Redman's Euro-Hockey thread

[Redman3693]

Folks,
I've been watching the player movements for a while now & will be placing a few small wagers on European hockey. I hope to be able to capitalize on my knowledge of hockey, available stats, & the quality of the folks that have joined specific teams

--- BUT ---

I make no promises as Euro hockey is new & suggest all who follow tread lightly. You have been warned 1 unit = $50


Neither Ilya Bryzgalov nor Pavel Datsyuk were in the CSKA Moscow lineup yesterday. They are slated to be introduced at a press conference today and then will play their first game tomorrow against Avangard Omsk.

My first pick will be KHL 11:30am CKSA Moscow -.5 over Avangard Omsk (-105 at Bet365) 1 unit

CKSA: 3W - 2OTW - 3L= 13 points
Avangard: 1W - 2OTW - 1OTL - 4OTL= 8 points

CKSA has acquired:
C - Pavel Datsyuk --- Superstar - Future Hall of Famer
G - Ilya Bryzgalov (not sure if Ilya is a benefit or a liability...)
F - Alexander Radulov --- Screwed Nashville last year but doing well in CKSA - 9 points in 8 games (4G, 5A) Radulov is the KHL's all-time leading scorer with 254 points.


My second pick will be KHL 11:30amMetallurg Magnitogorsk -.5 over Niznekamsk (+100 Bet365) 1 unit

Magnitogorsk: 2W - 2OTL - 2L= 8 points
Niznekamsk: 3W - 3OTW - 1OTL - 1L= 16 points

Magnitogorsk has acquired:
C - Evgeni Malkin --- If you don't know Geno, I can't help you
D - Sergei Gonchar ---Getting on in years, but did well for Ottawa last year by getting 37 points. I think he has something to prove & wants to show he's worth the $5.5 Mil/yr he's paid.
LW - Nikolai Kulemin --- Magnitogorsk is his home town. had 28 points last year for Toronto (7G, 21A)


My third pick will be KHL 1:00pm HC Lev Praha -1 vs HC Yurga (-120 Bet365 alternate line) 2 units

HC Lev Praha: 5W - 2OTW - 2L= 17 points
HC Yurga: 1W - 6L= 3 points


HC Lev Praha is in 1st place in the West Conf. (HC Yurga is last in the East Conf.) and has acquired:
RW - Jakub Voracek --- 49 points (18G, 31A) for Philly last year
C - Jiri Hudler --- Small, but talented & should do well on the larger ice surface. 50 points (25G, 25A) last year for Detroit

My biggest fear is that this game will be 'externally influenced' (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, ya know, ya know).

Best 'O Luck to all

[BryanBarina]

Never bet on hockey before, nevermind Euro hockey. But I appreciate that you took the time to make writeups. I will definitely follow this thread closely, because I'm always looking for great information and cappers.

[rich_24]

Good luck, im folowing KHL too..

[clting08]

Beginers luck. Tailed

[Redman3693]

ThanX for the support folks

Hopefully, I can turn into $$$ for all.

[Roxxyfish]

good luck with your thread mate

[benandjerry]

G - Ilya Bryzgalov (not sure if Ilya is a benefit or a liability...)

you never know with that guy, his time in philly has been pretty damn inconsistent to say the least (tho he was solid for the yotes before)

F - Alexander Radulov --- Screwed Nashville last year but doing well in CKSA - 9 points in 8 games (4G, 5A) Radulov is the KHL's all-time leading scorer with 254 points.

dont follow KHL very closely, but thats really interesting since he had a stint in smashville before last season as well and while being a talented played I dont consider him THAT good... speaks of the overall quality of the league I guess, or he really stepped up over there

Read some rather big names are (or could be) signing in Swiss league as well when I skimmed through some sports headlines the other day, think Thornton was one of them. Also believe Swedish elite league will be accepting NHL pros after first trying to shut them out.

Good luck with your plays.

[Redman3693]

you never know with that guy, his time in philly has been pretty damn inconsistent to say the least (tho he was solid for the yotes before)




dont follow KHL very closely, but thats really interesting since he had a stint in smashville before last season as well and while being a talented played I dont consider him THAT good... speaks of the overall quality of the league I guess, or he really stepped up over there

Read some rather big names are (or could be) signing in Swiss league as well when I skimmed through some sports headlines the other day, think Thornton was one of them. Also believe Swedish elite league will be accepting NHL pros after first trying to shut them out.

Good luck with your plays.

ThanX Ben

As for player movement, I have a thread with an extensive list of who's gone where. Check it out:

http://forum.sbrforum.com/hockey-betting/1907828-list-nhl-players-have-gone-other-leagues.html

Cheers

[rich_24]

CSKA and Metalurg leading 1-0 2nd period..
p.s. all hockey live streams here now and always - http://onhockey.ru/

[rich_24]

Looks like nice calls from you today.
Metalurg 3-1 leading, 3 goals in 1,5 mins..

[Redman3693]

Both starting picks are looking OK.

CKSA leading 1 - 0 at the end of the second period
Metalurg leading 5 - 2 at the end of the second period

[Redman3693]

First game is a winner!
CKSA Moscow -.5 over Avangard Omsk (-105 at Bet365) 1 unit

CKSA won 1 - 0

First game is a winner!
Metallurg Magnitogorsk -.5 over Niznekamsk (+100 Bet365)

Metallurg won 7 - 2

The third game has also started well - HC Lev Praha is leading 2 - 0 at the end of the first period.

Gracias for the points Face!

I may be able to take out the brooms on the first day. Big ThanX to all for the support.

[drew2]

thanks for the picks redman

[Redman3693]

HC Lev Praha is leading 4 - 0 at the start of the third period.

Looks like the 'external forces' are not affecting this game - so far -

Cheers all!

[Redman3693]

Break out the brooms for the sweep

HC Lev Praha -1 vs HC Yurga is a winner

Lev won 4 - 0


3 - 0 for the start of my thread! Congrats & ThanX to all who followed!

I will be putting more picks in later for tomorrows games after I update my players thread (probably after midnight).

Have a Great Day everyone & BOL on all of your PiX!

[DennisGreen]

Nice job buddy

If there is no NHL season I may expand into KHL/CHL for some action

[Redman3693]

Nice job buddy

If there is no NHL season I may expand into KHL/CHL for some action

ThanX DG! I have been working on this for a while now. I hope that I'm wrong, but am starting to feel like this will be another 'lost' season because of all the greed...


Where are you getting the CHL lines mate? I've only seen the Euro action. The CHL should have some great pickins as well because of all the players that went back to their junior teams.

[Roxxyfish]

well done m8

[Redman3693]

well done m8

ThanX RoXXster - I'm just working on my PiX for tomorrow. Hopefully, I can keep up the positives

[Redman3693]

Tuesday's Euro-Hockey PiX

Here's what I am playing later today folks. Day 1 was solid, but there are no guarantees in life (anyone watch that debacle of a football game ). Bet365 used for wagering.


Play #1

FINLAND: SM-liiga
11:30am Tappara vs Jyp Jyväskylä +.5 (-128 Bet365) - 2 units

Tappara 2W - 1OTL - 1L= 4 points
Jyp Jyväskylä 3W - 1 OTL = 10 points

Tapara has home ice advantage but I feel that Jyp is a stronger team. they have also acquired F - Rich Peverley (11G, 31A -42 points in 57 games) from Boston. I am tempted to take the ML, but could also see a tie happening so I will play it a little safer.


Play #2

FINLAND: SM-liiga
11:30am Lukko Rauman vs Karpat Oulu ML (-105 Bet365) - 1 unit

Lukko Rauman 1 OTL - 3L = 1 Point
Karpat Oulu 1W - 3L = 3 points

This is a battle of the cellar dwellars. Rauman has home ice advantage, while Oulu benefits from some NHL talent by acquiring D - Jason Demers SJ Sharks 2011 (4G, 9A in 57 games) & Carolina Hurricanes LW - Jussi Jokinen (12G, 34A in 79 games). I feel that the ML gives good value, but I am treading lightly...


Play #3

RUSSIA: KHL
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl -1 vs Donbass (-138 alternate puck line Bet365) - 2 units

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3W - 2OTW - 2L = 13 points
Donbass 1W - 1OTW - 2OTL - 3L = 7 points

I feel that Locomotiv is clearly the better team in this match-up. they benefit from 3 NHL additions with Varlamov clearly being a key piece. G - Semyon Varlamov Colorado (26W, 24L, .913GAA), C - Artem Anisimov Rangers (16G, 20A in 79 games), D - Dmitry Kulikov Florida (4G, 24A in 58 games). They are currently in 6th place and have home ice advantage.

Donbass has also added 3 pond jumpers with Ponikarovsky being a very nice addition - he picked up 9 points in the Devils playoff run last year. Still, they are in last place, 14th, in their division and the additions have not payed off yet. LW - Ruslan Fedotenko Rangers (9G, 11A in 73 games), RW - Alexei Ponikarovsky Hurricanes / Devils (14G, 19A in 82 games), D - Anton Babchuk Flames (2G, 8A in 32 games)


That's it for tomorrows games - Best O' Luck to all for all of your PiX!

[clting08]

thnks redman..

[Papadontpreach]

nice thread...

thoughts on Finland game between Saipa and Jokerit? Saipa sits atop the board and Jokerit in 12 of 14, yet the line i'm seeing being offered is a Saipa +1.5 goal line. Seems a bit odd, but all i'm basing this "oddity" off of is placement in standings...

[Teamprofit101]

Great job yesterday!!! i missed out though both days

I'll hop on board tomorrow, good luck today!!!

[Redman3693]

nice thread...

thoughts on Finland game between Saipa and Jokerit? Saipa sits atop the board and Jokerit in 12 of 14, yet the line i'm seeing being offered is a Saipa +1.5 goal line. Seems a bit odd, but all i'm basing this "oddity" off of is placement in standings...

Papa, sorry for the late reply (I got caught up with stuff). I did look at that game & at first I thought it was too good to be true. So good in fact that I thought it looked like a trap and chose to stay away. Sapia may be at the top, but they have played 5 games while Jokerit only played 3. Also, Jokerit picked up Valtteri Filppula from Detroit. I just did not get the good feeling.

Saipa is currently leading 4 - 3 late in the 3rd.

[Redman3693]

Update on today's games

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl -1 vs Donbass (-138 alternate puck line Bet365) - 2 units -- PUSH

Final Lokomotive 2 - 1. I'm really glad that I took the alternate line. The 1.5 spread looked like a trap to me. Cash back in my pocket is always better than in the books!


Tappara vs Jyp Jyväskylä +.5 (-128 Bet365) - 2 units -- WINNER

Final JYP 3 - 2. I wanted to take the ML & would have won but it just did not feel right... Oh well, I'll still gladly take the win!


Lukko Rauman vs Karpat Oulu ML (-105 Bet365) - 1 unit -- WINNER


Final Oulu 4 - 1. Oulu wins the battle of the basement -

Overall Record 5 - 0 - 1 --No Losses yet!


ThanX to all for the support & Best O' Luck on your wagers for the rest of the day!

[rich_24]

Nice calls, keep doing it!

[Redman3693]

Nice calls, keep doing it!

ThanX Rich - I'll have more PiX out for tomorrow. I like to do my homework late in the evening / early morn when I have time to myself and won't be interrupted.

Cheers

[icecapper]

Congrats on your early success. Definitely think there is money to be made on some of these lines.

[dFlash]

THanks for the Picks... Keep Cashing!

[Redman3693]

G'Day folks - here are my PiX for the day.


Pick #1


CZECH REPUBLIC: Extraliga
12:10pm Kladno -.5 vs Pardubice (-118 Bet365) 2 units


Kladno 2W - 1OTL - 1L = 7 POINTS
Pardubice 1W - 1OTL - 2L = 4 POINTS


I believe that kladno will get their shite together finally (2L + 1 OTL in their past 3 games) with all of the NHL talent that Jagr has brought to his team. (RW - Jaromir Jagr, C - Tomas Plekanec, LW - Jiri Tlusty, D - Tomas Kaberle, D - Marek Zidlicky, C - Vladimir Sobotka, F - Roman Cervenka)


The point standings are decieving as pardubice has played 1 fewer game. Also, they have not shied away from recruiting quality NHL talent as well (RW - Ales Hemsky, D - Jakub Kindl, C - David Krejci). The final benefit for Kladno is home advantage which should not be ignored in games where teams are so close.


Pick #2

RUSSIA: KHL
1:30pm Slovan Bratislava -.5 vs HC Yugra (-105 Bet365) 3 units

Slovan Bratislava 4W - 1OTW - 1OTL - 2L = 15 points
HC Yugra 1W - 7L = 3 points

I am at a loss as to why the line seems so out of whack on this one??? ---TRAP??? It almost looks too good to be true, but I just have to taste the bait. Both teams have played 8 games and Slovan is clearly the more powerful team with 15 points to Yugra 3. Scoring stats Slovan 24:18 & Yugra 18:30. Slovan has scored 6 more goals & allowed 12 less - they have also acquired D - Lubomir Visnovsky, getting older at 36, from Anaheim where he had 6G & 21A in 68 games.


Pick #3

RUSSIA: KHL
11:00am Bars Kazan -.5 vs UHC Dynamo (Dynamo Moscow) (+110 Bet365) 1 unit

Bars Kazan 6W - 1OTW - 1OTL - 1L = 21 points
UHC Dynamo 3W - 2OTW - 3L = 13 points

This game features big bad Ovie playing for Dynamo vs the #1 team in the East conf. that just lost to the worst team in the East conf. (Yugra). Ovie's team is also coming off a loss to Metallurg Magnitogorsk (his nemesis Geno's team) so this should be interesting! Bars has not added any NHL talent at this point (I still need to update my players list) so their points are all coming from a team that is playing well together (that last loss may be attributed to those 'external forces' i spoke of earlier). From what I have seen from Ovie, I don't believe that he has settled in quite yet & is possibly upsetting the team chemistry as he would be getting the royal treatment & players may be a little upset that he's taking their ice time. maybe he is being asked to play a different style / role than what he is accustomed to like what happened in Washington this past season. Maybe I'm totally wrong & he blows the roof off later today, but I just don't see it. I think there's good value in Bars, but I'm playing cautious & recommend that all who tail do the same.


That's what I like for today's games folks. Hopefully I can maintain my winning ways.

Best O'Luck on all of your PiX!

[Redman3693]

Interesting article discussing the KHL teams


2012-13 KHL preview

September 25th, 2012


The 2012-13 KHL season, the fifth season for this largely Russian league, has just begun, with some changes in team lineups in part due to the NHL lockout. The league has welcomed Ukrainian team Donbass Donetsk, who played last season in the Russian High League, and HC Slovan Bratislava, one of the most reputable teams in Europe and a multiple winner of the Slovakian Championship title. Moreover, HC Lev relocated from the Slovakian city of Poprad to Prague in the Czech Republic.

The NHL lockout wasn’t enthusiastically embraced like it was 8 years ago and the league did put some restrictions on the NHL players signed, albeit not as harsh as in Sweden, where players can only sign with a Swedish team for a minimum term of one season. Russian KHL teams now are allowed to sign a maximum of three NHL players, including one foreigner. Non-Russian KHL teams don’t have the limitation on foreign players. A number of NHL players have already signed contracts with KHL teams, including superstars Evgeny Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Alex Ovechkin.

Western Conference
Tarasov Division

Atlant Mytischi
The ever-changing roster of this Moscow suburb region team isn’t featuring much of interest from a North American point of view. During last year’s playoffs they parted ways with Alexei Kovalev, but they still have some former NHL players and prospects (like Alexei Mikhnov,Nikolai Lemtyugov, Ilya Kablukov, and others). The team recently announced the signature ofAnton Khudobin to a “lockout contract”.

Dynamo Minsk
The only Belarus team in the KHL were unsuccessful in their attempt to lure Mikhail Grabovsky, but have already announced the signing of goalkeeper Nicklas Backstrom. The Bisons do have a good array of young players, but not one of them is NHL material.

CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow had probably the most expansive summer transfer campaign in the KHL, mostly due to the signing of former Nashville Predators forward, Alexander Radulov. The talented winger was the highlight of the free agency, but they also signed other former NHL players like Oleg Kvasha and Denis Arkhipov who will mostly play in minor roles. The Red Army managed to sign to NHL lockout contracts Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Bryzgalov, and Mikhail Grabovski and is still negotiating with Anton Volchenkov, thus getting much advantage from the NHL work stoppage. This summer the team lost two very interesting prospects, Nikita Kucherov (TBL) and Nikolai Prokhorkin (LAK), who already signed entry-level deals with their respective NHL teams. CSKA still features some interesting players, like Andrei Marchenko (DET) and Nikita Gusev (TBL), who will be trying to establish themselves in adult hockey after good junior careers. More prospects are in the pipeline as CSKA manages one of the top hockey schools in Russia, but it’s unlikely that they will see much ice time. With that being said, the team already invited to travel with them as third goalie Maxim Tretiak, the nephew of the famous Soviet hockey legend Vladislav. It’s unlikely, however, that Tretiak will play for CSKA this season.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
After last year’s tragedy, Lokomotiv is back to top-level hockey after one year in the Russian High League where they started reconstructing their team. They had the chance to sign some young players from other teams and they opted to pick, among others, some NHL prospects: Lokomotiv Yaroslavl features Mikhail Pashnin (NYR), Maxim Trunev (MTL), and other youngsters like last year’s WJC squad first-line center, Daniil Apalkov. Semyon Varlamov and Alexander Semin will strengthen the Tom Rowe-led team until the end of the NHL lockout.

Severstal Cherepovets
The northern team had to sustain a serious loss in the roster this summer when one of the league’s top defensemen, Maxim Chudinov (BOS), moved to SKA St. Petersburg. The Vologda team won’t have many interesting players for the North American audience, but they do feature one of the most interesting young players in Russia in Pavel Buchnevich, a dynamic winger and 2013 NHL Draft-eligible, who might create some interest should he manage to repeat his excellent MHL season. Buchnevich will most likely have some ice time at the KHL level. The team just announced the signing of forward Andrei Loktionov, a prospect of the Los Angeles Kings.

Spartak Moscow
One of the highlights of the summer transfers campaign for Spartak Moscow was the signing of young star Alexander Khokhlachev (BOS), surely favored by the fact that his father Igor is now the team’s General Manager. Spartak should have a much better team this season, with Khokhlachev starting the season on the team’s first line, and they should be more interesting to watch with the usual selection of good young players.

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
The Volga team as usually doesn’t boast many interesting young players, but right before the season’s start they managed to get their hands on Maxim Kitsyn (LAK). The 19-year-old right wing did need a change of atmosphere after a few unlucky seasons with Metallurg Novokuznetsk and Kings’ fans will have to hope that this change will be for the good.

Bodrov Division

Dinamo Riga
The Latvian KHL representative faced a lot of changes this summer as they changed most of their hockey operations staff. The highlight of the summer transfer campaign was the signing of former NHL player Rob Schremp to a 2-year deal. From the NHL lockout front, Dinamo Riga signed Kaspars Daugavins. During the last KHL Draft, the Riga team managed to ensure a very good prospect, Rihards Bukarts, eligible for the upcoming NHL Draft. Bukarts, whose older brother is a Dinamo Riga veteran player, will most likely play the whole season in the MHL.

Donbass Donetsk
The KHL's newest team from the Ukraine won’t have much to say to North American hockey fans as they don’t have any NHL prospects in their lineup, but they managed to sign a good young player in Evgeny Dadonov. For the NHL lockout, the team will be strengthened by Alexei Ponikarovsky and Ruslan Fedotenko.

Dynamo Moscow
The reigning KHL champion just landed their top alumnus, Alexander Ovechkin, even if they first stated that they weren’t interested in signing him due to the excessive financial requests of the Washington Capitals' super star. Dynamo Moscow doesn’t have a lot of young players, just as they don’t have true stars in their lineup. They are mostly an extremely balanced team with good goaltending and very competent coaching.

HC Lev Prague
The Czech team had a very good start to the season, mostly due to the great performance of former Columbus Blue Jackets goalie, Tomas Popperle. The Prague-based team doesn’t have much to offer in terms of young players, but their lineup features some former North American leagues players like Marcel Hossa and Tomas Mojzis. They've already announced the signing of Jakub Voracek and Jiri Hudler to NHL lockout contracts.

HC Slovan Bratislava
The Slovak team is going to face more difficult competition compared to what they were used to playing in Slovakia, so the team most likely will need one or two seasons to build a competitive team. This season, Bratislava will feature some players with North American experience, like Miro Satan and Josef Boumedienne, and for the lockout they already signed Lubomir Visnovsky. They will most likely get other big name Slovakian players should the lockout continue.

SKA St. Petersburg
SKA recently made big news in the hockey world as they signed Ilya Kovalchuk to an NHL lockout contract. Many Russian teams were involved in the Kovalchuk race, but at the end SKA got the upper hand, with their generous sponsoring surely being one of the most influential factors. SKA also signed Vladimir Tarasenko (STL) who had a great playoff rush last year. As usual, SKA is one of the contenders for the Gagarin Cup.

Vityaz Chekhov
The KHL's toughest team embraced a new vision this summer and did change their roster a fair amount while still keeping some tough players on their roster. Vityaz will now be a more technically sound team and will try to land a playoff spot for the first time in their KHL history. This summer the team signed four North American players in Brian Fahey, Mark Cullen, Trevor Gillies and Josh Hennessy.

Eastern Conference
Kharlamov Division

Ak Bars Kazan
A perennial contender, Ak Bars Kazan just announced the signing of Detroit Red Wings superstar Pavel Datsyuk to a NHL lockout contract wrong - he signed with CKSA Moscow. The team’s star remains Alexei Morozov, but as he is getting older other players are becoming more and more important. Among those emerging players is Kirill Petrov (NYI), who was re-signed this spring to a new, more lucrative two-year contract. At this point it’s hard to predict whether he will cross the Atlantic at all, but he’s still young (22) and thus he might as well wait another couple of years and report to the Islanders as a complete player. The team will also most likely sign Alexei Emelinto a NHL lockout contract. Ak Bars doesn't have much more interesting to offer in terms of NHL prospects, but they are a very good team with a solid, balanced roster.

Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg
Long involved in negotiations with Pavel Datsyuk and Alexei Yashin (who hail from Ekaterinburg), the team is not featuring any NHL prospect material.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk
The Urals-based team was the most active in negotiating with NHL players and they opted to fill their three allowed spots on the first day of negotiations, securing their alumni Evgeny Malkin and Nikolai Kulemin, while also signing veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar. Yaroslav Kosov (FLA) will start his second full season with the team and he will try to repeat last year’s good performance (four goals and five assists in 25 games). Metallurg ices some youngsters, but none of them seems to be NHL material.

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
One of the most interesting players to move to the KHL during the NHL lockout is last draft’s first overall pick, Nail Yakupov, where he joins his mother club, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. Yakupov reportedly refused a move to the AHL and thus ended up in the KHL with a lockout contract. It will be good for Yakupov to get acquainted with adult hockey before joining theEdmonton Oilers once the lockout ends.

Traktor Chelyabinsk
One of the league’s top teams, Traktor Chelyabinsk, just got better, landing former Nashville Predators forward Andrei Kosyn to a “true” contract. Traktor’s most interesting player to follow will be, of course, Evgeni Kuznetsov, who this summer signed a new, 2-year deal with the team that will have him play in Russia until the end of the 2013-14 season. Traktor is a very good KHL team, so it might be interesting for the North American audience to have a look at them while following Kuznetsov and other prospects like Nikita Nesterov (TBL) and Valery Nichushkin (2013-eligible).

Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk
One of the surprises of the last couple of KHL seasons, Yugra will rely once again on their balanced roster and good goaltending. The Siberian team had a hard start to the year so they will have to rebound fast should they want to get a playoff spot.

Chernyshev Division

Amur Khabarovsk
The KHL's most remote team will try to do better than last season, when they managed to get a playoff spot, eventually losing against Eastern Conference champion Avangard Omsk. The team didn’t change much from last year and there are no prospects worthy of special attention.

Avangard Omsk
Last year’s Gagarin Cup finalist looks very good this year too, at least on paper. The crease will again be defended by Finn Karri Ramo, and they replaced Roman Cervenka (who signed with Calgary but will play in the Czech Republic for the lockout) with another Czech forward,Tomas Zaborsky, the top player in the Finnish Elite League last season. So far, Avangard hasn't announced the signing of any NHL players, but most likely they will sign some should the lockout progress.

Barys Astana
The Kazakhstani team changed a lot this summer, hiring former Team Russia head coach Vladimir Krikunov (who will also lead Team Kazakhstan). The team features a number of North American players, like former NHL players Nigel Dawes, Andrew Hutchinson and Brandon Bochenski. They also signed Jon Mirasty from Vityaz Chekhov and the lockout gave them the chance to sign Kazakh forward Nikolai Antropov.

Metallurg Novokuznetsk
The Siberian team had some financial difficulties this summer and as a result they had to get rid of some leading players without getting much back. They did, however, manage to retain their North American players in Chris Simon, Randy Robitaille and Brent Sopel. Metallurg Novokuznetsk has the KHL's youngest roster and surely their most interesting young player in undrafted Anton Slepyshev. They might soon land alumni Dmitry Orlov, although he has been assigned to the AHL at this time.

Salavat Yulaev Ufa
The KHL 2011 Gagarin Cup champion had a rocky season last year and they will most likely want to invert this trend. The team from Ufa, the city which will host the 2013 WJC, signedNikita Filatov and put him on the first line, hoping to get him producing as he should. The experiment is working so far as Filatov had a good start to the season, but he still needs to show that he can produce for the whole season and not only in games with little meaning.

Sibir Novosibirsk
After losing Tarasenko to SKA, Sibir doesn’t have much to show to NHL prospect followers. Young blue liner Nikita Zaitsev keeps on progressing and is now an alternate captain of the team, but NHL teams decided not to risk a draft pick on him. At this point it’s hard to guess whether Finn Joni Lehtera will cross the pond and report to St. Louis.

[clting08]

CZECH REPUBLIC: Extraliga
12:10pm Kladno -.5 vs Pardubice (-118 Bet365) 2 units


My books Kladno -0.75. Can I still go for it???

[lightent]

Thanks for the Picks! GL!!!

[TC Woods]

I'm with ya bruddha

[10SixSix5ive]

checking in...

Klando looks good

Bars Kazan in OT

Let's go Bratislava