Vityaz Moscow Region
CityBalashikha, Moscow Oblast
LeagueKHL 2008–present
ConferenceWestern
DivisionBobrov
Founded1996
Home arenaArena Balashikha
(capacity: 5,500)
Colours   
PresidentMikhail Golovkov
General managerIgor Varitskiy
Head coachAlexander Zavyalov
CaptainVladimir Galuzin
AffiliatesHC Ryazan (VHL)
Russkie Vityazi (MHL)
Websitehcvityaz.ru
Franchise history
HC Vityaz Podolsk
1996–2004, 2013–2022
HC Vityaz Chekhov
2004–2013
Vityaz Moscow Region
2022–present
Current season

Hockey Club Vityaz Moscow Region (ХК Витязь) is a professional ice hockey team based in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. In the first few seasons of the KHL, the team was widely known for playing a tough and physical North American-influenced style of hockey.[1][2]

History

The club was founded in 1996 in Podolsk. In 2000, the team moved to the neighboring city of Chekhov; however, the team kept playing under the name Vityaz Podolsk until 2004, where the renaming was finally done. The team initially played its home games at the Ice Palace Vityaz in Podolsk, the same arena HC MVD used until 2006. Such a thing was allowed by virtue of the opening in 2004 of a new arena in Chekhov, the Ice Hockey Center 2004, that Vityaz began using. Initially, this arena had a capacity of 1,370; it was expanded in 2007–08 to 3,300. Vityaz played at the top level of Russian hockey for the 2000–01 season; it got relegated to Vysshaya Liga at the end of the season. In 2005, Vityaz made to the Vysshaya Liga final losing the championship to HC MVD 4 games to 1 but earned a promotion back to the elite level.

Rumors of a move back to Podolsk arose in the wake of the inaugural KHL season as even with the expansion of 2007–08, due to Chekhov's capacity being below the KHL league standards. The team restarted playing their home games in Podolsk, but remained attached to Chekhov. For the 2013–14 KHL season, the team moved back to Podolsk.[3]

Kontinental Hockey League

Chekhov's debuts in the KHL were pretty bad. Vityaz registered a mere 6 wins in regulation, plus 5 in overtime; in counterpart for those 11 wins, the team lost 45 times (of which, 12 games were in overtime). The meager 40 points collected meant that the team finished at a dismal 23rd place out of 24, a single point ahead of the equally bad Khimik Voskresensk. Head coach Sergei Gomolyako made the mistake in October to dress one more foreign player than allowed by the rules, resulting in a match lost by forfeit. Gomolyako claimed he ignored there was such a rule, and the following week, he was fired, to be replaced by former NHL player and Vityaz head coach Mike Krushelnyski. Vityaz' fans enjoyed the return of Krushelnyski, who was had brought the team to the playoffs in 2006–07. But Chekhov's goon-full roster, which general manager Alexei Zhamnov wishes to shape after the 1990s Chicago Blackhawks for whom he played, just couldn't bring good enough performances to repeat the feat. They however led the league in penalty minutes, some 500 minutes ahead of the second most penalized club, with players such as Nathan Perrott (137 minutes in 9 matches and not a single point), Darcy Verot (more disciplined and productive than in his first season with Vityaz, even though it still only meant 5 points and 168 minutes) and Chris Simon (league leader at 263 minutes, and club's second best scorer behind Gleb Klimenko at 27 points).

Death of Alexei Cherepanov

Chekhov's season was darkened by the death of Alexei Cherepanov in October 2008, a death occurred on its home ice and that might have been avoided had Chekhov's arena been equipped with a working defibrillator and the ambulance that is required to remain available until the end of the match not departed well before the end, resulting in much longer delays between the accident and the moment where Cherepanov arrived at the nearest hospital.[4] [5]

Mass brawl in Chekhov

2009–10 felt like déja-vu for Chekhov. After almost being thrown out of the league due to its finances in August (it needed to find 300 million rubles, which it did), the Knights started the season with two wins and temporarily led the league. Things didn't last however as the team finished 23rd out of 24 teams with only 13 regular-season wins (plus 3 in overtime and 2 in the shootouts—an improvement from the previous year), 54 points and, once again, a colossal amount of penalty minutes: 1522, ahead and by far every other team in the league. Vadim Berdnikov, Gleb Klimenko (who came back from Kazan) and Chris Simon led the offence with respectively 33, 27 and 25 points.

Once again, an incident between Vityaz and Avangard marked the season. On January 9, 2010, the game between Vityaz and Avangard was stopped after 3 minutes and 39 seconds when a bench-clearing and penalty-box-clearing brawl broke out. Darcy Verot had instigated the brawl after three minutes of play when he shot the puck at an Avangard player. A mass brawl quickly followed, which the referees could deal with. However, as soon as the game was resumed, fighting resumed as well and both benches cleared to join the fight.[6] The game was quickly getting out of hand and the officials decided it was better to cancel the whole game. Little else could be done, as a whopping total of 707 penalty minutes had been incurred – a new world record – and a total of 33 players on both teams have been ejected from the game, as well as both head coaches. Only four players avoided being ejected. The KHL imposed a total of 5.7 million rubles (about US $191,000) fines, including 150,000 rubles fines to Vityaz's Darcy Verot and Brandon Sugden and Avangard's Alexander Svitov and Dmitry Vlasenkov.[7] Additionally, Verot, Sugden, Vlasenkov and four other Vityaz players received one-game suspensions.

Season-by-season KHL record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

SeasonGPWOTWLOTLPtsGFGAFinishTop ScorerPlayoffs
2008–0956753212431372266th, ChernyshevGleb Klimenko (30 points: 19 G, 11 A; 39 GP)Did not qualify
2009–1056135335541422166th, TarasovVadim Berdnikov (33 points: 9 G, 24 A; 47 GP)Did not qualify
2010–1154134325521191786th, TarasovVadim Berdnikov (29 points: 12 G, 17 A; 53 GP)Did not qualify
2011–1254106362441081936th, TarasovMikhail Anisin (29 points: 16 G, 13 A; 38 GP)Did not qualify
2012–1352117268551191516th, BobrovAlexander Korolyuk (29 points: 15 G, 14 A; 41 GP)Did not qualify
2013–14541262610581101477th, TarasovMaxim Afinogenov (26 points: 12 G, 14 A; 53 GP)Did not qualify
2014–1560206286781521867th, TarasovMario Kempe (30 points: 13 G, 19 A; 54 GP)Did not qualify
2015–1660176323701291666th, TarasovMaxim Afinogenov (28 points: 15 G, 13 A; 56 GP)Did not qualify
2016–1760267225971621585th, TarasovAlexei Kopeikin (51 points: 21 G, 30 A; 60 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg)
2017–1856174278671311607th, TarasovAlexei Makeyev (38 points: 18 G, 20 A; 55 GP)Did not qualify
2018–1962235277631341694th, TarasovMiro Aaltonen (42 points: 19 G, 23 A; 61 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0–4 (CSKA Moscow)
2019–20621982411651371663rd, TarasovAlexander Semin (38 points: 18 G, 20 A; 50 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg)
2020–2160216285591551755th, BobrovJustin Danforth (55 points: 23 G, 32 A; 58 GP)Did not qualify
2021–2248962013431211495th, BobrovNiko Ojamäki (43 points: 29 G, 14 A; 48 GP)Did not qualify
2022–23682410268761691703rd, BobrovScott Wilson (39 points: 20 G, 19 A; 66 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1–4 (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)

Players

Current roster

Updated 2 September 2023.[8][9]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
93 Russia Ilya Arkalov LW L 30 2021 Moscow, Russia
26 United States Derek Barach C R 28 2023 Glenmont, New York, United States
7 Russia Yaroslav Busygin D L 20 2021 Korkino, Russia
83 Russia Maxim Dorozhko G L 25 2022 Podolsk, Russia
10 Russia Vladimir Galuzin (C) C L 35 2022 Nizhny Novgorod, Russian SFSR
75 Russia Nikita Goncharov F R 24 2018 Orel, Russia
2 Russia Igor Golovkov (A) D L 33 2011 Moscow, Russian SFSR
88 Russia Vladislav Kara RW L 25 2022 Salekhard, Russia
78 Russia Kirill Kirsanov D L 21 2023 Tver, Russia
91 Russia Ivan Kozlov C L 24 2023 Yaroslavl, Russia
53 Russia Ruslan Pedan D L 29 2023 Kaunas, Lithuania
25 Russia Vitali Popov C L 31 2020 Yekaterinburg, Russia
79 Canada Jeremy Roy (A) D R 26 2022 Richelieu, Quebec, Canada
46 Russia Igor Rudenkov LW L 28 2023 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
36 Russia Igor Rydchenko D L 22 2021 Samara, Russia
44 Russia Dmitri Shikin G L 32 2022 Elektrostal, Russian SFSR
89 Russia Nikolai Timashov D L 29 2023 Magnitogorsk, Russia
33 Russia Nikita Tochitsky C L 32 2023 St. Petersburg, Russian SFSR
87 Russia Vladislav Tsitsyura F L 24 2023 Rybinsk, Russia
34 Russia Igor Ugolnikov LW R 26 2023 Nizhnekamsk, Russia
72 Belarus Kirill Ustimenko G L 24 2023 Gomel, Belarus
9 Russia Vladislav Valentsov D L 27 2022 Tyumen, Russia
59 Russia Yegor Voronkov D R 26 2015 Podolsk, Russia
20 Canada Scott Wilson C L 31 2022 Oakville, Ontario, Canada
85 Russia Alexander Yaremchuk F L 24 2021 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
13 Russia Stanislav Yarovoy F R 20 2022 Tuymazy, Russia
27 Russia Ivan Yezhov F L 23 2022 Nizhnevartovsk, Russia
65 Russia Filat Zotov D L 21 2021 Samara, Russia
14 Russia Yegor Zubov F L 22 2021 Chelyabinsk, Russia

All-Star game

KHL All-Star Game

Players

Head coaches

  • Vyacheslav Anisin, July 1, 1997 – 31 May 1999
  • Alexander Zachesov, 1 June 1999 – 11 October 2000
  • Alexander Barinev, 11 October 2000 – 30 April 2001
  • Valery Belov, 30 April 2001 – 15 June 2003
  • Yury Rumyancev, 15 June 2003 – 5 April 2004
  • Miskat Fakrutdinov, 5 April 2004 – 16 January 2005
  • Alexander Bodunov, January 16, 2005 – 30 June 2005
  • Anatoly Bogdanov, 30 June 2005 – 27 October 2005
  • Alexander Bodunov, 27 October 2005 – 4 April 2006
  • Mike Krushelnyski, 4 April 2006 – 31 March 2007
  • Miskat Fakrutdinov, 18 June 2007 – 28 October 2007
  • Sergey Gomolyako, 29 October 2007 – 5 November 2008
  • Mike Krushelnyski, 6 November 2008 – 3 December 2009
  • Alexei Yarushkin, 6 December 2009 – 14 October 2010
  • Andrei Nazarov, 14 October 2010 – 18 May 2012
  • Yuri Leonov, 20 June 2012 – 11 January 2014
  • Oleg Orekhovskiy, 11 January 2014 – 2016
  • Valeri Belov, 2016 – 2019
  • Mikhail Kravets, 2019 – 2021
  • Yuri Babenko, 2021 – 2022
  • Vyacheslav Butsayev, 2022 – present

Franchise records and leaders

KHL scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history in the KHL. Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; bold = current Vityaz player [10]

Player GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Russia Alexei Makeyev38186101187134−417516
Russia Maxim Afinogenov2688084164325−241939
Finland Miro Aaltonen198579515276422211
Czech Republic Roman Horak2245956115106−222154
Russia Alexander Semin144455398150−1217011
Russia Vadim Berdnikov163316192177−22733
Sweden Mario Kempe166394483144−281327
Canada Chris Simon113374380503−171909
Czech Republic Jakub Jeřábek15821577811851002
Russia Artemi Panarin14329467597−151002

Honors

Runners-up

2nd place, silver medalist(s) Vysshaya Liga (1): 2005

Champions

1st place, gold medalist(s) Wingas Cup (1): 2017

1st place, gold medalist(s) Lehner Cup (1): 2018

References

  1. ↑ 21/04/2013+7°C (2011-08-25). "Violent Vityaz rock Russian hockey | SPORTS". The Moscow News. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2013-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "KHL scorers who used to be NHLers". The Hockey News. 2010-11-24. Archived from the original on 2012-06-03. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  3. ↑ "Возвращение в Подольск". Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  4. ↑ "Russian investigators say Cherepanov was 'doping'". The Sports Network. 2008-12-29. Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  5. ↑ "Заявление Континентальной хоккейной лиги по итогам расследования обстоятельств смерти хоккеиста Алексея Черепанова". KHL.ru. 2008-12-30. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  6. ↑ "This is hockey?". KHL.ru. 9 January 2010. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  7. ↑ "Both teams lose". KHL.ru. 10 January 2010. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  8. ↑ "Vityaz team" (in Russian). hcvityaz.ru. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  9. ↑ "Vityaz team roster". www.khl.ru. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  10. ↑ "HC Vityaz All-Time leaders". quanthockey.com. 2019-01-16. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
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