from there follow the team).

As I understand it, can be wrong:
- Medvedev connection to SKA and KHL
- money (the same reason why rest of Slovakia hated Slovan in slovak league)

 

[SoundAndFury]

Not a good sign for the parity in the league, right?

It's obvious there's no parity in the league, everyone knows it and frankly I don't think it's some kind of problem.

 

[BalticWarrior]

As I understand it, can be wrong:
- Medvedev connection to SKA and KHL
- money (the same reason why rest of Slovakia hated Slovan in slovak league)

Also their ****ing annoying fans and ofcourse ******* artyukhin on the lineup doesnt help them.

 

[od71]

Avangard - Sibir 1-0 1OT.
Pure PO hockey. Sibir looked solid and I would say had more dangerous scoring chances. Sibir is trailing now 2-3, but with a game like this they have a chance.

 

[SoundAndFury]

After today's game between Magnitka and SU I eagerly await for the next one because now it's a series in that hockey sense of the word. I'd say odds of a fight Hodgman vs. Svitov happening are pretty pretty good.

 

[Vicente]

It's obvious there's no parity in the league, everyone knows it and frankly I don't think it's some kind of problem.

I wouldn't call it a big problem but off course it would be better if more teams had a chance to fight for Gagarin Cup. In the last 10 years in RSL/KHL you always had Kazan, Ufa, Dynamo Moscow, Magnitogorsk, Omsk. Yaroslavl are competitive outsiders. It is very likely that Kazan, Ufa or Dynamo Moscow win the cup again this year.

That's why I think it would be nice to see SKA winning. Gives expansion teams a better feeling that they have a real chance to win something and of course it would make the league more interesting if it is more balanced.

 

[od71]

I wouldn't call it a big problem but off course it would be better if more teams had a chance to fight for Gagarin Cup. In the last 10 years in RSL/KHL you always had Kazan, Ufa, Dynamo Moscow, Magnitogorsk, Omsk. Yaroslavl are competitive outsiders. It is very likely that Kazan, Ufa or Dynamo Moscow win the cup again this year.

That's why I think it would be nice to see SKA winning. Gives expansion teams a better feeling that they have a real chance to win something and of course it would make the league more interesting if it is more balanced.

SKA is always treated like a Gagarin Cup contender. So, I doubt that it would give expansion teams a better feeling .
Right now SKA somewhat is like a proof that money can't buy the Cup.

 

[od71]

Besides Ice Arena in St. Petersburg is cursed. At least that's how Sushinski explained SKA failures in PO.

 

[BalticWarrior]

SKA is always treated like a Gagarin Cup contender. So, I doubt that it would give expansion teams a better feeling .
Right now SKA somewhat is like a proof that money can't buy the Cup.

Or that you can litterally buy the Cup like in some corrupted football leagues.(sorry football fans but it`s true)

 

[od71]

My question also: why do you guys all hate SKA St. Petersburg? What happend in the past?

I think they do a superb job keeping interst in KHL very high in the non-KHL markets. They have good marketing, have almost always a full arena, they have great players (also from other European nations so fans from there follow the team).

Nothing happened. Simply nobody loves rich clubs. As for me, I don't hate SKA. Usually I root for teams that financially are not as strong as SKA, hence don't have possibilities to buy star players. The difference between rich and poor teams in the KHL is very distinct.
For example, Avangard plays against Sibir in PO now. Avangard 's budget is 5 times bigger than budget of Sibir. What are the chances that Sibir will win Ava? Nobody believed before the series that Sibir would win 2 games. Even if Sibir will lose, which is likely, nobody will accuse them. They already had jumped above head.

 

[ficohok*]

I wouldn't call it a big problem but off course it would be better if more teams had a chance to fight for Gagarin Cup. In the last 10 years in RSL/KHL you always had Kazan, Ufa, Dynamo Moscow, Magnitogorsk, Omsk. Yaroslavl are competitive outsiders. It is very likely that Kazan, Ufa or Dynamo Moscow win the cup again this year.

That's why I think it would be nice to see SKA winning. Gives expansion teams a better feeling that they have a real chance to win something and of course it would make the league more interesting if it is more balanced.

I would like to see Kazan wins it !

 

[od71]

SKA didn't sign Barulin before the season. Kasatonov said he is too expensive. As far as I know he signed 3 mln contract with Kazan. But SKA signed Kovy for 10 mln. I think Barulin would be more useful for SKA in PO now than Kovy in New-Jersey.

 

[BalticWarrior]

I would like to see Kazan wins it !

Seconded.

 

[Vicente]

SKA didn't sign Barulin before the season. Kasatonov said he is too expensive. As far as I know he signed 3 mln contract with Kazan. But SKA signed Kovy for 10 mln. I think Barulin would be more useful for SKA in PO now than Kovy in New-Jersey.

Ezhov/Kasutin are doing a superb job so far. I don't see a problem at this position.

 

[Vicente]

SKA is always treated like a Gagarin Cup contender. So, I doubt that it would give expansion teams a better feeling .
Right now SKA somewhat is like a proof that money can't buy the Cup.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying WHOO SKA win win (as I wrote many times in KHL I Support Lev Prague !) but I just like it more when not the same teams win all time.

Since RSL was introduced champions were:

1997 Yaroslavl
1998 Kazan
1999 Magnitogorsk
2000 Dynamo Moscow
2001 Magnitogorsk
2002 Yaroslavl
2003 Yaroslavl
2004 Omsk
2005 Dynamo Moscow
2006 Kazan
2007 Magnitogorsk
2008 Ufa
2009 Kazan
2010 Kazan
2011 Ufa
2012 Dynamo Moscow

That means in the last 16 years we had:

4x Kazan
3x Dynamo Moscow
3x Yaroslavl
3x Magnitogorsk
2x Ufa
1x Omsk

This shows that there was a continuation of success - teams that were good in RSL were also good in KHL. It would be nice to see someone else win a championship at times.

 

[SoundAndFury]

But SKA signed Kovy for 10 mln.

They couldn't sign him for that much. But generally you are right, saying that proven difference maker at the KHL level is too expensive for the team with pretty much unlimited budget is a bit weird to say the least.

Kasutin is really good though, glad he finally gets to play behind a decent team.