Today in a mixed squad exhibition game between SKA and SKA-1946 the youth team won 7:2. Apart from SKA players the players from Gazprom Export Ice Hockey Team took part in the game.

SKA — SKA-1946 (0:3; 1:3, 1:1)
0:1 — Cajanek (Gusev, Sushinsky) — 07:08 PP
0:2 — Varitsky (Chizhmin) — 10:30
0:3 — Yashin (Zubov) — 18:41
0:4 — Rybin (Peretyagin) — 26:22
0:5 — Sushinsky (Yashin) — 33:30 PP
0:6 — Solodukhin (Chizhmin) — 33:45
1:6 — Teplyakov (Voronov, Yezhov) — 34:45
2:6 — Ekman (Voronov) — 54:05
2:7 — Solodukhin (Kryukov, Zimakov) — 58:44

Goaltenders: Esche (00:00 — 30:31), Yezhov (30:32 — 60:00) — Mikhailovsky (00:00 — 20:00), Sokolov (20:01 — 60:00)

SKA Lineup:
Goaltenders: Robert Esche, Ilya Yezhov;
Defensemen: Alexander Lysenko, Alexander Terekhov, Sergey Voronov, Raymond Giroux, Joel Kwiatkowski, Aleksey Petrov, Andrey Zyuzin;
Forwards: Roman Rotenberg, Lev Berdichevsky, Stanislav Romanov, Dmitry Teplyakov, Igor Boriskov, Yury Trubachev, Albert Leschev, Anton But, Alexander Korolyuk, Alexander Kucheryavenko, Magomed Gimbatov, Anton Korolev, Sergey Brylin, Nils Ekman.

SKA-1946 Lineup:
Goaltenders: Maxim Mikhailovsky, Maxim Sokolov;
Defensemen: Dmitry Frolov, Yury Yaschin, Pavel Zimakov, Sergey Gusev, Sergey Peretyagin, Kirill Safronov, Igor Misko;
Forwards: Alexander Medvedev, Igor Varitsky, Yevgeny Chizhmin, Sergey Gomolyako, Vyacheslav Solodukhin, Artem Kryukov, Maxim Rybin, Igor Makarov, Petr Cajanek, Alexey Yashin, Maxim Sushinsky, Alexander Scherbina.

Today in Gazprom Neft Headquarters the Official Presentation of SKA Ice Hockey Team of 2009-2010 Season was held. Greeting address given by the Vice-Governor of Saint-Petersburg Valery Tikhonov was followed by a speech by the President of the Kontinentel Hockey League and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SKA Ice Hockey Club Alexander Medvedev. The Opening Ceremony was conducted by celebrated sports commentator and journalist Gennady Orlov.
The spirit of continuity of hockey generations was predominant at the Ceremony. Together with Alexander Medvedev it was the students of SKA School of Hockey who handed the game jerseys to SKA players getting SKA scarves from them in return. The older generation of SKA players was honored at the ceremony and merited veterans of SKA were named to the Symbolic Roster: coach Valery Shilov, goaltender Stanislav Litovko and a symbolic “player line”: defensemen Pavel Kozlov and Yevgeny Volkov and forwards Dmitry Kopchenov, Petr Andreyev and Igot Schurkov. The speech given by the Head Coach of SKA Barry Smith in Russian made a great ending to the Ceremony.
 

Tomorrow on August 29 2009 at 14:00 the President of the Kontinental Hockey League and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SKA Ice Hockey Club Alexander Medvedev will be answering questions from the Media live on Radio Zenit.

Yesterday SKA defenseman Darius Kasparaitis arrived to SKA Headquarters. He will join the Team in practices however for the nearest 2 or 3 weeks he will follow individual practice plan.

We wish a very Happy Birthday to SKA Forward Alexander Kucheryavenko! Dear Alexander, we wish you health, happiness and constant luck!

Seven SKA players will participate in the training camps of the three Russian National Teams. SKA forward Konstantin Gorovikov and SKA defenseman Sergey Zubov were summoned by the Coaching Staff of Russian National Team to the Olympic Training Camp in Moscow August 29 till September 1.
SKA defenseman Andrey Zyuzin and SKA forwards Konstantin Gorovikov, Maxim Rybin, Maxim Sushinsky and Igor Makarov were invited to the Extended Russian National Team to participate in the training camp as well as the First Stage of the Euro Tour – the Czech Hockey Games.
Defenseman Georgy Berdyukov was summoned to Youth Russian National Team 1990-1991 to participate the International Four Nations Tournament September 4 till September 6 while on September 10 an international exhibition game will be played with Polish National Team in Krynica Zdroj.
 

SKA wins Basel Summer Ice Hockey Tournament. In the final game SKA had a character win in overtime over Geneve-Servette – 2:1

SKA — Geneve-Servette (0:0,0:0,1:1,1:0)
0:1 — Höhener (Salmelainen, Deruns) — 40:30 PP
1:1 — Yashin (Sushinsky, Kwiatkowski) — 58:16 PP
2:1 — Safronov (Yashin) — 61:27

Robert Esche defended the goal for SKA

Barry Smith, the Head Coach of SKA:
- We have played 3 games in 3 nights and so tonight’s game was very difficult physically. We had to play a fresher team that had a day of rest before the game. The first period was equal with a few chances however our team was doing a little better. The second period was almost 100 per cent penalties, we have got to many minutes and three of our players got game misconduct for fighting.
It made our situation even more difficult as tonight we were playing 5 defensemen with Igor Misko, who did an excellent job, as the sixth one. Penalties, loss of players and physical fatigue were taking us toll in the third period especially that our opponents scored early in the period. It was very important that we managed to tie and win in overtime. I am of a very high opinion of the way the boys played in the tournament and what is most important, in this tournament we were no longer a simple group of players but a real team.
 

In the second game of Basel Summer Tournament SKA beat Bili Tygri Liberec 0:1

Bili Tygri — SKA 0:1 (0:0,0:0,0:1)
0:1— Giroux (Gorovikov, Sushinsky) — 53:03
Goaltender: Maxim Sokolov

Barry Smith, the Head Coach of SKA:
It was a difficult game hard to play for 2 periods. No goals were scored but the team got better every period. In the first period we had 4 penalties that took a lot of energy from us. The guys did a great job and tonight we were better than last night defensively and playing as a team. We will take one step at a time.
In the second period we lost Albert Leschev but Alexander Kucheryavenko took his place and did a great job. Tomorrow we’ll have more changes to our lineup because Konstantin Gorovikov and Sergey Gusev will have to go and I hope Sergey Peretyagin will play tomorrow. Maxim Sokolov did an excellent job and it was his second shutout this preseason.

Tomorrow SKA will play Geneve-Servette in Tournament Final at 22:30 Moscow Time.
 

SKA Ice Hockey Club wishes a very Happy Birthday to the Head Coach of SKA Barry Smith!
Dear Barry, from all our heart we wish you health, happiness, endless energy and many great victories!
 

In the first game of Basel Summer Tournament SKA beat HC Davos 5:4
SKA — HC Davos (1:1,3:2,1:1)
1:0 — Kwiatkowski (Cajanek, Gorovikov) — 6:52 PP
1:1 — Guggisberg (Taticek) — 11:48
2:1 — Trubacev (Giroux) — 20:33
2:2 — Forster (von Arx) — 25:38 PP
3:2 — Gusev — 29:10 PK
3:3 — Guggisberg (Marha) — 32:36
4:3 — Sushinsky (Cajanek, Yashin) — 33:07
4:4 — Burgler (Grossmann) — 48:00
5:4 — Cajanek (Yashin, Petrov) — 58:56 PP
Robert Esche defended the goal for SKA.
Barry Smith, the Head Coach of SKA:

- It was a tough game to play: it was so hot and the ice was bad. It is very important that while exchanging goals our team always had the strength to come back and take back the lead. Especially that in the third period we had to play 5 defense since we lost Sergey Peretyagin. I hope he will be fine tomorrow. It was great to score 2 good powerplay goals. But the biggest thing is that we have found the way to win.
Sushinsky, Cajanek and Yashin’s block did enormous job and demonstrated excellent puck control. Gorovikov’s block was great and Brylin’s block killed many penalties. Leschev’s block had chances on powerplay. Anton But played his hardest tonight. Joel Kwiatkowski was the best defenseman tonight and he had to do difficult job in our end.
 

Today in the Headquarters of SKA Ice Hockey Club the contract with Sergey Zubov was signed for 2 years.

We wish a very Happy Birthday to the President of the Kontinental Hockey League and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SKA Ice Hockey Club Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev!
Dear Alexander Ivanovich, we wish you firm health and good luck in achieving all your goals. Many victories to you both on and off the ice!
 

SKA wins second home exhibition game with Severstal 3:0

SKA – Severstal 3:0 (1:0, 1:0, 1:0)
1:0 – Trubachev(Cajanek, Sushinsky) – 10:31 PP
2:0 – Rybin(Gorovikov) – 33:44
3:0 – Leschev- 58:35 PK

Goaltenders: Sokolov – Mylnikov

SKA lost to Severstal in a home exhibition game 2:1. After the regulation time the score remained tied 1:1 and neither team scored in overtime while in the shootouts the decisive goal was scored by Severstal forward Alexander Drozdetsky.
SKA – Severstal – 1:2 PS (0:1, 1:0, 0:0, 0:1)
0:1 – Gubin (Alexandrov) – 08:41 PP
1:1 – Cajanek (Kwiatkowski, Petrov) – 28:17
1:2 – Drozdetsky PS
Goaltenders: Esche – Stana
The next SKA – Severstal exhibition game will start at 12:00 on August 14 on the Minor Arena of Yubileyny SC. Free admission.
 

Last night defenseman Sergey Zubov arrived to Saint-Petersburg. The legendary player was given a warm welcome at Moscow Railway Station by SKA Head Coach Barry Smith and the Media. Today Sergey Zubov will pass medical assessment.

Dear Fans!
Tonight at 17:00 SKA will play Severstal from Cherepovets in an exhibition game on Minor Arena of Yubileyny SC. Free admission.
See you at the game!
 

On August 12 Press Conference was held at Kontinental Hockey League Headquarters dedicated to the upcoming signing of defenseman Sergey Zubov – 1992 Olympic Champion and Two Times Stanley Cup Winner – by Saint-Petersburg SKA. In the presence of the Media the General Director of SKA Vadim Fisko handed SKA game jersey number 56 to Sergey.

On August 14 and 17 in Yubileyny DS SKA-1946 will host 2 exhibition games with HC Almaz from Cherepovets. The games starting times are: 17:00 on Friday August 14 and 10:45 on Saturday August 15. Free admission.

We wish a very Happy Birthday to the Administrator of SKA Ice Hockey Club Alexander Bogdanov!
Dear Alexander, we wish you luck, health and happiness!
 

September 1 till September 3 P.I. Belyayev Memorial Tournament for Severstal Trophy will take place in Cherepovets. Participants: SKA Ice Hockey Club, Severstal Hockey Club, HC MVD and HC Torpedo.
Games Schedule:
September 1:
14:45 HC MVD – SKA Ice Hockey Club
18:30 HC Severstal – HC Torpedo
September 2:
14:45 ХК SKA Ice Hockey Club – HC Torpedo
18:30 HC Severstal – HC MVD
September 3:
14:45 HC Torpedo – HC MVD
18:30 HC Severstal – SKA Ice Hockey Club
 

Today Michal Jordan Czech defenseman from OHL Plymouth Whalers drafted by SKA Ice Hockey Club round 4 #80 overall in KHL Draft took part in SKA practice. This week he will practice together with SKA Team and get acquainted with SKA Coaching Staff as well as get insight into the way training process is handled in SKA.

For two days MHL Representative Work Group headed by the Chairman of League Administration V.V. Yurzinov was visiting Saint-Petersburg. Also included in the Group were MHL Executive Director D.G. Yefimov, MHL Director for Communications and External Relations A/Y/ Antonov and MHL Director for Development S.G. Yakovlev.
On Friday, August 7 the Work Group visited the new office of SKA Ice Hockey Club and had a meeting with the Club Management – the General Director of SKA Ice Hockey Club and MHL Board Member Vadim Fisko and General Manager of SKA Ice Hockey Club. After the meeting the Group attended the training camp of all the three teams of SKA System (HC SKA, HC VMF and HC SKA-1946) in Yubileyny SC. MHL Delegation had meetings with the Coaching Staff and personnel of the teams paying special attention to the infrastructure of SKA-1946 MHL Team.
The hockey players of the youth team also took part in the meeting. Vladimir Yurzinov met the young players and conducted a 1-hour seminar for them together with the coaching staff of SKA-1946.
Today at a press conference Vladimir Yurzinov, Dmitry Yefimov and Vadim Fisko answered numerous questions from the Media on virtually every aspect of MHL activities and the life of SKA-1946 Team.
 

In the second home exhibition game SKA lost to Sibir 4:1
SKA – Sibir – 1:4 (0:2, 0:0, 1:2)
0:1 – CHernov (Mikeska) – 09:25 PP
0:2 – Boykov (Anisin) – 15:34
0:3 – Karpyuk (Yelizarov) – 46:23
0:4 – Muratov – 49:21 PK
1:4 – But (Leschev) – 52:20
Goaltenders: Yachanov – Lawson.

Barry Smith, the Head Coach of SKA:
Last night we had a much better start while tonight we were a little slow for the first few minutes and we could not come as aggressively as we did in our first game. Sibir scored twice rather unexpectedly – one was a powerplay goal and the other was a tipping. We came in the second period and had several chances but it was them who scored. Besides our game was constantly broken by penalties that took our rhythm away from us. And, lastly, last night we have scored many goals but tonight the puck would not go in for us.
The upcoming home exhibition games between SKA and Severstal will be played on the Minor Arena of Yubileyny SC on August 13 and 14. Game starting times are 17:00 and 12:00 respectively. Free admission.

SKA defenseman Georgy Byerdyukov was summoned to the Youth Russian National Team to play 4 exhibition games with American Teams in Lake Placid, USA August 11 till 15.

SKA – Sibir 6:2 (0:0, 3:1, 3:1)
1:0 – Cajanek (Gusev, Korolyuk) – 29:08 PP
2:0 – Misko – 29:42 PS
2:1 – Sokolov (Chernov) – 37:14 PP
3:1 – Gorovikov (Giroux) – 38:55 PK
3:2 – Boykov (Anisin) – 46:08
4:2 – Kryukov (Gusev, Kucheryavenko) – 48:11
5:2 – Trubachev (Brylin, Misko) – 55:33 PP
6:2 – Peretyagin (Makarov, Brylin) – 58:24 PK
Goaltenders: Esche – Fomichev
Barry Smith, the Head Coach of SKA:
- These are exhibition games and they give us a chance to work on the things we won’t be able to work on during the season. It is great for the coaches because such games are great for experimenting. We have to work on our neutral zone, we did a good job in our defensive zone and I think guys did a great job. On the whole, we’ve had great moments during the game but there are still thing to work on. So we are moving one step at a time.
Comparing tonight’s game to our first game in Pajulahti we have scored more goals, we did much better job defensively and had more transitions in the neutral zone. Unlike our game with Torpedo we did not change goalies since we took many penalties and it would have been unfair to put a goalie who is cold in a 3 on 5 situation.
 

Last night SKA defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski arrived to Saint-Petersburg. Today he will pass medical assessment and shortly join the Team for practices.
 

Admittance for the media to preseason games between SKA and Sibir shall be granted under KHL accreditations of the last season. The games starting times will be 17:00 on August 6 and 15:00 on August 7.
On August 8 a press conference will be held by the Administration of Youth Hockey League – the Chairman of MHL Administration V.V. Yurzinov, Executive Director of the MHL D.G. Yefimov and MHL Director for Development S.G. Yakovlev at 12:00 in the Press Center of Yubileyny SC. The order of official events for the Media dedicated to the arrival of Sergey Zubov to Saint-Petersburg will be announced at the press conference.

Today agreement has been reached between SKA Ice Hockey Club and Barys Ice Hockey Club for the transfer of forward David Nemirovsky to Astana. In return SKA will get first round choice in 2010 draft.
David Nemirovsky on his transfer:

The Head Coach decided that it would be good for me to try another team. I had several options and I chose Barys. We will see how things work out for me there.
I am happy with the time I have spent with SKA. I always wanted to play in Saint-Petersburg and even when I went to Moscow I still wanted to return to SKA. I have had two great seasons here and got many new friends in the team and in the city. Saint-Petersburg is my favourite city in Russia. I am very sorry to be leaving but that’s the way it is. Today I am leaving for Switzerland to join Barys for preseason training camp. I am hoping to achieve good results with the new team.

SKA defenseman Andrey Zyuzin together with SKA forwards Konstantin Gorovikov, Maxim Sushinsky and Maxim Rybin were invited to the extended Russian National Team lineup for the First Eurotour Stage – Czech Hockey Games.

During SKA preseason training camp in Pajulahti Finland the Management of the Team together with the Head Coach had a meeting with Finnish hockey players chosen by SKA at the first KHL Draft – goaltender Harry Sateri (#8 pick) and defenseman Juri Niemi (#39 pick)

Sergey Zubov confirmed his participation in the Pre-Olympic Training Camp to take place in Moscow August 29 till September 1.

SKA forward Konstantin Gorovikov was invited by the Coaching Staff of Russian National Team to participate in the Pre-Olympic Training Camp to take place in Moscow August 29 till September 1.

Yesterday SKA resumed practices on return from the training camp in Finland. The team had practices in two groups alternating on-ice and off-ice work. Today all the players practice together with the first part of the practice in the gym and the second one on ice where various aspects of team play were worked on.
Sergey Brylin shared his impression on the Pajulahti camp as well as the exhibition game against Torpedo with us: “The training camp was a success, we practiced two times a day: gym and ice in the morning and only ice in the evening. We worked in every direction in the training camp: tactical drills, working on skills and, of course, getting into shape. The first game was a little bit confused, we did well in the first period but then we have somewhat lost the momentum even though we managed to tie in the third period.

We wish a very Happy Birthday to the Coach of SKA Ice Hockey Club Ivan Zanatta!
Dear Ivan, we wish you health, happiness and the best of luck with coaching!