Jaromir Jagr set the mark for the fastest tally in the KHL on Tuesday when he scored just 38 seconds into Avangard Omsk’s game against Metallurg Novokuznetsk. He bettered that mark before the record book could even be updated when he gave Avangard a 1-0 lead a mere 31 seconds into Avangard’s second of two consecutive games against Amur Khabarovsk on Friday. It was his first of two goals in the game, and helped the Hawks stretch interim coach Igor Nikitin’s undefeated record to five with a 4-3 victory, catapulting the team into third place in the league — after they wallowed near the bottom of the table just over a week ago.
Thursday’s starter Taylor Moss was called from the the Khabarovsk bench to replace Borosov after Jagr scored his second of the game and seventh of the season just twenty four seconds later. But even Moss couldn’t stem the tide right away, getting beaten by an even strength Anton Kuryanov tally less than two minutes later.
But unlike Thursday, Moss’ teammates mounted a comeback, starting with a power play goal at 11:45 that beat a screened Alexander Fomichev in the Avangard net. Tempers flared just 3:15 later when Jacob Klepis hit an Amur defenseman hard along the half boards inside the Khabarovsk zone. Moss flew from his net to his teammate’s defense, and within seconds everyone else had joined in. Ultimately only Klepish and Maxim Yushkov paired off and dropped their gloves to fight, while Jagr played peacemaker, pacifying the Canadian goaltender.
The hit and subsequent rough stuff inspired Khabarovsk, and they used the 2-minute power play that resulted from the original hit to make it 4-2 at 15:48. Then, in the first minute of the second period, they cut the deficit down to just one with an even strength goal from Oleg Belkin. But that was as close as they would come. Belkin had the opportunity to tie things up when he was awarded a penalty shot at 4:49 into the period after he was hauled down during a partial breakaway, but Fomichev thwarted his attempt, as he did all other opportunities Khabarovsk had in the game. Moss too stopped everything he faced the rest of the way; his 21 saves on 22 shots earned him second star of the game. Cherepanov, who played 17:02 minutes in 19 shifts, was named 3rd star, while Jagr, not surprisingly, was awarded the first star of the game.
Friday’s game was the last the team will play under undefeated interim coach Nikitin, since new head coach Wayne Fleming, who’s contract has been finalized and will take him through the end of the current season, arrives in Omsk on Sunday. Fleming will lead his first practice on Monday morning and take his place behind the bench for the first time later that day in a home game against HK MVD. Meanwhile, Czech coach Miloslav Gorzhava, who was expected to serve as an assistant to Fleming, will not be joining the Siberian side after all. Contractual issues with his Czech team are said to be at fault, but one has to wonder if Nikitin’s undefeated record since taking over for former head coach Sergei Gersonsky influenced a change of heart. Nikitin will server as Senior Coach under Fleming. Current assistant coach Sergei Khramtsov will stay on in his current role.
Avangard Omsk vs. Amur Khabarovsk – Period 1 Highlights
Avangard Omsk vs. Amur Khabarovsk – Periods 2 & 3 Highlights
With rumors swirling that one or more of Pavel Rosa, Viktor Aleksandrov, and Maxim Yakutsenya could be headed to St. Petersburg in exchange for Jaromir Jagr’s lockout-year center Maxim Sushinsky, it was Avangard Omsk’s second line of Alexander Popov, Anton Kuryanov and future Ranger Alexei Cherepanov that led the team to a dominant 4-0 victory in Khabarovsk today. John Grahame got his second shutout of the season, stopping 14 shots as the Hawks won their fourth straight under interim head coach Igor Nikitin.
Popov got Omsk on the board at 15:56 of the first period with an even strength marker from the slot off a nice feed from Kuryanov from behind the goal line. The line struck again at 6:10 of the second when Cherepanov and Kuryanov, who’d finish with three assists in the game, combined to feed Nikita Nikitin for an even-strength point shot that beat Khabarovsk goalie Taylor Moss through a screen.
The lone goal the line wasn’t responsible for came on the power play at 4:36 of the second off the stick of Dmitri Ryabikin, who’s gotten an extended tryout on Jagr’s opposite wing and has performed well. Assists went to Dmitri Pestunov and Alexei Bondarev. Cherepanov capped off the scoring five minutes later when he tapped in a feed from Kuryanov on a perfectly executed 2-on-1. Popov was credited with the secondary assist on the even strength goal. Each member of the line finished the game a +3.
You can watch the archived game for yourself at Sportbox, or catch the highlights on the KHL’s web site. The two teams face off again in Khabarovsk Friday. After the post-game comments made by their coach — calling his team’s performance “a disgrace” and promising “serious consequences” — you can bet Amur will come out eager to improve upon their lackluster 14-shot effort.
No, this post isn’t about self-proclaimed “hockey mom” and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. It just seemed like an appropriate way to describe today’s announcement from the Hartford Wolf Pack exulting their new partnership with WTIC-AM/WTIC-FM, who will provide radio broadcasts of the Pack’s games for the coming season.
The new agreement replaces one that previously existed between the club and 1410 ESPN radio, who regularly preempted Wolf Pack games in favor of UCONN basketball, Yankees broadcasts, or the occasional tiddlywinks tournament. I’m happy to report that such disrespect is a thing of the past. Because under this new partnership “All of the Wolf Pack’s regular season and playoff games will air…” Hallelujah!
But wait, there’s a catch. The sentence continues “…on 96.5 WTIC-FM’s HD 2 channel…” HD 2?
Raise your hand if you have an HD radio.
Go on, don’t be shy.
Right. That’s what I suspected.
Never fear, Pack games will still be streamed online, at www.wtic.com. And you’ll still have the opportunity to catch the occasional Wolf Pack game over the air, since “select games will be carried live on the 50,000-watt AM powerhouse, WTIC NewsTalk 1080.” I’m curious if “select” amounts to more or less games than could previously be heard on 1410. I’m guessing less. But hey, I’m a pessimist. A pessimist who enjoyed being able to catch a bit of the pre-game show on my way home from work, even down here, a hundred miles from Hartford.
But there is good news! All 2,500 or so Wolf Pack season ticket holders (and I’m being extremely generous) are eligible to receive a free HD car radio, installation included. Thank goodness the already-established fanbase will continue to have the ability to hear the games in their car (while they’re sitting in the XL Center, watching them.) It’s a shame no one else will. Especially when you consider that the franchise has already seen interest and attendance decline each year since the season after their Calder Cup win in 2000.
So count me amongst the folks who’ll miss tuning in to Bob Crawford’s post game breakdown on my way home from games.
Then again, given Northland AEG’s new policy of refusing to sell individual tickets by phone — forcing fans who can’t commit to a ticket package to pay ridiculous Ticketmaster fees (it cost us $39 to purchase two $10 opening night tickets) or line up at the box office on game day — the chances are we’ll be going to less of them this season anyway.
Here’s hoping rumors of B2 Networks demise as the AHL’s online video broadcast partner prove true, and that Neulion, the company responsible for the NHL’s higher quality online broadcasts, do in fact replace them. Cause it could certainly save us some gas money.
