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Continental Hockey League (KHL) -  The end of the inaugural KHL season could not have been written a better way than this! Well it could have been with more scoring, but a game seven between the league’s two strongest clubs was a great way to finish it after an entertaining series. The somewhat underdog Kazan came up on top, with Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) scoring the only goal in the last period of the game. The club was an underdog since it has lost a few of its top players in the past two seasons including Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins), Alexei Tereschenko (Dallas Stars) and goalie Alexander Eremenko . However, while some of the replacements have not been as impressive a few young players and newcomers have come up big in the series including Andrei Pervyshin (St. Louis Blues) and Nikita Alexeev (Chicago Blackhawks). Pervyshin has been a long time member of Ak Bars after leaving Lokomotiv but only this year has he become a regular contributor at the top level, while Nikita Alexeev (Chicago Blackhawks) has bounced between Russia and NHL, showing signs of immense potential but failing to break-out in either league. Lokomotiv was close to winning the series on several occasions, but the break down point for the club, despite the series continuing for another week must have been the failure to keep the 3:0 lead in game two that was eventually won by Ak Bars after a spectacular come back. Alexei Yashin and a few imported players are the clear leaders of the squad and it will be interesting to see what happens next year and whether Yashin will remain in Russia or return to the NHL after a two season absence.

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Continental Hockey League (KHL) -  MOSCOW: A hat trick from Slovakia's Marcel Hossa helped lift former NHL MVP Jaromir Jagr (New York Rangers)'s squad of foreigners over an all-Russian team 7-6 in the Continental Hockey League's All-Star game on a bitterly cold evening in Red Square on Saturday. Adept goaltending by Robert Esche and former Ottawa Senator Ray Emery also helped Jagr's team withstand a late comeback by a Russian team featuring another former NHL star in Alexei Yashin . As temperatures dropped to minus 16 degrees Celsius (3 F), spectators were left shivering in the grandstands at the open-air rink in the heart of the Russian capital. (International Herald article by Assoiated Press) READ MORE

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Super League -  Semen Varlamov (Washington Capitals) played a very strong game for Lokomotiv, stopping every shot he faced. Salavat captain Vladimir Antipov (Toronto Maple Leafs) had a couple of good chances early on, but he could not convert and break Varlamov. The game remains scoreless until the final minutes when Czech Irgl scores the game winning goal. Interestingly this happened after a toss up in lines when Gennadi Churilov was moved up from the fourth line to skate a shift with the first, between Alexei Yashin and Irgl. With the series tie, the finals now travel back to Ufa, where Lokomotiv and Salavat Yulayev will face off for the deciding fifth contest.

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Super League -  Lokomotiv and Metallurg met for the third, and eventually final, match of the semifinals. Interestingly, the game was attended by Konstantin Rudenko (Philadelphia Flyers), who was seriously injured by Darius Kasparaitis (New York Rangers). The young player is still seriously injured but came out to support his squad. Metallurg had the first chance when Jan Marek broke to Semen Varlamov (Washington Capitals), but the goalie calmly deflects the shot. Alexei Mikhnov (Edmonton Oilers) scored the first goal after skating from behind the net and his shot/pass hits the skate of Metallurg’s defenseman Alexander Seluyanov (Detroit Red Wings) and goes into the net. Former NHL defenseman Martin Shtabak ties the game up 1:1. The game remained heated for the next 30 minutes but neither team was able to score, even though Alexei Yashin and Vitali Anikienko (Ottawa Senators) had some great chances, but the game still went to overtime penalty shots. Goalie Ilya Proskuryakov did not save his team this time, letting in critical penalty shots while Varlamov denied everyone including Jan Marek. Lokomotiv will now face HC Salavat Yulayev in the finals.

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Super League -  Player and Goalie playoff statistics have been added with stats updated through the games played yesterday. Alexei Yashin leads the league in scoring, but it was good to see younger prospects like Igor Volkov (New York Islanders) and Ivan Nepriayev (Washington Capitals) to make the top 10 list. READ MORE

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Super League -  In the second game of the semifinals Alexander Vasyunov (New Jersey Devils) scored once again the game winner for his club, this time without the help of the opposing goalkeeper. With the match tied 2-2 after goals by Alexei Yashin and Ivan Tkachenko (Columbus Blue Jackets) for Lokomotiv, Evgeni Gladskikh and Jan Marek for Metallurg, the Devils’ prospect flashed into the slot to put the puck past Scott’s shoulders top-shelf, thus repeating his feat from game 1. “I’m very happy, but Metallurg isn’t finished yet. There will be some tough games in Yaroslavl” – has said to gazeta.ru

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Super League -  HC Lokomotiv defeated HC SKA in four games to be the third team to enter the semifinals, leaving HC Dynamo vs. HC Metallurg Mg. as the last remaining unresolved contest. Alexei Yashin was key in victory, scoring the first goal by collecting a loose puck in front of the net, and then assisting Czech forward Irgl on the game winner. Semen Varlamov (Washington Capitals) was very strong in the game, resolving any outstanding questions after his shaky start a few games back. He stopped a nice breakaway from Anton But (Tampa Bay Lightning) and well deserved the top star honors.

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Super League -  Lokomotiv vs. SKA 5:1 (Series 1:1) – Czech forward Zbinek Irgl scored four goals for HC Lokomotiv, with Alexei Yashin and Ivan Nepriayev (Washington Capitals) assisting on three of Loko’s tallies. Semen Varlamov (Washington Capitals) bounced back quite nicely from his struggles in the first quarterfinals game, allowing three goals in the first period before being replaced.

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Super League -  Viktor Tikhonov shined in this contest between HC Lokomotiv and HC Severstal, but his club still ended up losing to Lokomotiv, which got a needed boost from former NHL super star Alexei Yashin . This detailed scouting report of the game additionally includes evaluations of Yuri Alexandrov (Boston Bruins), Vitali Anikienko (Ottawa Senators), Dmitri Loktionov, and Sergei Gimayev (Ottawa Senators). READ MORE

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LG Sweden Games (EuroTour) - 

Vyacheslav Bykov announced the Team Russia roster for the last leg of the EuroTour tournament. In this leg there are a number of new faces, as is traditional in the shakeout tournaments that help finalize the World Championships roster.   Most notable additions are Alexei Yashin and Andrei Nikolishin (Colorado Avalanche). 

GOALIES: Mikhail BIRYUKOV (KhK MVD), Semen VARLAMOV (Lokomotiv), Alexandr EREMENKO (Salavat Yulaev), Dmitriy YACHANOV (SKA).

DEFENSEMEN: Vitaliy ATYUSHOV, Evgeniy BIRYUKOV (both – Metallurg Mg), Alexey EMELIN, Ilya NIKULIN (both – Ak Bars), Maxim KONDRATIEV, Sergey PERETYAGIN (both – SKA), Konstantin KORNEEV, Denis KULYASh (both – CSKA), Andrey KUTEYKIN (Salavat Yulaev), Danila MARKOV (Dinamo).

FORWARDS: Dmitriy AFANASENKOV, Fedor FEDOROV (both – Dynamo), Konstantin GOROVIKOV, Maxim SUSHINSKIY (both – SKA), Alexei KAYGORODOV, Nikolai KULEMIN, Igor MIRNOV, Denis PLATONOV (vse – Metallurg Mg), Anton KURYANOV (Avangard), Alexey MIKHNOV, Ivan NEPRYAEV, Alexey YASHIN (vse – Lokomotiv), Alexandr PEREZHOGIN, Alexey TERESCHENKO (both – Salavat Yulaev), Oleg SAPRYKIN, Alexey SIMAKOV, Petr SCHASTLIVÛY (vse – CSKA), Sergey MOZYAKIN (Khimik), Andrey NIKOLISHIN (Traktor).

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U20 ADT Canada Russia Challenge -  Vladislav Evseev has continued his renaissance, scoring a pair of goals against his former club HC Dynamo. HC Khimik destroyed HC CSKA behind a strong performance by Sergei Mozyakin (Columbus Blue Jackets). Maxim Kondratiev (Anaheim Mighty Ducks) collected his first goal since returning from North America. Anton Babchuk (Carolina Hurricanes) collected his 8th goal of the season. Lokomotiv lost despite getting goals from Alexei Yashin and Alexei Mikhnov (Edmonton Oilers). Oleg Piganovich collected two assists, continuing his Rookie of the Year caliber season and was a big reason why Traktor one. READ MORE

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Super League -  Maxim Sushinsky debuts at the top of the scoring charts, which is a welcome site considering the talented player's difficult 2006-07 season. Viktor Alexandrov (St. Louis Blues) keeps pace, recording another assist. Alexei Yashin is nowhere to be seen, struggling to put up the points with HC Lokomotiv. READ MORE

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Super League -  Fedor Fedorov (New York Rangers) is enjoying a strong season, averaging a point per game with HC Dynamo. Denis Parshin (Colorado Avalanche) is another player who has righted the ship and has started to contribute regularly. Alexei Mikhnov (Edmonton Oilers) continues to play well and is becoming Lokomotiv's scoring leader despite Alexei Yashin 's presence on the squad. READ MORE

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Super League -  Andrei Taratukhin (Calgary Flames) had a strong outing with a goal and an assist for his Salavat Yulayev. Ruslan Zainullin (Calgary Flames) added his fifth goal of the season, which is nearing his career high total for an entire season. Igor Volkov (New York Islanders) recorded two tallies for Salavat Yulayev, putting together another solid season for HC Salavat Yulayev. He will be a free agent at the end of the season and may be looking to join the New York Islanders. Alexei Yashin scored his fourth of the season, but it wasn’t enough to save his struggling HC Lokomotiv, who fell to lowly HC Torpedo. READ MORE

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Super League -  Viktor Alexandrov (St. Louis Blues) earned his first career hattrick, leading Metallurg Nk. over HC Torpedo. Alexei Cherepanov (New York Rangers) potted his first goal of the season, and appears to have fully recovered from the light concussion he suffered during the Canada Russia Super Series. HC Lokomotiv finally broke through and trounced the highly touted Salavat Yulayev 7:1 behind strong play from Semen Varlamov (Washington Capitals) and Alexei Yashin . READ MORE

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Super League -  Last year’s break out player Denis Parshin (Colorado Avalanche) finally scored his first goal of the season in CSKA’s losing effort against HC SKA. Viktor Alexandrov (St. Louis Blues) continued a strong start with his third tally of the season in an important victory over the strong HC Avangard. HC Lokomotiv continued to struggle, losing 3:1 to lowly HC Traktor despite having a star studded lineup with Alexei Yashin and Alexei Mikhnov (Edmonton Oilers). Kulemin continued his scoring streak, adding his third goal in two games after going scoreless for the first four contests of the season. READ MORE

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Super League -  Alexei Yashin has arrived in the Super League, scoring his first goal and assisting on two others for HC Lokomotiv. Grigori Shafigullin (Nashville Predators) scored his second of the season after replacing injured Sergei Zinovjev (Boston Bruins) on Ak Bars top line, skating with Alexei Morozov (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Danis Zaripov . Sergei Gaiduchenko (Florida Panthers) was impressive in Metallurg (Novokuznetsk)’s OT loss, saving his team on many occasions, but still not being able to stop the deciding shootout attempt from resurging Ruslan Zainullin (Calgary Flames), who earned his third tally of the season. READ MORE

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Super League -  In the second round of the Super League Alexei Yashin 's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl went to Novokuznetsk to challenge local Metallurg. Two young NHL prospect shined in this game, Viktor Alexandrov (St. Louis Blues) of St. Louis Blues and Sergei Gaiduchenko (Florida Panthers) of Florida Panthers. Gaiduchenko, who joined Metallurg Nk this August on loan from Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, has effectively backstopped his team shutting out Yashin and company for fifty-eight minutes, displaying all his talent. READ MORE

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Russian Super League -  Alexei Yashin should once again be given the credit he deserves. A month ago, right after the buyout of his contract by the Islanders, he promised that in the case of anything happening, he would tell about it to Sport Express first. And yesterday, after signing all the documents in New York, he answered all our questions. (Sport-Express Newspaper Interview) READ MORE

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Russian Super League -  NEW YORK -- Former New York Islanders captain Alexei Yashin will play next season with Locomotiv Yaroslavl of the Russian Super League after failing to get a NHL contract offer to his liking. Yashin, who had the final four seasons of his 10-year contract bought out by the Islanders in June, agreed to terms Friday on a one-year deal with the Russian team he played with during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. READ MORE