Dragons representing the World

11 December 2024

There’s no KHL action for Kunlun Red Star this week. But there’s still plenty to watch for during the international break. The Channel 1 Cup in St. Petersburg gets underway on Thursday, and there’s plenty of KRS interest in the four-team tournament.

Most of the Dragons involved will be part of the KHL World Team. This is something of a first: an elite roster of imports from across the league, preparing to take on national teams from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Familiar Red Star names past and present are involved here.

It starts behind the bench, where Mike Keenan is head coach. Iron Mike took charge of the Dragons for our second season in the KHL. Combining coaching duties with the GM role, he played a key role in expanding the club’s operations. During that campaign, the KRS organization set up a farm club, youth teams and a women’s hockey program for the first time. It also launched a recruitment program among North American players with Chinese heritage and attracted club legends such as Luke Lockhart and Brandon Yip.

Our current head coach Mikhail Kravets is among Keenan’s assistants. Kravets joined us in the summer from Avangard and this season he has already delivered some memorable victories: twice against SKA, road wins at the East’s top three and a first ever victory in Cherepovets.

We’re also represented on the ice. Goalie Jeremy Smith, who international experience includes the 2022 Olympics and, long ago, World Junior championship action with Team USA, is on the team. Smitty, 35, has been a modern-day Great Wall of China since joining us in 2019, pulling off regular highlight reel saves and producing some insane performances to give us chances at winning games. And Jeremy’s performances also earned him a trip to the 2025 All-Star Game in Novosibirsk after his selection by the KHL’s committee. It’s his second All-Star appearance.

Slovenia’s Jan Drozg, one of our most recent acquisitions, joins Smitty at the Channel 1 Cup. Drozg, 25, has been a regular for his country since 2017/18, playing at the top division of the World Championship in Latvia in 2022 and potentially going back to that level this summer. His most recent international action was in Olympic qualification just days before the start of the KHL season. Jan began the campaign with Amur, but came to the Dragons’ Lair in November and has 5 (1+4) points in eight games so far.

As well as current Kunlun players, two ex-Dragons also made the World Team. Ryan Merkley was a highly effective two-way D-man for us last season, with 29 (3+26) points in 64 games. He continued in productive form at the start of this season, and after 19 games got a move to Avangard. Then there’s Jack Rodewald, who played a season and a half with us before moving to Traktor last December. Since then, Jack has gone to Admiral, but he’ll be back sharing a locker room with old buddies Smitty and Merkley this week. Rodewald played 96 times for the Dragons scoring 43 (18+25) points in that time.

And it’s not just the World Team that has a Red Star influence this year. Our on-loan forward Stepan Zvyagin, who picked up his first point for the Dragons in last week’s 5-3 win over Sochi, got a call to represent Belarus in the tournament. The 20-year-old winger has featured for his country since the 2022/23 season.

The Channel 1 Cup is played at the SKA Arena in St. Petersburg from Dec. 12-15. The KHL World Team begins its campaign against Russia 25 on Thursday, then faces Kazakhstan on Saturday and Belarus on Sunday. All three games start at 1830 Moscow time.