NEFTEKHIMIK V SLOVAN 11.10.12
Nail Yakupov and his Neftekhimik team are back on the ice today against Slovan. Yak’s impressive start goes beyond the 3GF in 4GP.
Slovan is Bratislava, a legendary team in Slovakia that has been producing talent forever. Vaclav Nedomansky played for them in the mid-60s, Miro Satan plays for them today.
Yakupov has an interesting stat beyond the 3 goals in 4 games, and that is his shot total. With 14 shots in 4gp, the kid is clearly getting into areas where shooting the puck is an option. The KHL plays 54 games–or at least they did last season–and at this rate Yak will have about 190 shots on goal over a full season. Now he won’t get there due to games missed already, but that shot total puts him in a very good range (189 shots over 54 games). Taylor Hall’s 207 shots in 61 games last season is a good comp, although at a higher level.
Anyway, watching these #1 overall picks is a hoot. Beyond getting hurt, it’s an absolute treat to cheer for elite talent. I think we’d forgotten that in Oilerville before Taylor Hall came along.
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Farjestad also play today, against Timra. Although Oscar Klefbom’s injury sounds like it is day-to-day, I’d be surprised if he dressed in a game before the weekend.
For those who want to watch: http://www.thefirstrow.eu/watch/146044/1/watch-neftekhimik-nizhnekamsk-vs-hc-slovan-bratislava.html
Should start at 9am MST. Sibir Novosibirsk vs Metallurg Novokuznetsk is playing right now.
Not that it changes much, but KHL teams are playing 52 regular season games this season. Each team plays a home-and-away pair against each other team, plus an extra pair against one team generally selected on geographical grounds. Given the rate of expansion in that league, the format will almost certainly change yet again next year!
Yak with an early penalty for charging.
Speaking of Russians with Oiler connections, Kirill Tulupov has signed with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. The always excellent Artful Puck has the details!
And there’s Milan Kytnar, who scored Slovan’s first ever KHL goal, with a holding penalty.
And Yak picks up an assist on the powerplay!
Yak with an assist on a PP goal. For all his goal accolades, he’s just a sublime passer.
Um Yak with another goal.
Please end this stupid lockout. I want to see him in Oilers ilks NOW!
And Miro Satan ties it back up. This game has got Oiler connections coming out its ears!
Anyone care to post a link to a working stream?
Chunklets,
what link are you using. I’ve tried like 6 of them and they keep going offline
fuzzy muppet,
I’ve had the same problems. At this point I’m just following the text updates at the KHL site: link.
Renat Mamashev (Moose Jaw Warriors represent, yo!) is having a fine game for Neftekhimik – a goal and two helpers so far.
This one is working for me. Obviously, I’m not working though.
http://www.hockey-world.net/online-translation/59533-khl-neftehimik-slovan
Yak misbehavin
Thanks Dipstick,
For any partial Jets fans, I stumbled upon a stream to Dinamo Minsk vs HC Donbass…and noticed Evander Kane is NOT in the lineup for Dinamo. This may make sense considering the coach said Kane was out-of-shape and not “good enough” for the KHL. The ink is still wet on his 6-year deal with the Jets too.
Tie game going into overtime.
Looks like Nail’s gotten a little over 15:00 of TOI. Don’t know if that’s more/less than usual, but it seems likely it’s less. Maybe he got benched because of the penalties?
If anyone is having trouble with the other links, this one is working for me:
http://atdhe.tw/watch.php?id=450590
Shootout is about to start!
Yakupov the first shooter for Niftekhimik, looks like he fanned on it. No goal. 1-0 in shootout for Bratislava
Wow. Three very weak attempts by the Neftekhimik shooters and with one goal in the shootout, Slovan walks away the the victory.
Yakupov was definitely held out. Didn’t play any first unit powerplay and wasn’t out for very many offensive zone draws in the third.
His shootout attempt was easily stopped. Shot to the goalie’s arm/stomach area.
I can just imagine the conversation with him after the first couple games…
Coach: So, Nail… you good hockey player.
Yakupov: I play. I win.
Coach: You win too much.
Yakupov: I win.
Coach: TOO MUCH!
Yakupov: …
Coach: Look, you young, and that fine, but you need understand – this team not supposed to win.
Yakupov: …
Coach: Big shots, big money, big broken legs if we don’t lose too. You understand?
Yakupov: …
Coach: You have many years to win. Right now, learn to play game. Not Hockey game. Life game.
Yakupov: … So… what you saying is this team place in KHL is same as Oilers in NHL?
Coach: Good. I see you know sense. Go score – make exciting! Just make sure there balance – need exciting loss!
Yakupov: …Sigh… Still better than Columbus…
Jordan,
That’s pure gold Jordan, got a good chuckle from that one.
If the coach did bench him for suspect defence or bad penalties I’m fine with that though, we all know he can score, but it’s time he start rounding out the other aspects of his game as well, same as Yzerman and Sakic and whoever else had to learn to become great players. It bodes well if he knows that no matter where he plays (KHL, NHL) that he needs to play smart.
This kid is unreal. 4 goals and 5 points in his last three games?! I haven’t had a chance to watch the streams, but from the highlights its pretty easy to deduce that he’s the only guy on his team who doesn’t suck. Should make the transition to being an Oiler that much easier.
We need a scorer with edge. Nothing but good things from Yakupov so far.
This being the first game I had watched I was actually suprised that Neftekhimik wasn’t a group of Siberian Penal Colony Inmates, but a decently speedy, if a little Burrowsian, hockey team. #42 Petr Koukal and #70 Yegor Milovzorov were dynamic, read the play well and found each other open with Koukal whiffing on a glorious opportunity in the dying moments of regular time.
Now, I can’t say for certain that these players are ‘good’ relative to NHL standards (More than a few times goals certainly wouldn’t have gone in if there was an NHL caliber defenseman or goalie in front of the puck) but I do know that Yakupov’s drive sets him apart from the other players and it is very obvious he’s a special talent.
I know this has been said many a time, but…
This lockout could benefit the Oilers, perhaps more than most other teams. Most of the 12-13 season previews mention that all the Oilers really did over the summer was add Yakupov and Schultz, and that it would be folly to count on them to make an impact, and that certainly makes sense. However, with both Yakupov and Schultz playing in a higher level of competition this year (in the KHL and AHL respectively), even if it’s only 20-40 games, that could be enough of a stepping stone of development to get both of those players at least closer to being impact players. I think this applies to Yakupov moreso than Schultz for the fact that defense has a steeper learning curve in the big leagues, but those two guys could end up looking like larger additions than many are expecting.
Danenbaum,
Kane was run over last game – very slow to get up… He may be injured.
Jesse,
There are a number of teams that can benefit the same way. Minnesota comes to mind with about 5-6 highly regarded prospects coming in and 3 promising young defencemen who played last season and could only benefit from more seasoning.
I missed a chunk of the second, but from what I saw… Yakupov was not held out. He started the game on the second line, second PP unit, and that continued. Neftekhimik’s coach was using the Cibak/Osala/Milovzorov line as his top unit in both even-strength and PP situations. Yakupov’s line features a pair of Czech vets (Koukal’s excellent, Netik’s got offensive ability) and was the clear #2 choice.
As for zone starts and line matching, neither seems to be a big feature of Russian coaching. Neftekhimik’s coach rolled the lines today (as he has in every game I’ve seen) and the zone starts seemed mostly to be incidental.
In the 4-on-4 OT, the coach rolled out:
Cibak – Osala
Koukal – Milovzorov
Netik – Yakupov
Yeah, I think Minny benefits from this more than anyone.
Granlund is getting his feet wet in the AHL (in a hurry with a 4 goal game to his credit) Charlie Coyle, Zack Phillips, Jason Zucker, Brett Bulmer and Johann Larsson are all high end prospects on the Aeros AHL roster.
And they’re also breaking in Jonas Brodin, while giving more development time to Marco Scandella, Jason Zucker, Tyler Cuma and Chay Genoway on D.
Scary prospect depth.
Jonathan Willis,
Thanks for the details there Jon. That’s really good information to have.
I know this is likely getting beyond the range of your viewing, but based on what you saw/remember, what kind of competition is our boy seeing on the back end? I mean, it’s clear he’s succeeding to put up a lot of points quickly. Are those points from:
– taking advantage of a weak matchup, or
– is he outscoring his peers, or
– is he getting the toughs and excelling?
Thanks in advance
Jordan,
Yakupov has seen a bit of everything in the games I’ve watched. Today, for instance, he played against all four lines on Slovan.
As for where his points are coming from, Yakupov’s one of those guys who will score in any situation. His possession game’s pretty good – he carries the puck and is an excellent passer – so it wouldn’t surprise me if eventually he’s a useful PVP guy. Beyond that, though, he’s a pure finisher. We heard nothing but good things about his shot last season and watching him this year he’s just sick – his release is unbelievably fast, he can put the puck wherever he wants, and it’s a hard shot to boot. He’ll score wherever he’s put in the lineup.
With that said, he’s not remotely a complete player and from what I’ve seen he’s best suited to a soft scoring line for the time being.
Jonathan Willis,
Huh. Soft minute outscorer….
Sounds like a good linemate for Gagner and Hemsky…
Too bad they have those short term contracts that could really punish strong seasons…
Guess it’s a good thing there’s not going to be any games in the NHL this season!
So what would people expect to happen with Gagner if the season is wiped out and that year of existing contracts is wiped out by the next CBA?
Assuming he’s grandfathered in and isn’t affected by any new scheme where additional RFA years are added into the system, that becomes a pretty delicate contract to negotiate.
OT, — CBC’s HNIC is going to play a game a week, the game being chosen by voting at their site. 5 games per week will be up for voting. The 1997 Dallas-Edm game 7 is there. Right now, that game is a distant 3rd to 1976 Flyers-Soviets and 1994 Van-Cal. No voting limit,
Well, gave my mouse a workout and moved it up from 11.53 to 11.63% … where the hell did all those Flames and Nucks fans come from ?
DSF,
I like the Wild’s prospects, but can you please stop mentioning Tyler Cuma as a high end prospect. Dont think he’ll turn out and most people in the Twin Cities agree with me.
Defensemen can take years to ripen…see Smid for reference.
Cuma is only 22.
At the age of 22 Smid was a gangly disaster on skates and LT wanted to trade him away every 15 minutes.
DSF,
Sounds a little like how you feel about 91. =D