GM: Igor Kirunov
Coach: Dave Tippett
Last season: 4th overall. In playoffs, lost to Paris
Ins and Outs
(Season 18 to Season 19)
In: Patrik Laine (trade), Justin Faulk (free agent), Jonas Siegenthaler (trade), Chris Martenet (trade), Nick Robertson (trade), Nikita Zapolsky (trade), Maxim Noreau (free agent)
Out: Maxim Chudinov (trade), Nerius Alisauskas (free agent), William Nylander (trade), Par Arlbrandt (free agent), Vincent Trocheck (free agent), Thomas Powell (free agent), Brandon Saad (free agent), Tomas Jurco (free agent), Jonas Holos (free agent), Ryan McDonagh (trade)
Potential Lineup
Kyle Connor/Nick Suzuki/Patrik Laine
Anthony Beauvillier/Bo Horvat/Matthias Asperup
Kirill Marchenko/Victor Rask/Vasili Podkolzin
Fedor Svechkov/Nick Robertson/Arseny Gritsyuk
Aaron Ekblad/Ivan Provorov
Brock Faber/Hampus Lindholm
Chris Martnet/Jonas Siegenthaler
Attila Adorjan/Janis Voris
A Question
How will the first-round ouster affect Minsk? Season 18 was the year Minsk was going to wash away all the bad luck, clean up and take the grand prize for the third time in its history. It didn’t go according to plan. In fact, the Hussars got wiped out of the playoffs by Paris in the first round. The most concerning part was the lack of zip and zest the Hussars showed in that series. Only three Hussars had plus ratings in the 7 games. Great defenseman Brock Faber vanished. Fellow blueliners Maxim Chudinov and Ivan Provorov weren’t much better. All the Hussars looked pretty exhausted, except maybe for two veterans who GM Igor Kirunov acquired at the start of the season: Kyle Connor and Hampus Lindholm. But throughout the regular season, the Hussars were always close to the top of the standings, always chasing Helsinki it seemed. And in the off season, something pretty interesting happened. Helsinki traded the negotiating rights to sniper Patrik Laine to the Hussars and – much to a lot of people’s surprise – he signed a 3-year deal. Could this quiet little trade swing the balance of power? Could the loss of Laine degrade Helsinki enough so that the addition of Laine lets Minsk surge past them? It could. So could a major change on Minsk’s top line. Bo Horvat has been the top center on the Hussars for the last seven seasons and last year was his most productive ever with 113 points, good enough for 6th-best in the league. But Coach Dave Tippett has penciled Nick Suzuki onto the top line between Laine and Connor, who is another former Jokerit. The logic seems simple: Suzuki is the better passer than Horvat and Laine and Connor were both born to shoot pucks. Matthias Asperup will be the Suzuki of the second line, feeding Horvat and Anthony Beauvillier. Any way you look at it the Hussars will have two very imposing lines this season. The only sticking point in the plan will be how Horvat reacts to being on the second line for the first time since Season 11. Captain Aaron Ekblad will be counted on for offense from the point (he scored 19 goals last year and a league-record 33 goals two years before that) and Tippett will also be asking him be the best leader ever and keep Horvat focused and determined to be a team player. In goal last season, Attila Adorjan simply couldn’t keep up the torrid, all-star pace he had going for the two years before and he saw his numbers fall a bit at age 31. He’s young enough that he should be able to sustain his game, but fans will be keeping a nervous eye on how such a key team member performs early this season.
Rose’s Focus
“Patrik Laine is a big, lumbering forward with a powerful shot, but he jumped like a graceful gazelle from his EURO Cup victory party in Helsinki to Minsk in the off season. Why did he refuse to re-sign in his homeland with a winning team and instead jump at the chance to play for Minsk? I had a talk with Patrik over a meal of my pierogis and he really opened up to me. It turns out it was all about the big fish in a small pond thing. Laine and linemate Brock Boeser (who also raves about my pierogis) tied for second in the league in scoring with 124 points, but that was 41 points below what their center Connor McDavid scored. Patrik said coach Brent Sutter and GM Jukka Tuominen both gushed over McDavid to the media all season long. He said Jukka often brushed by him without a glance just to get to McDavid and hug him after games and that hurt Laine’s feelings. ‘I know it will be different in Minsk. (GM) Igor Kirunov doesn’t play favorites. He doesn’t care about anyone equally and equality is all I am looking for.’ Patrik is generally right about Igor not caring about people … except when it comes to women. He might walk past all of his players without even glancing at them, but he takes the time to shower me with compliments and gifts. He’s can’t possibly treat other women the same way because there’s not enough time in a day. It’s a mathematical impossibility. In my opinion, that makes him one of the best GMs in Websim.”
