Ukrainian HC Donbass has formally applied to join the VHL (Vysshaya hokkeinaya liga in Russian or Supreme Hockey League in English), the second highest level of Russian hockey, according to the club’s official website.
The Donetsk club may become the second foreign representative in the VHL after Kazzinc-Torpedo which represents Kazakhstan. Formerly, Sokil Kyiv took part in the VHL for several seasons.
Alexander Medvedev, the head of the KHL, spoke about possibility of Donbass joining the KHL «within two or three years.
This is a good development but at the same time Sokol Kiev will not play in the Belarus league this year.
April 27 hockey club "Sokol Kiev" officially informed the Belarus Ice Hockey Federation refusal to participate in the open (international) championships of Belarus Ice Hockey Extraliga among the teams in the season 2011-2012.
Is this a case of one step forward one step back? I know Sokol had problems with money this year so I assume they will play in just the Ukrainian League this in 2011-2012.
Also I am not familiar with the quality of the Belarus league, how high is the talent level there?
Also I am not familiar with the quality of the Belarus league, how high is the talent level there?
VHL and Belarus league are very similiar in terms of talant. The very top VHL teams are very good, I'd say that these would not finish last even in KHL. In Belarus there are only one such a standout team - Yunost. Though it's all speculation, next year VHL champion Tyumen Rubin will participate in Continental Cup and we will have some better evidence of how good is VHL hockey.
Would the mining magnates that bankroll Shakhtar have anything to do with this hockey club?
pretty sure Akhmetov gets involved. It's a good beginning - Kiev became a center of bureaucracy and power struggle, while Donetsk is becoming the center of sports in Ukraine. I believe in this project, I wish them all the best and they are very close to my home-town of Rostov-on-Don, so I will pull for them a little.
The owner of HC Donbass is Boris Kolesnikov, Vice Prime Minister responsible for hosting Euro 2012. Kolesnikov and Akhmetov have been friends from a young age.
Good news for hockey in Ukraine then. Perhaps there is some hope for it after all?
Though the long term future will not be safe until Sokil Kyiv find some funding, not so much because of the senior team, but because losing their youth system would be a devastating blow that would take a long time to recover from.
Good news for hockey in Ukraine then. Perhaps there is some hope for it after all?
Though the long term future will not be safe until Sokil Kyiv find some funding, not so much because of the senior team, but because losing their youth system would be a devastating blow that would take a long time to recover from.
I read somewhere that Donbass will have an MHL team, not this year but the 2012-13 season (can't find the link now). If Donbass can gain control over some good Ukrainian youth players and get them in the MHL, I think that would mitigate the lack of development from Sokol Kiev.
I read somewhere that Donbass will have an MHL team, not this year but the 2012-13 season (can't find the link now). If Donbass can gain control over some good Ukrainian youth players and get them in the MHL, I think that would mitigate the lack of development from Sokol Kiev.
An MHL team would be great, the key though is the development of players aged 14 and younger, something that Sokil have been good at over the years. Losing that program would hurt Ukrainian hockey and would take several years to recover from as a good youth development program can't be put in place over night.
An MHL team would be great, the key though is the development of players aged 14 and younger, something that Sokil have been good at over the years. Losing that program would hurt Ukrainian hockey and would take several years to recover from as a good youth development program can't be put in place over night.
I would like to see someone with money either start funding Sokil or make sure the hockey school keeps going.
KHL teams are going to Donetsk! In early september the Donbass open cup will be held, will play there HC Donbass, Dinamo Riga, Dinamo Minsk and SKA St. Petersburg. Great news if you ask me.
lot's of NT players are joining Donbass, will be a good step towards reviving ukrainian hockey. Apparently lots of Ukrainian kids are playing in russian junior leagues as well (u-16) - Khimik seems to be fond of bringing Ukrainian talent. Keep it up guys and don't follow Budyvel'nik's steps.
You act as though what happened was HC Budivelnyk. Should they have made sure the arena upgrades would happen before they announced the team and started signing players? Probably. Was it their fault that the renovations could never be worked out? No.
You act as though what happened was HC Budivelnyk. Should they have made sure the arena upgrades would happen before they announced the team and started signing players? Probably. Was it their fault that the renovations could never be worked out? No.
from your pov it's correct, but, one has to dig deeper. If you are serious about the team, you could have played somewhere else for a year, while the palace was being renovated (in Belorus, Poland, Russia) just renting a palace. The problem was much deeper, the guy who was trying to start up Budyvelnik was no hockey fan, he wanted the palace to become his - expansive property in Kiev-downtown, once he realized he can't have it - he was no longer interested in a team.
Fixed the link, you had it set up to start at the end of the video
Anyway, Donbass stadium is being renovated at the moment and here are some renderings of how the renovations are going to look. http://terrikon.com/posts/92823
