I’m sure the KHL will take Chinese hockey to the next level – Sun Zehao
21 August 2018
Kunlun Red Star goalie Sun Zehao has forced himself into consideration for his club’s KHL roster for the coming season. In an exclusive interview with KHL.ru, he spoke about Jussi Tapola’s unusual training methods, working with Russian hockey legend Alexei Kovalev, summer camp with the Vancouver Canucks and the development of Chinese hockey.
Moving up the learning curve
21 August 2018
The first stage is over. Red Star’s first pre-season tournament is complete, and the team has learned plenty from the experience. Wednesday’s fourth and final game, a 2-4 loss against Russia’s ‘B’ team, the so-called ‘Olympic’ team, provided more pros and cons for our guys to mull over in the coming days.
Another tough battle
21 August 2018
For the second game in a row, Red Star struggled to find the net. A solid defensive display limited Lokomotiv’s chances – but the flip side was a shortage of clear scoring chances at the other end. And, once again, when the shots did come in, the opposing goalie was up to the task. In contrast with Sunday’s game, when we were up against a very familiar goalie in Magnus Hellberg, today we faced young Ilya Konovalov, a player rarely seen by KHL players.
Increased competition – welcome aboard, Ivan Nalimov!
21 August 2018
Ivan Nalimov is the latest player to join Red Star’s ranks ahead of the coming season. The goalie arrives after spending most of last season at Admiral and moving on to Salavat Yulaev as understudy to Ben Scrivens at Salavat Yulaev. The 23-year-old is not short of confidence in his abilities: drafted by Chicago, he recently requested that the Black Hawks trade his rights to an NHL organization less stocked with netminders – a rare instance of a player seeking a trade despite not having a contract with the club in question.
The bucket list
21 August 2018
On the ice, though, it was all about finding the net. SKA’s big summer signing Nail Yakupov needed just 34 seconds to grab his first goal for our opponent. Yakupov was the #1 pick in the 2012 NHL draft, but despite 350 games across the Atlantic, the Neftekhimik graduate never quite delivered on that promise. His return to the KHL highlights the depth of the challenge that Red Star faces in its bid to establish hockey in China. That’s something of a ‘bucket list’ task, a once in a lifetime opportunity to create something truly unique.
Old faces, new faces
21 August 2018
Red Star collected its first victory under Jussi Tapola with a 3-1 success against the host of this year’s Sochi Hockey Open.
Stepping it up
21 August 2018
The Sochi Hockey Open is a prestigious event. This season it includes a dress rehearsal for the Opening Cup clash between Ak Bars and SKA. It also offers an intriguing glimpse of what the next Olympics might look like, on the ice of the 2014 Olympic arena. For Jussi Tapola and his team, it’s a valuable staging post on the way to getting the roster ready for action come the start of December.
Czeching in
21 August 2018
Red Star’s pre-season camp in the Czech Republic concluded with the first warm-up games ahead of the coming campaign. And, despite two narrow losses, there has been plenty to encourage Jussi Tapola and his team in two very different encounters.
