The Gagarin Cup Playoffs: KHL Postseason Starts Today

By Craig F
Posted on 02/20/2013 at 3:17 pm

The KHL playoffs start today, as 16 of the league’s 26 clubs compete for the Gagarin Cup. Since the NHL and KHL are huge competitors, it’s interesting to look at the players on the current KHL playoff teams to see just how many are former Philadelphia Flyers or NHLers. On top of that, some clubs’ prospects are in the 16-team field. It’s also worth noting some of the teams that received help from current NHL players who played a good chunk of the season with a certain KHL season before the lockout concluded. With that being said, here are the previews …

Then and Now: Dmitry Afanasenkov

By Craig F
Posted on 12/26/2012 at 9:00 am

Late in December of 2006, the Philadelphia Flyers claimed forward Dmitry Afanasenkov off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Impressed with his three goals and three assists in 33 games, Philly decided to dress the winger for 41 games in their lowly 2006-2007 campaign. For only playing half the season for the Orange and Black, Afanasenkov’s 15 points sounds pretty impressive. However, when you consider that Randy Robitaille finished two points ahead of him with 13 less games to work with and that Scottie Upshall produced just two points less than him in 23 fewer tilts, the Russian winger’s …

Crashing the Crease: It might be time to worry about Bryz.

By Kevin A
Posted on 10/25/2012 at 9:00 am

Two weeks ago on Crashing the Crease, I examined some of Ilya Bryzgalov’s goals against in action for the KHL’s CSKA Moscow. At the time, Philly’s favorite cosmonaut had an 0-2 record, 4.02 goals-against average and a save percentage of .857. He was also made a healthy scratch at one point in his run, causing much concern for those able to watch him back home. However, looking into his play in those first two games revealed a goaltender making many saves he should, some he shouldn’t, and ultimately being let down, for the most part, by his defense. At the …

Crashing the Crease: O Bryz, Where Art Thou?

By Kevin A
Posted on 10/11/2012 at 9:00 am

Ilya Bryzgalov’s KHL season is underway with CSKA Moscow, the modern-day incarnation of the Red Army hockey club. Since his arrival, much has been made about his being a healthy scratch, and concern abounds about having lost two games while yielding 4 goals in each. However, has it really been all that bad? Is he being scratched because he is terrible? Just what is going on over there? Alarms started ringing after word came back that CSKA lost to Traktor 4-3. Most North American highlight packages showed few, if any, of the goals against Bryz, therefore making it difficult to …

Crashing the Crease: Home Cooking

By Justin Brennan
Posted on 09/20/2012 at 9:00 am

The 2012-2013 NHL season had all the earmarks of a solid season for the league as a whole. Last season ended in fantastic fashion for the growth of the game. The LA Kings had sparked some real interest in the game out West, even bringing to light the fact that David Beckham has been a Kings fan before it was cool [again]. People who weren’t Canadian transplants were paying attention to the sport. The East Coast equivalent of L.A. was ready to see a return to the limelight, as the New York Rangers had effectively re-tooled and upgraded their roster. …