2003 Russian Super League Playoff Quarterfinals
2003 Russian Super League hockey Playoffs Quarterfinals Dynamo Moscow vs.
Avangard Omsk series
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Russian Super League Playoffs - Quarterfinals
Part 2: Lokomotiv Yaroslavl vs.
Salavat Yulayev Ufa
The road of the '03 Russian
Super League playoffs turned out to be a windy one, but in the end lead to the
expected destination – Yaroslavl. Last year's champion and heavy favorite to
repeat, Lokomotiv Yarosalvl, met this year's most pleasant surprise, Severstal
Cherpovets, in the finals, with Yaroslavl taking the best of five series in four
games. However, I am getting ahead of myself, so let's start from the beginning
and take a look at every twist and turn of this year's playoffs.
QUARTERFINALS:
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl vs.
Salavat Yulayev (Lokomotiv
Yaroslavl
wins the series 3:0)
It seemed that
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl spent the entire season preparing and fine tuning for
the playoffs. Though the team was always amongst the league's top three clubs,
it didn't dominate opponents in the same manner as last year, seemingly working
at partial capacity, good enough to win and cruise into the playoffs. The face
of Lokomotiv changed a bit with the departure of several players, namely,
talented center Yevgeniy Korolev and promising prospects Artem Kryukov
(Buffalo Sabres), Alexander Tatarinov (Phoenix Coyotes), Denis Grot (Vancouver
Canucks) and Alexander Barkunov (Chicago Blackhawks). With the departures came
a few new arrivals from within the system, as well as the NHL. In the '02
offseason, Lokomotiv struck a deal with the New York Islanders that paved the
way for defenseman Yevgeniy Korolev to join the ranks of the
Yaroslavl
club. In the first half of the season, the club gave youth a try to fill in
the third and fourth lines, but the management seemed dissatisfied with the
results, and went out to North America, adding veteran Sergei Nemchinov
and a struggling NHLer Yuri Butsayev, who had trouble making a name for
himself with the Atlanta Thrashers squad. The team also looked within the
organization to fill in the fourth line and some holes elsewhere in the lineup.
Talented 2003 NHL Entry draft prospects Konstantin Glazachev, Grigori
Shafigullin and Yevgeniy Pervyshin all got their chance to play in
the big league. Unfortunately, their appearance and prolonged stay in the Super
League came at the expense of many other talented players. Towards the end of
the season, Lokomotiv's depth was amazing, as the club was able to field more
then six offensive lines and 5 defensive pairings, all of which were more then
capable to compete in the Super League. However, it remained to be seen whether
the club would be able to find the right chemistry for another title run.
Salavat Yulayev
worked hard all year to make
the playoffs. Unfortunately, the club really possessed only two scoring lines
and did not solve the '01 off season loss of it's leading scorer and captain
Alexander Semak to Dynamo Moscow. As the playoffs were commencing, this
squad seemed to lack the depth, talent or excitement needed to beat the
Lokomotiv machine. In fact, the CSKA Red Army squad they beat out for the
eighth and final playoff spot, would have had a better chance in Yaroslavl.
CSKA was a hot team that raced from the 12th spot all the way up to
the 9th in a matter of a month, mounting quite a battle for the final
spot, only to lose in the final two, deciding games of the season.
Series Recap: Lokomotiv
came into the
series as a clear favorite, but the expected routs of Salavat never came. Though
never able to pull off a victory, Salavat put on a fierce opposition to the
defending champs. All three games of the best of five series were decided by a
single goal, with the same game going as far as penalty shots. Interestingly,
the first line scored all but one goals for the supposedly deep Lokomotiv. The
same was the case for Salavat, but that was expected of the underdog squad. In
the end, Lokomotiv advanced after three games, and though they were hard fought,
the quick victory over their opponent allowed for a nice week long rest to
recuperate.
Loser's Aftermath:
Salavat Yulayev possesses
a limited budget and will not likely attract any big names into its ranks in the
off season. The club tends to do well with its budget, but at least one
talented player has already attempted to leave its ranks. Buffalo Sabres
defensive prospect Denis Denisov apparently signed a deal with Ak Bars
Kazan, though it is currently pending, as Salavat contested that they already
signed Denisov for the 2003-04 season. Denisov responded to the allegations
with a statement, maintaining that he did not sign anything with Ak Bars, and
will likely wait until his contract runs out on May 30th, before
making his intentions official.
STATISTICS
