Ten Players Signed

I posted an update on the Yaroslavl Ice Wings last week that mentioned they were holding tryouts for players seeking a spot on their roster for the upcoming 2021-22 Russian Women's Hockey League (ZhHL) despite the KHL still needing to vote them into the league as an expansion squad. The Chelyabinsk team had been far quieter than Yaroslavl had been as it, too, prepared for the vote for inclusion, but they made a big statement today that should be felt across the Zhenskaya Hockey League despite them not being a part of the league yet. Russian hockey is full of surprises!

While the vote will likely be unanimous once the KHL's Board of Governors convene, it would appear that both Yaroslavl and Chalyabinsk are putting their carts before their horses in attracting and signing players. I'm not here to criticize their methods, though, but every expansion I've seen usually involves being accepted as a team into a league before players can be signed. Maybe the rules are different in Russia?

Whatever the case may be, the addition of the Yaroslavl and Chelyabinsk teams is simply academic at this point because the contracts are real. Belye Medveditsy announced ten players who will be signing up for them next season today, so let's take a look at who each of these players are.

Chelyabinsk has a goalie under contract that has ZhHL experience! That's Milena Tretyak who played with KRS Vanke Red Star last season where she was 6-0-0 with a 1.01 GAA and a .935 save percentage in seven appearance. The 21 year-old appears to be one of Russia's goaltenders of the future having already played for them nationally at the U18 Women's World Championship, and she'll get a shot at commanding a crease for Belye Medveditsy. Her blueline won't have the names she regularly saw last season in front of her, but Tretyak is a solid netminder who is capable of winning games with a little help. This signing is a great start for Chelyabinsk around which they can build.

Competing with Tretyak will be 22 year-old Yulia Artyomova. Artyomova didn't see much ice time with Dynamo-Neva St. Petersburg last season, appearing in a single game where she was not the goalie of record while giving up no goals. She does have 50 games of ZhHL experience to her credit, though, where she has recorded an 18-21-0 record, a 3.15 GAA, and a .900 save percentage. If Artyomova can find her way back to playing at the level she was at in 2019-20 with SK Gorny where she was 9-9-0 with a 2.85 GAA and a .901 save percentage, her and Tretyak will be a formidable duo for Belye Medveditsy for years to come. If there's one thing Chelyabinsk can brag about early on in their setup, it's that they have two excellent, young goalies on the roster.

The two signed defenders of Belye Medveditsy might be called the "mom's club" because of a couple of similarities. Natalya Vorontsova, seen to the right, is a 25 year-old defender who took the last three seasons off to raise her baby that she had in 2018! Prior to her taking some time off, she had played seven seasons in the ZhHL where she scored seven goals and 18 assists over 140 games with Agidel Ufa and SK Gorny. She's a solid defender who helped Russia with the 2018 Universiade gold medal, and she likely be one of the pillars that Chelyabinsk leans on in their first season of play. She does seem to take more penalties than an expansion team may want with 108 PIMs to her credit thus far, so we'll see if she can clean that part of her game up to help Belye Medveditsy.

The other half of the "mom's club" back on defence for Chelyabinsk is 21 year-old Alina Orlova. Orlova took last season off for the birth of her daughter as the second wave of Orlova women's hockey players begins. Orlova played four seasons with SK Gorny where she has seven goals and 11 assists in 117 games, but she's also similar to Vorontsova in that she has a high number of penalty minutes over that career. To date, Orlova has spent 139 minutes in the sin bin, so it would appear that Chelyabinsk is going to have a physical blueline based on the history of these two defenders.

We'll start with the most veteran player of the forwards in 31 year-old Inna Dyubanok who missed the entire 2020-21 ZhHL season after the team she signed with, Dynamo SPb, dissolved and contracted. With rosters already full, the Russian couln't find a home and missed the season. What should be pointed out is that Dyubanok can both forward and defence - something she has done both on the international stage and in the ZhHL. My guess is that after not playing for a season, Dyubanok will want to show she's still got game, so expect her to add to her 85 goals and 186 assists in 215 career games. She likely will come to camp with a purpose, and that should bode well for Chelyabinsk.

Yekaterina Zakharova also comes to Chelyabinsk having played both forward and defence in her career. The 26 year-old was a defender last season for SKSO Yekaterinburg where she scored three goals and added three helpers. Her career stats won't blow anyone away - 18 goals and 27 assists in 278 career ZhHl games - but she's a solid defensive presence on both the forward lines or from the blueline. She filled in as an alternate captain at times last season for SKSO, so Chelyabinsk will have some leadership added to the room in Zakharova. She also logged 23 minutes per game for SKSO as she anchored the blueline, so Belye Medveditsy is getting a player who will be a leader in the room and on the ice. Having players who can fill dual roles like Dyubanok and Zakharova also will give the Chelyabinsk coaching staff a ton of flexibility in making lineups each night.

There likely should have been more accolades given for forward Tatyana Shatalova's signing, but her 2020-21 season in the NWHL was derailed before it ever got started. The 21 year-old was one of the players on the New York Riveters team who contracted COVID-19 early in the bubble, and she was never able to make it into a game. She was a decent performer for the Riveters in 2019-20 where she had two goals and ten assists in 23 games, so we'll have to see how she bounces back after dealing with COVID. She should provide a scoring spark for Belye Medveditsy if she rebounds to her full potential.

In what has to be one of the more interesting paths taken in hockey, 21 year-old Ilmira Taipova played a couple of seasons for SKIF Nizhny Novgorod before suiting for eight games last season with Gümüs Patenler SK in Turkey! Taipova was a scoring sensation for the Silver Skates in Turkey, racking up 17 goals and nine assists in ten games compared to just one goal in 23 games in the ZhHL. If she found her scoring touch in Turkey, it would appear that Chelyabinsk is hoping she brings that talent back to the ZhHL with her. At 21 years of age, though, Belye Medveditsy has lots of time to work with her.

Chelyabinsk did bring in another player with some recent championship experience as they went and signed 20 year-old Maria Pushkar from KRS Vanke. Pushkar played one season with KRS Vanke after two seasons with Tornado Dmitrov. To date, she has recorded 11 goals and nine assists in 90 ZhHL games, but did match a career high last season from her rookie year in scoring eight points. She doesn't have the scoring prowess of a Dyubanok or a Zakharova yet, but Pushkar is just entering her fourth season of professional hockey at the age of 20, and there's a lot to like about a young player who has already been a part of a ZhHL championship run early in her career.

The last player of the ten signings is the youngest player, but she's also a homegrown player after growing up watching Traktor and eventually playing for Fakel, the local women's team. 19 year-old Alina Narudinova comes home to Chelyabinsk to join Belye Medveditsy after playing three seasons in Ufa and Yekaterinburg. In 70 career ZhHL games thus far, Narudinova has ten goals and ten assists with 17 of those points coming in the last two seasons with SKSO Yekaterinburg. If Belye Medveditsy needed someone to build local marketing around, Narudinova would be a good choice as she's young, she has championship experience as she was part of the 2018-19 Ufa team that won the ZhHL, and she's an emerging talent in the league. If Chelyabinsk needed someone to market, I'd start with Alina's story of being the local kid who grew up to join the pro team!

With ten players under contract now, the vote to include both Yaroslavl, who indicated they had seven contracts being negotiated last week, and Chelyabinsk seems rather unnecessary aside from it being a formality at the KHL's Board of Governors meeting. What should be noted is that Chelyabinsk is building a strong, young team sprinkled with a few veterans who will pass on knowledge and leadership to these younger players.

If there's one thing that worries me slightly, it's that three players who they signed played no hockey last season whatsoever. While I'd never suggest that players shouldn't be allowed to have babies or anything of that ilk, the catch is that the ZhHL is getting better in terms of overall talent year after year. Missing a season for any reason already would make it difficult to jump back in, but there's a reason why these women are elite athletes. I suspect that Chelyabinsk will see these women contribute.

It appears one expansion team is closer to being ready for the 2021-22 season. We'll have to see who else gets signed in the coming weeks by both Yaroslavl and Chelyabinsk.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!