Hockey fans in Bratislava woke up to a shock this morning, as Slovan Bratislava announced on their website that the team and head coach Rostislav Čada had come to an agreement over the termination of the latter’s contract. For all intents and purposes it appears that Čada asked to be released from his contract rather than being fired by the club.
Photo from Rostislav Čada's last game in charge of Slovan
Photo: hcslovan.sk
Čada has had a mixed bag of success since joining Slovan Bratislava in 2012, upon their entry to the KHL. The Czech born coach had floundered with Avangard Omsk, but found his niche with a battling Slovan side, and whilst his brand of defensive hockey may have been dour at times, it did get results. Slovan’s first season in the KHL was an unmitigated success, as the team with one of the smallest budgets in the KHL made it to the Gagarin Cup Playoffs.
However, Jaroslav Janus and the rest of Slovan’s capitulation to Dinamo Moscow in the 2012/13 playoffs set the tone of things to come, and last season was one of frustration at the Slovnaft Arena. The sole Slovak team in the KHL toiled but could only finish 11th in the Western Conference, meaning it was the Nadezhda Cup rather than the Gagarin Cup they were playing for.
Despite this, Rostislav Čada’s time in Bratislava will be well remembered, as he managed to make what should’ve been a struggler, into a competitor. Slovan have consistently punched above their weight against the giants of Russian hockey, and Čada’s style of play has been an integral part of the club picking up historic victories over the likes of SKA St. Petersburg, Ak Bars Kazan and Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Over the past two seasons, Čada’s brand of counter-attacking hockey, relying on the speed of players like captain Milan Bartovič and Libor Hudáček has proven successful, especially when paired with the incredible performances of Jaroslav Janus, especially in 2012/13.
The announcement on Slovan Bratislava’s webpage is as follows: “HC Slovan Bratislava thanks Rostislav Čada for the honesty and responsibility he showed during his 29-month tenure in Bratislava for our cub. We wish him every success in his future work and private life."
Without wishing to enter the realm of counter-factual reporting, Slovan’s recent turn in results may have convinced Čada that he had achieved all that he could have with his limited resources. After three wins out of three to start the current campaign, Slovan’s luck has turned, and most recently a toothless 3-0 loss on home ice to strugglers Severstal Cherepovets may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Slovan's fans have supported the team in their droves, yet
budgets remain tight at the Slovnaft Arena
Photo: hcslovan.sk
To try and give some context to Slovan’s financial battle, GM Maroš Krajči announced last week that Slovan’s budget for the coming KHL season would be €13million. Using figures compiled by sports.ru, for the 2013/14 season, Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov make €8million and €5.8million respectively on their own. What’s more, no Slovan players featured in the top-90 paid KHL players according to the same website. According to official figures released by the KHL Slovan’s budget was the second lowest in the KHL last season, a startling seven times less than top spenders SKA St. Petersburg. Within this environment, it is a miracle that Čada was even able to get Slovan to the playoffs in the first place.
Vladimir Országh becomes Slovan's interim coach
along with Ján Lipianský
Photo: bystricoviny.sk/
Slovan announced that their interim coaches would be former NHLer Vladimir Országh and former Slovan fan favourite Ján Lipianský, who played for the club during their first KHL campaign before hanging up the skates. While this coaching pair will only have the job temporarily, it will be interesting to see how the team performs under the tutelage of the pair. Országh is being tipped as one of Slovakia’s best young coaches and will potentially be given the job when current national team coach Vladimir Vůjtek leaves the post. Országh had spent the last two seasons as head coach of Banska Bystrica in the Slovak Extraliga, and was named assistant coach of the Slovak national team in the summer of 2013 as a nod towards his potential. Still only 37 years of age, Országh has a lot to learn, but getting thrown in at the deep end may not be the worst thing for the former Nashville Predator.
It doesn’t get much tougher for Országh, Lipianský and Slovan as they look to break their three game losing streak against Alexander Radulov and his CSKA Moscow side at the Slovnaft Arena on Saturday. CSKA have won five games out of six so far this season, whilst a Slovan loss may see the team fall out of the playoff positions already.
I, for one, will miss Čada. I think he did a fantastic job with what he had before him, and has made Slovan into a competent and competitive KHL team. I’m going to miss seeing him on the bench at the Slovnaft Arena, where peculiarly he stood in front of his players, right at ice level. Who knows what is next for the Brno native, but Velvet Hockey wishes him all the best.
It is a date that will
strike a nerve in hockey fans from now until the end of time. When Lokomotiv
Yaroslavl’s chartered Yak-42 careered into the ground yards from the runway,
time seemingly stood still. I can still remember exactly when I was when I
first saw the news appear on my Twitter feed, and then I spent most of the day
glued to Russia Today to get any updates in the vain hope that at least one
Lokomotiv player would survive from the crash. The heart-breaking tale of Aleksandr
Galimov, who was rescued from the wreckage only to succumb five days later to
his injuries is one that will live forever in my memory.
Vitaly Anikeyenko, Yuri Bakhvlov, Mikhail Balandin, Aleksandr
Belyaev, Gennady Churilov, Pavol Demitra, Robert Dietrich, Alexander Galimov,
Marat Kalimulin, Alexander Kalyanin, Alexander Karpovtsev, Andrei Kiryukhin,
Nikita Klyukin, Igor Korolev, Nikolai Krivonosov, Yevgeni Kunnov, Vyacheslav
Kuznetsov, Stefan Liv, Jan Marek, Brad McCrimon, Sergei Ostapchuk, Vladimir
Piskunov, Karel Rachůnek, Ruslan Salei, Maxim Shuvalov, Kārlis Skrastiņš, Pavel
Snurnitsyn, Daniil Sobchenko, Yevgeni Sidorov, Ivan Tkachenko, Pavel Trakhanov,
Yuri Urychev, Josef Vašíček, Alexander Vasyunov, Alexander Vyukhin, Artem
Yarchuk, Andrei Zimin.
37 men. 37 families torn apart by tragedy. As fans, we
remember the great pieces of play that these players were responsible for, but
we are simply unable to quantify just how much of a tragedy this crash was for
the families. For me, the loss of Pavol Demitra was the one that hurt the most,
as just a few months earlier, I remember ‘Palo’ in tears on the ice of the
Slovnaft Arena in Bratislava after he announced his retirement from the Slovak national
team. Demitra, who had been Slovakia’s talisman at the 2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver, had sent the whole country into raptures after scoring Slovakia’s
famous shootout winner over Russia, one of the country’s biggest hockey
achievements since winning World Championship gold in 2002. On the first
anniversary of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash, I happened to be in Trenčín
in Slovakia, where I paid my respects in front of the now renamed Zimný štadión
Pavla Demitru. I watched Dukla play Žilina in a pre-season game and in the 38th minute, the whistle blew, Dukla
fans threw roses onto the ice and both teams and both sets of fans observed a
two minute’s silence.
However, the impact that these players had off the ice was arguably
greater than their impact off of the ice. Stories emerged such as the tale of
former Russian national team forward Ivan Tkachenko, a Yaroslavl native and
Lokomotiv’s prospective captain for their 2011/12 KHL campaign. Tkachenko had
donated one million rubles anonymously to a cancer victim in the nearby city of
Voronezh. His gratitude was only made public following the Lokomotiv plane
crash due his wish to remain anonymous.
Thousands paid their respects in Prague as the news reached
the Czech Republic of the deaths of Karel Rachůnek
Josef Vašíček and Jan Marek
Photo: idnes.cz
The start of the KHL season was delayed for a week, and a
touching ceremony at the Minsk Arena, where Lokomotiv were meant to be flying
to start their season, was put on by Dinamo Minsk with portraits of the dead
displayed on the ice. All across Europe, memorials were constructed to honour
each country’s lost heroes. In Prague, Old Town Square (Staromětské Náměstí) was full of candles as fans paid
their respects to the three Czech players who were involved in the tragedy.
Talk quickly
turned to simply where Lokomotiv could go from here. Would the franchise fold?
Could they rebuild a team for the current KHL season? All the teams in the KHL
discussed the possibility of loaning players to the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
franchise to help the club back on it’s feet.
However, it was
quickly announced that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl would be given special dispensation
to play in the VHL, the second tier of Russian hockey. The team would comprise
largely of players from Lokomotiv’s youth team which played in the MHL. The
Western Conference standings were reworked so that places in the playoffs would
be determined by points percentage, to account for the fewer games that
Lokomotiv would play in the VHL. The club made its VHL debut on the 12th
December, defeating Neftyanik Almetevsk 5-1 on home ice. Dmitri Maltsev scored
the first goal for the ‘reborn’ Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.
In their only VHL campaign, Lokomotiv would finish third in
the Western Conference, defeating HK VMF in the first round of playoffs. Dizel
Penza were too tough an opponent in the Western semi-finals, and Lokomotiv
bowed out of the VHL with their heads held high. It was a fantastic project to
help rebuild hockey in Yaroslavl, using the youngsters who formed the basis of Lokomotiv’s
youth program. A number of players used the experience to help their junior
development, and it is fitting that the likes of Kirill Kapustin, Ilya
Lyubushkin and Yegor Yakovlev currently feature on Lokomotiv’s KHL roster after
helping the team rebuild. Yakovlev made his World Championship debut for Russia
in 2014, at the tender age of 22.
The summer of 2012 saw Lokomotiv truly rebuild as they put
together a strong looking roster. Vitali Kolesnik and Curtis Sanford signed as
the team’s two goaltenders, while the likes of Staffan Kronwall, Sami Lepisto,
Vitali Vishnevski, Alexei Kalyuzhny, Oleg Petrov and Niklas Hagman all signed
for head coach Tom Rowe. The former Carolina Hurricanes coach would get just
over a year in charge before being fired. In their two seasons since returning
to the KHL, Lokomotiv made the playoffs. In 2012/13 they lost to Severstal
Cherepovets, whilst the club made it as far as the Western Conference finals
last season, before losing in five games to the now defunct HC Lev Praha.
Former Team Switzerland coach Sean Simpson is now at the
helm in Yaroslavl, and the club enters the 2014/15 with a sense of optimism.
Sanford and Kolesnik remain between the pipes whilst hometown hero Ilya
Gorokhov enters his second season with the C on his jersey after an incredibly
successful spell with Dynamo Moscow. This summer has seen both Martin Thornberg
and Jiří Novotný join from
Lev Praha, and Sergei Plotnikov remains at the club, as the 24 year old is fast
becoming one of the premier Russian forwards in the KHL.
Lokomotiv shocked SKA St. Petersburg in the 2013/14 playoffs
Photo: Yaroslav and Julia Neelova, hclokomotiv.ru
The way that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl has been able to rise like
a phoenix from the ashes of disaster is testament to the strength of the people
in the city of Yaroslavl and is endemic of how proud they are of their
franchise. The team was consistently able to sell out their VHL games, and now
the Arena 2000 is packed every game. The Lokomotiv jerseys are still emblazoned
with a black ribbon, with the date 07.09.11, as a testament to how despite the
crash, the current crop of players still represent that same Lokomotiv
Yaroslavl that those fallen heroes did.
Bouncebackability is a word commonly used in football
terminology, but never has it been so apt than in the case of Lokomotiv.
(First, perhaps an apology to regular readers. A curse of writers block they call it. I was miffed that I went four months without posting on this blog. I guess with the rigours of every day life, plus my continued work with HC SLOVAN Bratislava taking up any time that I wanted to give to myself to doing hockey writing saw me neglect this labour of love in favour of my 'work'. However, I'm hoping this will be the recommencement of regular postings on this blog. I've spent too long working on it before to let it die out now).
Recent news reports coming out of the Slovak capital hint
at a possible NHL return for HC SLOVAN Bratislava and Team Slovakia netminder
Jaroslav Janus. The 23 year old Prešov native shone in his first year in the
KHL, leading his club, predicted to prop up the Western Conference, to a 6th
place finish in the West, and a playoff spot in the club’s first season at this
level. The playoff match-up against defending champions Dinamo Moscow may not
have gone to plan, with Janus being replaced by Branislav Konrád after
conceding five goals in Game 1, and returning in Game 4 but being unable to
stop the big blue machine, who won the final game in the series 3:2 and
completing the sweep of Slovan.
Jaroslav Janus shone for HC SLOVAN Bratislava in 2012/13
Photo: hcmetallurg.ru.
However, to focus on Janus’ disappointing playoff
performance would be a misnomer, as behind what can only be described as some
frantic defending, especially following the loss of lockout additions Ľubomír
Višňovský and Andrej Sekera in January, Janus consistently played lights out. A
.928 save percentage put him among the top ten in terms of starting netminders
in the KHL, while his five shutouts were good enough for joint-third out of KHL
netminders. One could also attribute the downturn in performance to burnout.
Janus, who went without a pre-season due to being a last minute addition by
Slovan, ended up starting 47 out of Slovan’s 52 regular season games, which was
the most out of any netminder in the KHL, with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod’s Vitali
Koval the only one coming close, having played one game less.
However, while I could write a whole post raving about
Janus’ performances this year, as having seen first-hand some of his
desperation saves in games against SKA St. Petersburg and Ak Bars Kazan, it
could be the last that Slovan fans see of Janus, who came through the club’s
junior system. The source of this news comes from a brief posting on the news
tab on www.hokej.cz, which featured a quote
from Janus’ agent, Robert Spálenka. This has been cited by both SME in their
article (link) and the news was also made public by HC SLOVAN Bratislava themselves on the
club’s website (link). Spálenka is quoted as saying “Tampa is
interested in Janus; the matter is under discussion”. That one line quote could
be make or break for Slovan’s offseason plans.
Janus, who was drafted in the 6th round by the
Tampa Bay Lightning in 2009, is perhaps most famous in North America for his
incredible performances in goal for Team Slovakia at the World Junior Championships
of that same year. Janus backstopped Slovakia to an incredible 5:3 victory over
the United States in the quarter finals, despite being outshot 49:17. Although
Slovakia would go on to lose their semi-final game to Sweden, and eventually
the bronze medal game too, that one game, along with his performances in the round robin stage got Janus’ name known, as before that his OHL record with the
Erie Otters was hardly exceptional.
Just one of Janus' many saves against the United States in 2009
The Lightning had a prospect netminding logjam at this
point, with Riku Helenius and Dustin Tokarski and Janus competing for the two
goalie spots with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, with
Janus being sent down to the Florida Everblades of the ECHL during the
2010-2011 season. Janus was a part of the Admirals’ plans during the 2011-2012
season, starting 34 games and playing the 1b role behind Tokarski as the
unstoppable Admirals led the march to the Calder Cup. Last season, which Janus
played in the KHL, was technically the final year of his three year entry level
deal signed on the 1st January 2010, which means that Janus is now a
restricted free agent, with Tampa Bay holding his NHL rights. There is also
further complication in the KHL, as upon signing the contract with Slovan in
September, Janus’ services were looked into by another party. Lokomotiv
Yaroslavl, who then owned Janus’ KHL rights originally wanted to sign Janus due
to an injury to starting netminder Curtis Sanford. News of the deal that took
place between the two clubs was hushed up and eventually Janus ended up with
Slovan.
Janus in goal for the Lightning during 2011/12 pre-season
Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America
With a transfer agreement between the KHL and NHL looking
to be somewhat in place following the Ľubomír Višňovský fiasco in late January,
Janus may certainly have room to manoeuvre his way back to Tampa Bay, who have
had netminding woes this season with Anders Lindback, Mathieu Garon and Cedrick
Desjardins all flattering to deceive. However, to add yet more confusion to the
situation, Janus was quoted by the HC SLOVAN website at the start of the month
with saying ‘Srdce mám belasé’, which translates as saying ‘I have a sky-blue
heart’; sky-blue being the traditional colours of Slovan (link).
Also, as stressed in both of the Slovak media releases, Janus is supposed to
have a contract in place with Janus for next season in accordance with the ‘gentlemen’s
agreement’ with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Yeah, more plot twists than a M. Night
Shyamalan flick.
Currently it remains whether or not to be seen where Janus
will end up next season. Slovan have already said that they do not expect this
matter to be resolved until after the Easter weekend, while Janus’
participation with the Slovakia squad at the World Championships may protract
the saga further. Is Janus ready for the NHL? At 23 years of age he is still
young for a netminder, and I think it would be rash to throw him in at the deep
end and expect him to be a solid NHL starter right off the bat. He’s an
exceptionally agile netminder, which allows him to compensate for his sometimes
poor positional play. Perhaps it came as a result of the scrambling Slovan
defence in front of him, but many a Slovan fan would often see Janus on his
front, diving across his crease to make yet another save. There’s no doubt that
his season with Slovan will have prepared him for the rigours of an NHL
schedule. For Janus, it will surely be the NHL or KHL next season.
However, I don’t have a crystal ball, and my predictions
are usually terrible so who knows what will happen. If he doesn’t make his way
back to the Slovnaft Arena though, Slovan are in a world of trouble.
Fresh of winning gold with Slovakia-18, Martin Reway will move to Gatineau for the 2012/13 season
Photo: qmjhl.ca
Highly skilled forward Martin Reway looks set to follow in the footsteps of many Slovak prospects before him and try his luck in the QMJHL next season. The Gatineau Olympiques will be Reway's team next season, as the Prague born forward leaves HC Sparta Praha and aims to increase his draft stock by playing in the top junior league in Quebec. Reway's path is the one heavily trodden by young Slovak players, who see their best chance of getting drafted to the NHL by playing at least one season in the Canadian Hockey League system. 15 Slovaks (both drafted and undrafted) played in the CHL last year, including 2011 second round pick to the Detroit Red Wings Tomáš Jurčo, who won the QMJHL championship for the second season in succession with the Saint John Sea Dogs. Also present in the QMJHL was undrafted forward Marek Hrivík, who earned an entry level contract with the New York Rangers following a very impressive season with the Moncton Wildcats.
Reway will likely succeed in the QMJHL, a big reason being that it is significantly less physical than the other two Canadian junior leagues. The Prague native is still on the small side, weighing in at only 78kg, so will be introduced slowly onto the smaller ice surfaces and the North American style of play. Reway will likely be the first Slovak taken in the 2013, as the small, speedy forward boasts an array of offensive talent. His point totals at the recent IIHF Division 1 Under-18 World Championships were no doubt inflated by his incredible performance in the game against Norway, where he scored twice and had five assists in the 9:2 victory. While this championship was meant to be Reway's coming out party, it was in fact his team mate, and fellow 2013 prospect Marko Daňo who stole the headlines.
Marko Daňo looks set to shine for Slovan and Slovakia
Photo: hcslovan.sk
Daňo, the son of former Slovakia national team player Jozef Daňo is slowly rising through the ranks and is now a highly touted prospect for the future. He was, like Reway, drafted by HC Slovan Bratislava in the 2012 KHL Draft (Daňo went in the first round, Reway in the second), but instead of moving across the Atlantic, Daňo looks set to be staying in Slovakia, after penning a multi-year deal with the Bratislava based club. However, it is unlikely that the 17 year old forward will play for Slovan next year, with rumours suggesting he will be loaned back to his hometown Extraliga club HK Dukla Trenčín.
Standing at 181cm and weighing in 83kg, Daňo is likely the most "NHL ready" out of recent Slovak prospects, and shone at the IIHF World Junior Championships in Alberta, where he played after just turning seventeen years old, even scoring a goal against Finland. Playing at the lower U-18 level, Daňo racked up the points, scoring 13 points (10+3) in the five games at the Division 1 World Championships.
In an interview with on his new club's website (link),Daňo said: "I had the chance to play overseas, in the WHL [he was taken 60th in the CHL Import Draft by the Prince George Cougars], but when the offer came in from the KHL I cancelled that and came here. The senior league is definitely better for me".
Reway arguably has the higher potential upside, and will probably be taken in the top two rounds, it is fair to say that Daňo doesn't trail far behind. Reway mixes above average skating with soft hands, which make him a netminder's nightmare. Daňo may not have the footspeed of Reway, but he has already shown that he is not one to shy away from contact, and can put the puck in the net with alarming regularity.
Slovakia may not have produced a prospect to rival the likes of Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborík and the late Pavol Demitra in recent years, but in these two, along with the likes of Jurčo, 2010 NHL 2nd round pick Richard Paník as well as the likes of Hrivík and Marek Tvrdoň, there is some optimism in Slovak quarters that the well hasn't completely dried up just yet.
