Your Table

[TheNomad]

Kovalchuk went to SKA St. Petersburg, not CSKA Moscow.

 

[obskyr]

1. SKA
2. Dynamo
3. CSKA
4. Lokomotiv
5. Donbass
6. Lev
7. Slovan
8. Atlant
9. Severstal
10. Medvescak
11. Dinamo Riga
12. Vityaz
13. Spartak
14. Dinamo Mn

There's no way Seva remains nearly as good in the next season, they lost their best (Nazarov, Ketov-Shipachov, Koshechkin, even Anisin). That was probably the biggest team robbery since Říha's Atlant. I'm not really sure about the 8th or even 7th playoff team either.

As for the East, it's always harder to predict their table. I wonder if new Torpedo is going to make it to the postseason and how far Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg advance with more money.

 

[Thesensation19*]

Kovalchuk went to SKA St. Petersburg, not CSKA Moscow.

Obviously you are 1000th percent right, and that is why I am now getting MORE involved into the KHL lol.

Dammit, I knew that too. I was just talking about Kharlamov and I guess I had Moscow on my mind

 

[seeep]

East
1-5 Ak Bars
1-5 Avangard
1-5 Salavat Yulaev
1-5 Magnitka
1-5 Traktor
6-7 Barys
6-7 Torpedo
8-10 Neftekhimik
8-10 Yugra
8-10 Sibir
11-14 Amur
11-14 Avtomobilist
11-14 Kuznya
11-14 Admiral

West
1-2 SKA
1-2 Dynamo Msk
3-5 CSKA
3-5 Donbass
3-5 Lev
6 Lokomotiv
7 Atlant
8-11 Medvescak
8-11 Severstal
8-11 Spartak
8-11 Slovan
12-14 Vityaz
12-14 Dynamo Riga
12-14 Dynamo Minsk

 

[SoundAndFury]

I can't understand how you guys can see Medvescak finishing that high. Especially considering that some of you are bragging non-stop how KHL is by far superior to the AHL but when the bunch of AHL scrubs come over to the KHL you consider them to be a decent middle-tier team.. That's beyond me.

Arguably the best Medvescak's D was 2nd pairing D in Riga. Dinamo have Telly with 5(?) seasons of NHL experience meanwhile they have two guys who were barely good enough to play in the AHL (in Dekanich's case he was probably not good enough) but you still somehow see Medvescak as a by far better team..

 

[Vicente]

I can't understand how you guys can see Medvescak finishing that high. Especially considering that some of you are bragging non-stop how KHL is by far superior to the AHL but when the bunch of AHL scrubs comes over to the KHL you consider them to be a decent middle-tier team.. That's beyond me.

Arguably the best Medvescak's D was 2nd pairing D in Riga. Dinamo have Telly with 5(?) seasons of NHL experience meanwhile they have two guys who were barely good enough to play in the AHL (in Dekanich's case he was probably not good enough) but you still somehow see Medvescak as a by far better team..

Not every AHLer is the same. In the AHL you got a lot of very young guys and many players who play AHL/ECHL with dozens of call ups and call downs during the season. A top AHLer though always has the chance to make it in the KHL just as the best AHLers get their chances in the NHL.

And many AHLers are better in Europe with the bigger ice and the different playing style just as guys like Evander Kane aren't made for the K.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Not every AHLer is the same. In the AHL you got a lot of very young guys and many players who play AHL/ECHL with dozens of call ups and call downs during the season. A top AHLer though always has the chance to make it in the KHL just as the best AHLers get their chances in the NHL.

And many AHLers are better in Europe with the bigger ice and the different playing style just as guys like Evander Kane aren't made for the K.

Can't see how your point is applicable to Medvescak's roster and that's what I'm talking about here. There are none of the "best AHLers" on it, no one of those guys were a legitimate AHL stars like Giroux or Bourque, a lot of them are typical NA north-south players.

 

[metmag]

I can't understand how you guys can see Medvescak finishing that high. Especially considering that some of you are bragging non-stop how KHL is by far superior to the AHL but when the bunch of AHL scrubs come over to the KHL you consider them to be a decent middle-tier team.. That's beyond me.

Arguably the best Medvescak's D was 2nd pairing D in Riga. Dinamo have Telly with 5(?) seasons of NHL experience meanwhile they have two guys who were barely good enough to play in the AHL (in Dekanich's case he was probably not good enough) but you still somehow see Medvescak as a by far better team..

You bring up a good point but there is a difference between a single AHL player trying to accustom himself to a Russian system, and many AHL players fitting right in together from the start and playing their domestic system. They also have an AHL coach to make it even easier to implement them to the fullest. So the scenario is different. Also nobody is calling it a middle tier team; not even playoff contenders.

 

[Latgale_fan]

That's how I see it.

1. SKA
2. CSKA
3. Dynamo
4. Lokomotiv
5. Lev
6. Severstal
7. Donbass
8. Atlant
9. Slovan
10. Dinamo R
11. Dinamo Mn
12. Spartak
13. Medvescak
14. Vityaz

Maybe I'm a bit too optimistic about Riga's position but actually even last year team wasn't as bad as it just didn't have the team spirit and chemistry. Ābols' hockey is closer to Riga's mentality that Rautakallio's and Ozo is back too (with Hossa). They'll play interesting hockey, maybe not play-off worthy hockey but fun one.

About the teams above Riga- their positions are understandable, probably at the moment better teams than Riga. As for the teams below, Minsk will have not that successful transition to ''more Belorussian'' team IMHO because it takes time... Spartak is just a tired team and I don't think they'll have any spark to get them anywhere. Medvescak is just a bunch of AHLers are some Europeans at the moment, with not the biggest budget. It will take time for them to gel together and understand the league and the team that they are. Vityaz is just not as good a team and if it did not show last year due to, in part Riga's and Spartak's problems, this year we'll see that.


1. Magnitogorsk
2. Omsk
3. Kazan
4. Chelyabinsk
5. Ufa
6. Novosibirsk
7. Astana
8. Nizhny Novgorod
9. Nizhnekamsk
10. Khanty-Mansiysk
11. Khabarovsk
12. Vladivostok
13. Novokuznestk
14. Yekaterinburg

Don't follow East that much but here's my take. Maybe I overestimate Vladivostok a bit, but there are a few pretty decent names that want to redeem themselves (Gynge, Bergfors, Ugarov) and Enver Lisin who on a smaller team than last year Malkin's "magnitka" could be a real force. Then they also have Barbashev. Though a lot depends on how their weakest link i.e. defense will look like. But I'm betting on that surprise.

 

[Vicente]

Can't see how your point is applicable to Medvescak's roster and that's what I'm talking about here. There are none of the "best AHLers" on it, no one of those guys were a legitimate AHL stars like Giroux or Bourque, a lot of them are typical NA north-south players.

Well in Medvescak's case it's different off course. They tried to have as much "Croatia" in their team as possible + they tried to get a few decent players in addition.

The interesting thing will be that this will be a more or less complete AHL team. So when usually players get problems because of the higher speed or better passing abilities of their team mates, this won't happen as many have the same background.

As I wrote couple times. Nobody can say for sure how well these AHL Croats will do but it adds at least a very interesting project to follow to the KHL. - it's a little like playing with half a KHL roster in the AHL. ^^

 

[SoundAndFury]

That's how I see it.
6. Severstal

Generally I agree with you but this one.. What do you see in Severstal?

 

[Latgale_fan]

Well in Medvescak's case it's different off course. They tried to have as much "Croatia" in their team as possible + they tried to get a few decent players in addition.

The interesting thing will be that this will be a more or less complete AHL team. So when usually players get problems because of the higher speed or better passing abilities of their team mates, this won't happen as many have the same background.

As I wrote couple times. Nobody can say for sure how well these AHL Croats will do but it adds at least a very interesting project to follow to the KHL. - it's a little like playing with half a KHL roster in the AHL. ^^

Having a ton of AHLers also means that all of them have to adapt to the big ice, there's no established team ''core players'' or the sense of team in general, having them all as foreigners means that there's no that extra effort of pride playing for your country (don't think these Croats still are all big patriots ), they have to adjust to Russia, Latvia, Ukraine etc. and life in Croatia and on a plane flying over Siberia.

I agree that it's a fun project and it could be a fun team to watch but I don't see great results in the first season. If they save to core of the team, last year could be different.

 

[Latgale_fan]

Generally I agree with you but this one.. What do you see in Severstal?

I don't know... I guess I just took the table from someone else, re-arranged it and left Severstal at 6. Still I think it's too early to rank the teams when they are not yet fully formed and played the prep games. But I agree that Severstal as it is now looks strange in that company.

 

[Vicente]

Having a ton of AHLers also means that all of them have to adapt to the big ice, there's no established team ''core players'' or the sense of team in general, having them all as foreigners means that there's no that extra effort of pride playing for your country (don't think these Croats still are all big patriots ), they have to adjust to Russia, Latvia, Ukraine etc. and life in Croatia and on a plane flying over Siberia.

I agree that it's a fun project and it could be a fun team to watch but I don't see great results in the first season. If they save to core of the team, last year could be different.

I also agree that first season could become a little disaster but not because of adapting to the bigger ice - Team USA did very well during WC 2013 - but because of the travel. Many guys are just not used to week long plane trips over Siberia and Far East. The longer the season the more it can become a problem.

And as you mentioned. Having barely a player from his home city nor home country could also cause some emotional problems. Imagine coming back from Khabarovsk on a snowy day deep in winter and ending up in some appartment in Zagreb thousands of kilometres away from home.

 

[ficohok*]

(don't think these Croats still are all big patriots ), .

It depends from cronuck to cronuck. Some of them have their whole body in croatian tatoos.


About Medvescak position at the end of the season...well... it depends on many things, like chemistry, how goalies will do, injuries, etc...we have players that already experienced KHL, some very good AHL-ers, ex-Rocket Richard winner, so there is some material to work with. Much depends on how fast coach will get them together, it won't be easy as we have 30 new players that never played together (except Vesce and Linglet).

 

[Vicente]

It depends from cronuck to cronuck. Some of them have their whole body in croatian tatoos. .

A lot also depends on the grade of having Croatian background. Some players might even speak Croatian at home from time to time while others only know about Croatian relatives from stories of their grandparents.

 

[ozo]

West is a mess so I'll do only East:

1. Magnitogorsk
2. Omsk
3. Kazan
4. Chelyabinsk
5. Ufa
6. Astana
7. Nizhny Novgorod
8. Nizhnekamsk
9. Khanty-Mansiysk
10. Novosibirsk
11. Yekaterinburg
12. Khabarovsk
13. Vladivostok
14. Novokuznetsk

 

[metmag]

West is a mess so I'll do only East:

1. Magnitogorsk
2. Omsk
3. Kazan
4. Chelyabinsk
5. Ufa
6. Astana
7. Nizhny Novgorod
8. Nizhnekamsk
9. Khanty-Mansiysk
10. Novosibirsk
11. Yekaterinburg
12. Khabarovsk
13. Vladivostok
14. Novokuznetsk

Yeah! something like that.

 

[loppa*]

Here, I'll gamble with you guys too.


1. Dynamo
2. SKA
3. Lev
4. CSKA
5. Lokomotiv
6. Slovan
7. Lev
8. Atlant
9. Dinamo Mn
10. Dinamo Riga
11. Donbass
12. Severstal
13. Vityaz
14. Spartak
15. Medvescak


I screwed up, I have 15 instead of 14 somehow...

 

[Salavat Yulaev]

1. Traktor, Chelyabinsk
2. Salavat Yulaev, Ufa
3. Ak Bars, Kazan
4. Metallurg, Magnitogorsk
5. Barys, Astana
6. Avangard, Omsk
7. Neftekhimik, Nizhnekamsk
8. Torpedo, Nizhniy Novgorod
9. Sibir', Novosibirsk
10. Admiral, Vladivostok
11. Yugra, Khanty-Mansiysk
12. Amur, Khabarovsk
13. Metallurg, Novokuznetsk
14. Avtomobilist, Ekaternburg

 

[Spektanto]

Here, I'll gamble with you guys too.


1. Dynamo
2. SKA
3. Lev
4. CSKA
5. Lokomotiv
6. Slovan
7. Lev
8. Atlant
9. Dinamo Mn
10. Dinamo Riga
11. Donbass
12. Severstal
13. Vityaz
14. Spartak
15. Medvescak


I screwed up, I have 15 instead of 14 somehow...

Lev two times

 

[loppa*]

Lev two times

Sorry, I was thinking about Lev Warsaw, their new expansion team set for two years down the line. (I'm kidding).

The seventh place lev should be taken off. :/ Oh well.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

So people think Slovan will still be competitive?

I just don't see any improvement in the roster, in fact the blueline is WAAY more of mess without the lockout improvements of Visnovsky and Sekera.

I would really love for Slovan to be a playoff competitor, but I just don't see it. Think they will be closer to last than 8th (12-14 ranger). I hope you are all are right.

 

[pecheq]

1. SKA St. Petersburg
2. Dynamo Moscow
3. CSKA Moscow
4. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
5. Lev Praha
6. Severstal Cherepovets
7. Atlant Moscow Oblast
8. Spartak Moscow
9. Donbass Donetsk
10. Slovan Bratislava
11. Dinamo Minsk
12. Dinamo Riga
13. Vityaz Podolsk
14. Medveščak Zagreb

 

[seeep]

imo, many users overrated Severstal' and underrated Donbass here