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Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) -  Alexander Avtsin (Montreal Canadiens) is without a doubt one of the higheest touted prospects from Russia. Unfortunately he is not playing now because of a hand injury, and will come back most likely only in one month. In this interview with Olga Alexandrova, appeared on the official Dynamo Moscow's site, Avtsin explained why he decided to remain in Russia for this season, discussed his own current season's performances and he also told how he met his girlfriend Milana. RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation. (RussianHockeyFans.com article by Alessandro Seren Rosso) READ MORE

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National Hockey League (NHL) -  Russian goalie Anton Khudobin (Minnesota Wild) played his first NHL game tuesday night, when his Minnesota Wild skated past the Edmonton Oilers 4-2.

Khudobin, 23, has been iced in the game's third period after an injury occoured to Josh Harding. He reflected all the nine shot thrown towards his crease. (RussianHockeyFans.com article by Alessandro Seren Rosso) READ MORE

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National Hockey League (NHL) -  The newest Adirondack Phantom stood by the back doors of the cold Civic Center basement, stripped down to tights and a T-shirt, sweating like he just ran wind sprints on a July afternoon.
He had just finished a torturous 15 minutes under the direction of strength trainer Ryan Podell after practice on Thursday. Podell had put him through devious-looking workout involving the kind of thick ropes you’d see on a sailing ship.
Welcome to America, Denis Bodrov (Philadelphia Flyers). (Poststar.com article by Tim McManus) READ MORE

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U18 Six Nations Tournament -  Under-18 Russian national team's last step for the U18 WJC preparation will be Six Nations tournament that will be played in Minsk, Belarus, from the 9th to the 14th of February. Head coach Mikhail Vasiliev selected a roster of 29 players, 22 of them will go to the tournament. (Roster Information) READ MORE

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National Hockey League (NHL) -  23 years old Denis Bodrov (Philadelphia Flyers) has just been signed by the Flyers to an AHL deal. A chance of scenery might really what the defenseman needs in order to shake his career up after he was released by Atlant Mytischi for bad performances. The talented blue liner has already joined the team and will most likely play his debut game in the next few days.

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Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) -  The second KHL season is undergoing and prospects get their share of attention. Unfortunately it's not a good news the one we report about Dynamo Moscow's Alexander Avtsin (Montreal Canadiens): during a regular season match he suffered from a hand injury and will have to sit for two months. His place in the lineup has been taken by one of MHL top scorers, Nikita Dvurechensky, who took only two games to score his first KHL goal today in the 4-6 home defeat of Dynamo against the other Dinamo from Riga.
But Dvurechensky hasn't been the only one prospect to score the first KHL goal: 2010 eligible Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the game winner in Tratkor's win in Togliatti against Lada with a smooth backhander one-on-one against the goalie. Kuznetsov might be chosen in next Draft's first round.

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National Hockey League (NHL) -  Russian goalie Alexander Pechursky (Pittsburgh Penguins) played his first NHL game on Saturday and he was named 3rd star of the match thanks to his 12 saves in 35 minutes. In an interview with Russian website allhockey.ru he talked about his eventful weekend and his NHL experience. (RussianHockeyFans.com article by Alessandro Seren Rosso) READ MORE

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Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) -  Despite the difficulties of late for Russia producting defensive prospects, the top-end is certainly interesting, with many players who might adapt well in the jump overseas. Recently it has been very tough to decipher who would report to the NHL and who would not, and the apparent drive towards North America played its role in these rankings.

Top 10 at a glance
1. Maxim Goncharov (Phoenix Coyotes)
2. Yuri Alexandrov (Boston Bruins)
3. Dmitri Orlov (Washington Capitals)
4. Pavel Valentenko (New York Rangers)
5. Mikhail Pashnin (New York Rangers)
6. Andrei Zubarev (Atlanta Thrashers)
7. Denis Bodrov (Philadelphia Flyers)
8. Vyacheslav Buravchikov (Buffalo Sabres)
9. Alexei Emelin (Montreal Canadiens)
10. Vitali Anikienko (Ottawa Senators)
(Hockey's Future article by Alessandro Seren Rosso) READ MORE

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National Hockey League (NHL) -  Only one month after Alexander Pechursky (Pittsburgh Penguins) was signed by the Tri-City Americans of the WHL he stopped his first NHL shots as the Pens needed to quickly sign a backup goaltender after the injury that plagued their lineup. Pechursky has been iced midway through the second period and stopped 12 shots out of 13, allowing just one goal. "Today Pechursky played fantastically", told head coach Dan Blysma to TSN after the match. As he was signed only to a 1-game tryout contract he's going back to Tri-City where he will keep on playing this season.

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Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) -  Russianprospects.com followed the recent regular season match between Spartak Moscow and CSKA Moscow, where played a good number of prospects, in particular Nikita Filatov (Columbus Blue Jackets), Sergei Andronov (St. Louis Blues) and Ilya Kablukov (Vancouver Canucks). (Exclusive russianprospects.com scout evaluation by Evgeny Belousov) READ MORE

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Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) -  As KHL teams approach the playoffs stage, top teams are going to lure some good players from the bottom seeded ones. Ak Bars Kazan is no exception as they just sent quick winger Evgeny Ketov to Severstal Cherepovets for Nikolai Lemtyugov (St. Louis Blues). This might be a good move for his future as making part of a winning team might motivate him to work harder and in a more consistent way. In this season he scored nine goals and twenty-one points in thirty-eight regular season matches.

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U20 World Junior Championships -  We updated all WJC stats for team Russia. Be sure to check them out in the tournament section! (Link to tournament's page) READ MORE

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U20 World Junior Championships -  Team Russia's sixth place at the last WJC in Saskatchewan, Canada, was nothing short of a failure. It was the worst result of the team since 2001, when the team lead by Petr Vorobiev couldn't get any better than the seventh place on the home soil. That team, just like this one, wasn't short of talent, considering that the team's front men were the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers), Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa Senators) and Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton Oilers). This year's roster included many talented players as well, like Nikita Filatov (Columbus Blue Jackets), Vladimir Tarasenko , Dmitri Orlov (Washington Capitals) and others, but the tournament didn't really finish like expected and team Russia was left out of the medal round after five straight apparitions. (RussianHockeyFans.com article by Alessandro Seren Rosso) READ MORE

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U20 World Junior Championships -  SASKATOON – Finland exploited Russia's poor team discipline to prevail 4-3 in the fifth-place game on Monday at Credit Union Centre. Teemu Hartikainen scored the winner on the power play with under six minutes to play. Ramis Sadikov started between the pipes for Russia, while goals were scored by Maxim Trunev (Montreal Canadiens) and Alexander Burmistrov (two). (IIHF Official Site article by Lucas Aykroyd) READ MORE

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U20 World Junior Championships -  With a determinated performance and some help from luck, Team Switzerland knocked out Team Russia at the World Junior Championships. The Swiss will face Team Canada tomorrow at the tournament's semi-finals. Russian goals were scored by Vladimir Tarasenko and Kirill Petrov (New York Islanders). (Russianhockeyfans.com article by Alessandro Seren Rosso) READ MORE

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U20 World Junior Championships -  REGINA – With a 5-2 victory over the Czech Republic on New Year's Eve, Russia wrapped up second place in Group B. Russia advances to a quarter-final meeting with Switzerland on January 2, while the Czechs are doomed to play in the Relegation Round. Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals for Russia, while Igor Bobkov (Anaheim Mighty Ducks) made 39 saves. (IIHF Official site article by Lucas Aykroyd) READ MORE

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U20 World Junior Championships -  REGINA - Sweden versus Russia, the game between the two top-seeded teams in Group B, was probably the most anticipated game slated for the Brandt Centre. And the Tuesday tilt lived up to its promise. Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson added the winner plus two assists and Andre Petersson had two goals as Sweden won 4-1. Kirill Petrov (New York Islanders) scored the lone goal for team Russia. (IIHF Official Site article by Martin Merk) READ MORE

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U20 World Junior Championships -  Thanks to a great performance by goalie Igor Bobkov (Anaheim Ducks) and a couple of moments from Nikita Filatov (Columbus Blue Jackets), Plyuschev's Team Russia got the best of the Finns with a minimal effort. In spite of a 46-saves shut out Bobkov hasn't been named player of the match, honors that instead went to Filatov. After this 2-0 victory Russia is now on the top of the standings staying perfect, with Sweden, who has got 6 points too. The teams are going to meet tonight. (Exclusive RussianProspects.com game report by Alessandro Seren Rosso) READ MORE

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U20 World Junior Championships -  It wasn't Russia's best possible display, but nevertheless the first win arrived. Plyuschev's team concentrated most of its performance in the first period as they scored four goals, just to control the pace of the game in the remaining two periods, finished with one goal each. Goalkeeper Igor Bobkov (Anaheim Ducks) hasn't had too much work, he ended the game with fourteen saves. Evgeny Kuznetsov was the best player on ice as he scored two goals. Kirill Petrov (New York Islanders), Vladimir Tarasenko, Maxim Chudinov and Maxim Trunev (Montreal Canadiens) each added one goal, while Nikita Filatov (Columbus Blue Jackets) has been left out of the scoresheet (Russianprospects.com exclusive game report by Alessandro Seren Rosso) READ MORE

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U20 World Junior Championships -  Team Russia will hit the stage at the WJC tonight in a match against team Austria. Team's head coach Vladimir Plyuschev opted to waive Dmitry Kugryshev (Washington Capitals), Alexander Pechursky (Pittsburgh Penguins), Kirill Yuriev and Mikhail Fisenko. (roster information) READ MORE