Wednesday, November 2, 2011

From Russia with Love & Campbell has Hound Power

Tuesday night on TPS our CHL insider Sam Cosentino hinted about the Russian roster for the upcoming Subway Series with the CHL. It gets started on November 7th in Victoriaville and wraps up 10 days later in Moose Jaw.


Game 1 – Monday November 7 at Victoriaville, QC
Game 2 – Wednesday November 9 at Quebec City, QC
Game 3 – Thursday November 10 at Ottawa, ON
Game 4 – Monday November 14 at Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Game 5 – Wednesday November 16 at Regina, SK
Game 6 – Thursday November 17 at Moose Jaw, SK
*All Games On Rogers Sportsnet


Today the roster was released along with the players currently in the CHL that will participate in each game. 18 of the 22 players coming from Russia are 19 years old, while 2 were drafted last year. Maxim Shalunov is a 4th round pick of Chicago and , and Nikita Nesterov was taken a round later by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Goaltenders:
Sergey Kostenko (Metallurg, Novokuznetsk)
Pavel Suchkov (Dizel, Penza)

Defencemen:
Victor Antipin (Metallurg, Magnitogorsk)
Roman Rukavishnikov (Atlant, Moscow Region)
Mikhail Naumenkov (CSKA)
Efim Gurkin (Salavat Yulaev, Ufa)
Artem Karavaev (Sibir, Novosibirsk)
Grigory Zheldakov (Spartak, Moscow)
Ildar Isangulov (Salavat Yulaev, Ufa)
Nikita Nesterov (Traktor, Chelyabinsk)

Forwards:
Nikita Gusev (CSKA)
Nikita Kucherov (CSKA)
Vladislav Kartaev (Salavat Yulaev, Ufa)
Kirill Rasskazov (Avangard, Omsk)
Daniil Apalkov (Metallurg, Magnitogorsk)
Pavel Kulikov (Neftekhimik, Nizhnekamsk)
Maxim Shalunov (Traktor, Chelyabinsk)
Pavel Medvedev (Spartak, Moscow)
Bogdan Potekhin (Metallurg, Magnitogorsk)
Bulat Shavaleev (Ak Bars, Kazan)
Valery Knyazev (Sibir, Novosibirsk)
Emil Galimov (Neftekhimik, Nizhnekamsk)


There are 9 players currently in the CHL that will drop into some of the games as the Russians make their way across the country, most notably Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting and Mikael Grigorenko of the Quebec Remparts who could become the first Russians to go 1-2 in the draft since Ovechkin/Malkin in 2004.


Victoriaville Game Only:
Artem Sergeev (Val d’Or Foreurs)
Anton Zlobin (Shawinigan Cataractes)

Quebec City Game Only:
Mikhail Grigorenko (Quebec Remparts)

Ottawa Game Only:
Alexander Khokhlachev (Windsor Spitfires)
Vladislav Namestnikov (London Knights)
Andrey Pedan (Guelph Storm)
Ivan Telegin (Barrie Colts)
Nail Yakupov (Sarnia Sting)

Regina Game Only:
Andrey Makarov (Saskatoon Blades)


The CHL and Canadian hockey fans should pay close attention to these games, and not just because most of Team Canada will be taking part, but because Russia won the series last year and you can bet they used it as motivation during their dramatic comeback win in Buffalo during the World Junior Championship.

Jack Campbell won't be suiting up in the series because he is of course American. He will however most likely be the States starter in Edmonton during the tournament. Campbell, a Dallas 2010 first rounder, also has a new home after a trade from Windsor to Soo St. Marie today. Campbell now has Hound Power and Soo G.M. Kyle Dubas had an interesting way of explaining the deal that saw him give up Mackenzie Braid and Patrick Sieloff and six OHL draft picks

"In life, you can sit back and allow others to take risks, chances and achieve their ultimate potential. Our club, with Coach Stapleton and me at the helm will not be one of those teams that sit back. We have been and will continue to be willing to dare and take risks in an attempt to build a world class culture of champions. We have and will continue to plan, prepare, and expect to be champions. "


Campbell joins the Hounds with a 6-3-1 record, a 3.13 gaa, and a .908 save percentage. Not great numbers, but better then either goalie the Soo has gone with this year. It's the second time Dubas has dealt with Spitfires G.M. Warren Rychel this year, and for the second time Dubas has walked away with a goaltender after picking up Michael Nishi earlier this year.

Rychel meanwhile wasn't done. He also dealt forward Tom Kuhnhackl and a 2nd round pick to Niagra for a 2013 first round pick, 2nd rounds picks in each of 2012, 2014, 2015 as well as Phillip DiGiuseppe and goalie Jaroslav Pavelka.

It's interesting to note that DiGiuseppe is currently a freshman with the Michigan Wolverines (Campbell's school of choice before jumping ship to the OHL) and Sieloff is with the U.S. National program and has committed to Miami (Ohio) University for next season.

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