For the Dynamo Minsk hockey club it will be full throttle from zero to sixty for all of this season: they have ambitions for victory both at home in the Russian KHL league as well as at this year’s Spengler Cup. With a view to the new season the club which was founded only in 2004 has reshuffled the entire team – and consequently has high hopes.
Dynamo Minsk’s first season in the Russian KHL league was less than successful: In the Bobrow-Division the team from Belarus finished last and overall they came only third from the bottom in terms of points scored. It was a crisis-riddled season: many foreign players who had been taken under contract by Minsk fell short of the high expectations. Already during the season the team severed ties with Mike Maneluk (formerly Davos, Lugano, Zug), Mark Rycroft, Laurent Meunier and Mike Ryan. Even team trainer Jim Hughes had to leave as early as October 2008; while his successor, Wassili Spiridonow, was asked to leave at the end of the 2008 season.
The club management’s wider reaction was quick to follow. Contrary to what some had expected management rolled out the heavy guns: In the summer of 2009 almost the entire team was replaced with many new and expensive additions all of whom could boast NHL experience. The new marching order was to get away from the bottom of the league table and secure a place in the semi-finals. “The least we should be able to do is make it to the quarter final”, says Minsk vice president Wladimir Gontscharov. One other goal is also to win the Spengler Cup. But Gontscharow is treading carefully saying that “all teams are favorites and have what it takes to win the tournament”
Three Finish players on Belarusian team
Minsk’s new trainer is Canadian coach Glen Hanlon who enjoys almost hero status in Belarus: in 2006 it was he who led Belarus as national coach to sixth place overall in the world championships – the biggest victory to date in the history of Belarusian ice hockey. After spending one season with Jokerit Helsinki, Hanlon repeated his success with Belarus at this year’s world championships in Switzerland achieving a very respectable eighth place.
With Hanlon, Minsk engages a very experienced international coach. The adding of the three Finish players, Vännänen, Peltonen and Jokela also caused quite a stir. The two defenders Ossi Vännänen and Mikko Jokela most recently played together in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks. Ville Peltonen, who made a name for himself during his three year term with Swiss club HC Lugano, played his last three seasons as forward for the Florida Panthers.
Further additions to the high salaried new line of defense for the Minsk team are national team player Aleksandr Rjadinskij, the Canadian Duvie Westcott as well as Josef Boumedienne and Martin Sevc who joined the team already last season. Sevc’s previous engagement was with Swedish top team Färjestads BK with a short stint at Basel, Switzerland in 2007. The Belarusian national goalie Andrej Mezin, voted best goalie at the 2006 and 2009 world championships, is joining Minsk from KHL-competitor Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
The country’s President in full ice hockey gear
Also the “new” forward formation at Minsk is making everyone hopeful that there will be more goals than in previous years: along with Peltonen, Canadians Geoff Platt from Finish team Tampere and the NHL-experienced Byron Ritchie and Servette Genf are joining the team this season.
This team ramp up comes at a price - one that Dynamo Minsk is obviously able and willing to afford: as the only team from Belarus playing in the Russian KHL league and in a country where ice hockey is the No.1 sport, the club is the country’s calling card. Even the country’s president Aleksandr Lukaschenko will pose for photo journalists in full ice hockey gear. “We receive a lot of support from both the government and the general public” explains Vice President Gontscharow.
Despite all this the club has enjoyed only few successes in the course of its history. Founded under the name of Torpedo Minsk in 1946, the club saw a frequent change of its organizational structure and played under varying names with socialist leaning such as “Work Minsk” or “Red Flag Minsk”. The club saw its biggest success between 1977 and 1993 under the name of “Dynamo Minsk” when, for nine seasons, they played in the highest Russian ice hockey league.
The collapse of the Soviet Union put an end to this phase; the club changed hands and was henceforth under private ownership, calling itself Tiwali. Until 1996 they were allowed to continue to play in the Russian league. After that the club continued to play in the much less prestigious Belarusian league, winning no less than four league championships. By 2001 Tiwali was forced to file for bankruptcy.
Finally, in 2004 the Belarusian national hockey league took the initiative and resurrected Dynamo Minsk. The club went on to win the 2005 and 2006 Belarusian ice hockey cup final as well as the 2007 championships. This was an important mile stone to its readmission to the Russian KHL league in 2008. The new season is expected to see them finally return to the top of the European leader board.
