GM: Igor Kirunov
Coach: Dave Tippett
Last season: 5th overall. In playoffs, defeated Oslo; lost to Helsinki.
Ins and Outs
(Season 15 to Season 16)
In: Jimmie Ericsson (free agent), Roope Laavainen (free agent), Frank Vatrano (free agent), Travis Hamonic (free agent), Oscar Klefbom (free agent), Charlie Coyle (free agent), Derek Ryan (free agent)
Out: Petr Vrana (free agent), Jan Kovar (free agent), Niclas Amari (waivers), Tomas Tatar (free agent), Michael Stone (free agent),
Potential Lineup
Jimmie Ericsson/Bo Horvat/Par Arlbrandt
Matthias Sjogren/Jaden Schwartz/Anthony Duclair
Yanni Gourde/Fyodor Malykhin/Frank Vatrano
Bartek Bison/Nick Suzuki/Vasili Podkolzin
Aaron Ekblad/Maxim Chudinov
Rasmus Ristolainen/Jaccob Slavin
Jonas Siegenthaler/Adam Boqvist
Attila Adorjan/Janis Voris
A Question
Is the defenseman position still a strength for the Hussars? In short, yes, and goalies Attila Adorjan and Janis Voris are glad it is. Guess which team gave up the fewest goals in the league last year. General Manager Igor Kirunov has had Minsk in the Top 10 of the league for 11 of the last 12 seasons. Talented blueliners have always been a key to the team’s success. For each of the last 11 years, there has been at least one Hussar defenseman voted to the Northern Conference All-Star team. Maxim Chudinov has made it 4 times and Aaron Ekblad has made it 3 times. Those two have been a big part of the team for more than a decade and they are the top two Hussars still. Chudinov was the team’s first pick (#2 overall) in Season 2 and Ekblad was a first-round pick (# 8 overall) in Season 4. The only other time the team went with a defenseman first in the draft was in Season 10, when Adam Boquist was taken 11th overall. This year, Boquist, 24, finally gets a chance to play regular minutes. With Rasmus Ristolainen and Jaccob Slavin nailed into the Number 2 pairing, Boquist and Jonas Siegenthaler will hold down the fort for 15 or 16 minutes per game with Finn Roope Laavainen on the farm team ready to fill in.
Rose’s Focus
“Hussar hockey is defense first, with speed through the neutral zone and hard pressure at the other end. And they just don’t give up the fight. Minsk is always near the top of the team statistics in all areas. In my opinion, there is a real “team” feeling with this group. They help each other on the ice and they get along well with each other off the ice. They have to keep that attitude if they want to win this season. Most of Minsk’s players are between the ages of 29 and 33, so you hear a lot of Cold Play, The Killers, Kings of Leon and Snow Patrol in their dressing room. I can dig that. I like those bands, although I’m a Mozart gal at heart. Then you have a few younger guys like Vasily Podkozin, Janis Voris and Bartek Bison with their noise-cancelling headphones on, listening to whatever it is these young kids listen to nowadays. Coach Dave Tippett should put a stop to that. I get it that the young guys feel a little out of place with all the veterans in the room, but they need to take those damn things off their ears and be team players. Sorry, but if Minsk doesn’t go far this year, you can blame Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish.”
