UFA, Russia – They captured the KHL regular season title for the second year in a row. But it’s not the time for celebration. There’s much work to do.
 
Memories of last year’s failure immediately pop up in people’s mind. Salavat Yulayev Ufa faced a hard reality check in the first round of the playoffs when the top seed was eliminated in the first round by 16th-seeded Avangard Omsk.

For sure the 2008 champion can be proud on their performance this season, but things may not go wrong again this time. The team has a mouth-watering roster for KHL standards and clearly dominated the 2009-10 season finishing with a stunning 129 points from 56 games, seven more than runner-up SKA St. Petersburg and twice as many as the eight seeded team in their conference.

Nevertheless, there are still doubts whether the team can get it done in the playoffs. For coach Vyacheslav Bykov and assistant Igor Zakharin, the post-season offers a chance to make up for Russia’s disappointing quarterfinal exit at the Olympics last month.

The first hurdle to be taken by Salavat Yulayev will be Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. Comparing both rosters, one would be crazy to put his money on the underdogs, but Avtomobilist has perhaps become the biggest surprise in the KHL this season. Only this summer, the team was informed they would be participating in the league due to Khimik Voskresensk dropping out because of financial problems. Lack of time and money forced the team of Czech coach Marek Sykora to face the KHL big guns with a roster full of water pistols themselves.

They clinched a playoff spot on the very last day of the regular season and that is already more than it was expected from Sykora’s squad. The difference in quality however can be illustrated by the fact that Salavat Yulayev’s Alexander Radulov and Patrick Thoresen almost had as many goals, 24, as Avtomobilist’s top scorer Alexander Gulyavtsev had points, 28.

With more than a handful of Olympic participants on its roster, Salavat Yulayev will be the clear favourite going into this series, but they will be cautious and should not fall victim by underestimating their opponent again. Bykov will have to do so without forward Sergei Zinoviev, who is out injured for the remainder of the season.

For large parts of the season SKA St. Petersburg looked good for becoming the top seed. The veteran-loaded team lost the race in the final stages and had to settle as runner-up. Coach Barry Smith’s squad did win the Western Conference with ease though and had the advantage of not many players participating in Vancouver which meant a more than welcome two-week rest for the team. They will now face a quarterfinal match-up with Latvia’s Dinamo Riga, who make their second consecutive playoff appearance.

Team captain Maxim Sushinsky looked rejuvenated and led the team with 65 points, good for second overall in the KHL. Just a single point behind him is illustrious Alexei Yashin. On the blue line Sergei Zubov showed he is far from rusty with 10 goals and 32 assists. On the other end, Dinamo Riga’s Marcel Hossa captured the top goal scoring title with 35 goals.

Dinamo starts the series against SKA having won seven out of their last nine games. But they also realize their last outing against SKA ended up in a 8-1 loss. Although the Riga encounter is considered tricky, SKA’s heavy investments this summer require the team to make it to the next round.

Already since the start of the season, both Salavat Yulayev and SKA St. Petersburg ran away from the rest of the pack along with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. In the end the team of Sergei Fedorov had to settle for the third spot. The “steel workers” will play their regional rival Traktor Chelyabinsk, coached by Andrei Nazarov and captained by another former NHLer, Andrei Nikolishin.

It will be a clash against a European-oriented Magnitogorsk team versus a North American-styled Traktor. Metallurg won five out of six regular season contests between both teams from the Eastern Conference.

Reigning champions Ak Bars Kazan lost out in the firepower this season. They finished third in the Eastern Conference this year and seventh overall with 96 points. Like last season, Kazan’s first opponent towards hoisting the Gagarin Cup will be Barys Astana from Kazakhstan. Alexei Morozov and Danis Zaripov remain the team’s main offensive weapons this season with Finnish forward Jarkko Immonen on their side. Although Ak Bars is known for its scoring power, a key for a successful post season run this season is on the other end of the ice.

Between the pipes, the “snow leopards” from Kazan can rely on Petri Vehanen. The 32-year-old Finn started the season with Lukko Rauma in the Finnish SM-Liiga, but transferred to Kazan to replace Mikael Tellqvist. Vehanen took the league by storm and finished posting the league’s best save percentage and goals against average.

Opponents Barys Astana enjoyed another successful season led by defenceman Kevin “Boom Boom” Dallman. Breaking a scoring league record last year, Dallman showed his offensive outburst was not a fluke. With 42 points in 55 games he once again claimed the scoring crown among defencemen. Last season, Ak Bars defeated Barys 3-0 in the playoffs while the Kazakhs also lost both games between the two teams this season.

The last quarterfinal series in the Eastern Conference will see Avangard Omsk play Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. Jaromir Jagr’s Omsk did not only blew a solid looking third place, but also saw Nizhnekamsk overtake them meaning they will not have home ice advantage.

In the West, surprising second-seeded MVD Balashikha will play CSKA Moscow coached by Sergei Nemchinov. It will be a classic case of experience versus youth in which the former super power from Russia’s capital city will be looking to get a big scalp in the quarterfinals led by Nikita Filatov. The on-loan forward from the Columbus Blue Jackets has been red hot since returning to Russia, averaging almost one point per game.

Regardless of CSKA’s fortunes there will be at least one Moscow based team in the next round. Rivals Dynamo and Spartak will meet in another best-of-five series. Carrying a more potent roster and a bigger budget, Dynamo heads into the match-up as favourites. But Spartak coach Milos Riha knows his team can upset their blue and white neighbours when playing with heart and grit. Spartak was victorious in three of the four mutual meetings this season.

Fourth-seeded Atlant Mytishchi and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl complete the playoff picture. For the third time in a row, Atlant’s Sergei Mozyakin won the league’s scoring title. In 56 games the slick forward notched 27 goals and 66 points. He would probably trade that prize in return for post-season success. To date Mozyakin has been unable to translate his offensive outbursts in a successful playoff run with his team.

The same can’t be said of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The champion of 2002 and 2003 made it to the finals in the last two seasons, but both times saw the gold medals slip through their hands. In order to change luck on their side, they re-installed their success coach from the championship years. Peter Vorobiev took over from Kari Heikkilä and will try to make history repeat in Yaroslavl.

The road to the Gagarin Cup is a long one, but the race is now officially launched. The quarterfinals in the KHL will be played according to a best-of-five concept and will start on March 10.

JOERI LOONEN