Yunost Minsk wins in Belarus

Champions crowned in Latvia and Kazakhstan

08.04.2009
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Yunost Minsk celebrated its fourth Belarusian title. Photo: BIHF

MINSK – Yunost Minsk won the title in the Belarusian Extraliga. The team from the capital defeated HK Gomel in seven games.

After an easy sweep against Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk in the quarterfinals, the playoffs turned into a challenge for Yunost. The semi-finals against Khimvolokno Mogilyov went the full five games. The final also went the full distance; seven.

The final featured the best two teams of the regular season, Yunost Minsk and HK Gomel. Yunost won the first game 3-2 thanks to Maxim Slysh’s two goals and Artem Senkevich’s game winner in overtime, but the momentum swung to Gomel, which won the next three games 2-0, 3-2 and 4-0.

Yunost got back into the series with a 3-1 win on home ice and then edged Gomel in the key sixth game. In the last nine minutes of the game, Yunost turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory. Game seven was scoreless until Alexander Kitarov scored on a power-play goal with six minutes left.

Gomel had nothing left and the sell-out crowd of 3,400 fans celebrated the new Belarusian champions. It's the fourth national title for Yunost after winning three straight championships from 2004 to 2006. Last year, Yunost lost the final against Keramin Minsk.

Liepajas Metalurgs wins Latvian playoffs

This year, the four best teams from the Latvian league played the regular season in Belarus to expand the league to 14 teams but the Latvians were not able to compete for top spots.

Liepajas Metalurgs was the best Latvian team with a seventh-place finish. The other teams were Riga 2000 (11th), ASK Ogre (12th) and Latgale Daugavpils (13th).

These four teams joined the Latvian playoffs along with the four best teams from the domestic league and it didn’t come as a surprise that Liepaja ended up as champion.

Liepajas Metalurgs defeated Energija Elektrenai – Lithuania’s top team played in the Latvian league – 10-1 and 7-5. The other three teams which played their regular season in Belarus also advanced.

The semi-finals were closer as Liepaja needed the full five games to defeat Latgale Daugavpils. ASK Ogre eliminated Riga 2000 3-1 which came as somewhat of a surprise as the Riga 2000 roster was boosted with several players from the KHL's Dinamo Riga.

The final series were also close. Liepaja won the first two games on home ice, 3-2 and 3-1, while Ogre took the next two at home, 4-2 and 2-1.

The momentum changed in game five in Liepaja. Liepajas Metalurgs won 10-4 and clinched the championship in the sixth game in Ogre, 4-1.

Barys Astana Kazakh champions

KHL team Barys Astana was crowned the Kazakh champion after a final tournament over five days with six Kazakh teams from the three highest leagues in Russia.

Barys Astana was favored, but they needed a shootout to clinch the title. Both Barys and Kazzinc-Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk were undefeated until they met on the last day. Barys turned a 1-0 deficit to a 3-2 lead but Kazzinc-Torpedo equalized with 79 seconds remaining in the third period. After a scoreless overtime, Barys Astana won the game and the Kazakh title.

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