Missing Kasyanchuk, Razin, Poni, Donika and Fedotenko really makes this roster look weak. Not to mention Klimentyev retiring and Gongalsky not yet representing the NT yet.
Hopefully they can advance and put together a better roster next year.
Still near future looks bleak. Unless they start to naturalize Russians elite tier is a pipe dream.
At the time - yes, but with all the money they are pouring into hockey now they'll get there at some point. Obviously it may take 20 years but still.
At the time - yes, but with all the money they are pouring into hockey now they'll get there at some point. Obviously it may take 20 years but still.
That's why said "near future". And even then, the only place where the money is poured in is Donetsk. Not much investment elsewhere...
They're improving already. Guys like Toryanik, Padakin, Kvitchenko, Zakharov, Martyshko and Skripets will be big for the future of Ukrainian hockey.
Berkut Kiev has a new hockey school and seems to have become the premier franchise in Kiev. They iced a good PHL team with quite a few KHL caliber players.
No they are not improving, but, yes, players you listed will be a big part of a pretty bleak immediate future.
And almost went bust mid-season.
Sorry I'm kind of new here, do you have a personal vendetta against Ukraine or something?
I agree the future isn't extremely appealing right now, but there has been a lot of improvement in their hockey as of late. Adding a MHL team or two is the next thing they should be looking at so that they can retain their top junior talent.
Berkut has their financial issues and I think they overspent on contracts this past season. Guys like Toryanik, Mikhnov and Gongalsky could all end up in the KHL next season. Seeing young guys like Toryanik and Kvitchenko getting playing time in the KHL is a step in the right direction for Ukrainian hockey. As they continue to have more players playing top tier hockey it can only benefit the NT.
Great to see Zakharov and Petrangovsky make it. Although I think Zakharov was scratched today haha. Petrangovsky has an assist, so it's great to see the juniors get involved!
Is he moving to Donbass in MHL next season? Do you have any info? Zakharov is under contract with Donbass, so he is going to play MHL for them.
Yeah, you certainly are new here.
There's not much new I can say, I'm afraid. I follow Ukrainian hockey too much to not see that this revival is not happening properly and that you see positives where there are none.