Bosses of the Continental Hockey League relatively recently stirred up the entire Russian hockey community with the news about the creation of a new project - the Hockey Premier League (or shortly - HPL). It would seem that a new professional league is good and right, but life has shown that the KHL intends to cut out a whole layer in the system of domestic competitions with its new league - the Major Hockey League. The main prerequisite for the creation of a new league is that the KHL clubs need a springboard for running in young hockey players who have graduated from the Youth Hockey League. At the same time, it is assumed that the participants in the new tournament will be “pure farm clubs” under the “care” of the KHL clubs.

Background to the conflict

For a long time, the KHL tried to do something similar from the Major Hockey League, but invariably the "tower" fought back with all its might. And this is not surprising - in the KHL there are enough independent teams with their own history, school and, most importantly, their tournament goals, and often these very goals ran counter to the desire of the KHL clubs to provide their young players with playing practice at all costs. And it does not matter that often the "exiles" did not take the game in the VHL seriously, and sometimes they did not "pull" at all. And you take out a place at the start and put them all the same.

Another reason for declaring war on the part of the KHL was the figure of the managing director of the Major Hockey League, German Skoropupov. Of course, this person is extremely ambiguous, even among the members of the VHL there is dissatisfaction with Skoropupov, but on the issue of KHL pressure on the VHL, he expressed his point of view - there will be no competition between the VHL farm clubs:

- There is an option that the teams affiliated with the KHL teams will participate in the VHL.

- Farm clubs or what? It's impossible. It is impossible to imagine that Rubin will be just a farm club for Yugra. Yes, and in the law there is no such thing as the championship of farm clubs.

The result was the creation of the so-called HPL. And everything would be fine, if not the words of the head of the union of players in the KHL Andrey Kovalenko:

- The Premier League, as we see it, did not fully fit into the MHL-VHL-KHL vertical, it separated itself somewhere, initiating its own legal norms and never adopting a single Regulation with the KHL. The VHL never managed to fulfill the main task - to fuel the KHL with strong players. If you carefully study the composition of the KHL clubs, you will see that the contribution of the JHL to the education of players for Continental League significant enough. Unfortunately, this cannot be said about the Major League, which has become a thing in itself and a very old league. It is very important that young players who left the JHL, but have not yet made it to the KHL, get regular game practice in the new league. At the same time, the understudy tournament should not turn into the second, albeit somewhat older, youth championship. In the HPL, along with teenagers, the best age hockey players under 35 are required to play. We are convinced that our youth will progress only by getting bumps in matches with men.

It is not clear what “main task” Kovalenko is talking about. The goals and objectives of the league are quite clearly spelled out in the rules of the competition:

Somewhere, is there anything written about “feeding the KHL with strong players”?

Development of the conflict

Again, another professional league in Russia is probably good and right. But not when raider tricks come into play, which Skoropupov spoke about in an interview with Sportfact:

- KHL President Dmitry Chernyshenko says that the Premier League is not an attempt to break up the VHL, but the final phase of building a clear vertical. But his words run counter to the actions of the KHL management, which is persuading Major League teams to move to the Premier League. And this applies not so much to farm clubs as to the leading teams of the competition. I can call it an attempt to break up the VHL. The clubs in our league are under pressure. They are really being lured into new league. Understand that the regions are behind the clubs, the teams solve their own goals and objectives. Free rotation of players between leagues without a deadline turns the competition into a banal farce. And how will club leaders explain to fans that now a team representing a large region is someone's farm club? I think it's humiliating.

It would seem that everything is logical and understandable. But all the hockey people, from the bosses of the Continental League to simple hockey fans who are far from the HSE, stubbornly insist that the VHL does not replenish the KHL, therefore, the VHL is not needed.

But wait! Does the whole world revolves around the KHL? No, I personally understand the desire of the elite to provide their young players with playing practice. But should this elite, in this case, dictate its terms to the VHL teams that have their own history, traditions, fans and, attention, their own school? After all, HSE clubs have their own goals, and everyone wants to achieve them. And often, the interests of the KHL in this situation run counter to the interests of the VHL clubs.

As a result, the KHL has now decided not only to take away the farm clubs, but also to “buy out” some independent teams from the VHL in a real way. The same "Sportfact" writes that the KHL clubs are ready to take on 50% of the filling of the budgets of the "defectors" from the VHL if they agree to move to a new league. To put it in your own words, the KHL is going to buy out a number of Vyshka clubs.

KHL thus kills two birds with one stone. Firstly, in a number of cases, KHL clubs share the costs of their farm clubs in half, and secondly, it pretty much spoils the life of such a hated VHL in general and Skoropupov in particular. A very sophisticated way of revenge, what can I say.

Will we no longer see the confrontation between Yermak and Toros?

On the this moment, "Toros", "Chelmet", "Dynamo" Balashikha, "SKA-Neva", "Sarov", "Zvezda", "Bars" (farm clubs) leave the HPL from the VHL, transitions of "Saryarka" are also possible (under leadership of Avangard), Neftyanik (under Ak Bars), Southern Urals (under Magnitogorsk), Zauralye (under Kuznya). Personally, I would not rule out the possibility of leaving Ryazan, which has established close cooperation with Lokomotiv (although Loko has enough resources to declare its own team in the HPL), Ust-Kamenogorsk Torpedo and Voskresensky Khimik ". Of course, the biggest losses will be "Toros", "Chelmet", "Neftyanik", "Southern Ural" and "Torpedo". The listed teams have their own identical style, Chelyabinsk residents constantly have interesting young hockey players. But the main problem is not even the number of possible lost clubs, but the numerical losses among hockey players, because now there is talk that there will be no special age limit in the HPL, and in this case, an outflow of players from the VHL to the new one is quite likely league, which will deal a significant blow to the patrimony of Skoropupov.

What can we expect?

As you know, you need to hope for the best, but you need to prepare for the worst. Can leave the VHL from 9 to 14 clubs, and this is only a preliminary estimate. Even if you do not take into account the loss of the number of players, the departure of almost half of the league's players is a failure. True, there is already talk about the possible entry of St. Petersburg Dynamo and HC Chelny from Naberezhnye Chelny, plus there is also the VHL championship, where some of the teams - Tambov, Rostov, CSK VVS - would be very interesting see in the championship. Rostov last season became the strongest team of the last RHL draw, now in the final it is fighting just the same with Tambov, CSK VVS was eager for the championship back in 2015, but was not allowed due to the state of the arena. Perhaps the VHL in this case will change the input data in order to accept new participants and somehow compensate for the number of lost clubs.

As for the HPL, I have a purely skeptical attitude towards it. And not even because I am an ardent supporter of HSE. I find it hard to believe that the farm club competition will be successful in terms of player development. So far, this tournament seems to be a training one, devoid of a competitive moment. It’s also hard for me to believe that this tournament will arouse fan interest. Therefore, if there were three clubs in the VHL whose stands attendance tended to zero, then in the new league there will be much more of them.

Another problem that I see is that the creation of the HPL can lead to even stronger differentiation of the level of teams in the KHL. A lot of chips like an extended end-to-end application can make strong teams The KHL is even stronger, and the weak ones are even weaker. You don’t have to look for examples - even now Dmitry Kvartalnov in the KHL playoffs has the ability to painlessly change 6-7 players in starting lineup in every new match. Will it not turn out that the conditional CSKA or SKA in the new season will have ten ready-made fives, assembled at the expense of some Novokuznetsk Metallurgists, Cherepovets Severstal and other Vityaz near Moscow? I won’t be surprised that with the ability of the current leaders of the KHL to carry out “innovations and modernization”, it will happen.

But one thing is clear for sure: important KHL officials do not consider fans in the regions to be people, and do not consider it shameful to take hockey away from them. Pick up hockey from us.

UPD: Literally at the time of the publication of the material, it became known that an HPL team is likely to appear in Samara. Thus, the option with the CSK VVS in the VHL is probably out of the question.

the site explains what needs to be done with the VHL so that clubs do not leave it, and what benefits this will bring to the KHL and all of Russian hockey.

When the Major Hockey League, and the reason is called a budget cut of 47% (although before the cut it was the most rich team VHL, which spent about 300 million rubles a year), eyes wide open and refuse to return to their normal state. Think about it: 150 million rubles! $3 million at the current exchange rate is the budget of a "packaged" AHL club. Not one of the rich, but not poor either. Maybe not profitable, but certainly cost-cutting. At the same time, it has a much more solid selection of players.

In general, the budgets of independent clubs in the American Hockey League - and there are 15 out of 30 of them in it - range from 2 to 4.5 million dollars. Addicts in practice are even cheaper, although formally this is not the case, since in them money is still transferred from one pocket to another.

The funny thing is, in the VHL the limits are exactly the same. According to the regulations, the minimum budget of the club should be 100 million rubles - the very same 2 million dollars. And these 100 million, by the way, do not include membership fee– another 4 million. And the richest clubs spend more than 200 million. The circus? And what else.

But, as you understand, with the same costs for clubs on both sides of the ocean, we see a completely different product in terms of quality. Bratina's finale is not a spectacle for the faint of heart. Slow pace, butterflies from whiskers, shortfalls by 3 meters. The Calder Cup Final is a peppy, fun and quite digestible action that you want to watch. What can I say, the leaders of the AHL come to the KHL and become leaders on this side of the ocean. Not all, yes, but most of them. Whereas the leaders of the VHL at the level of the Continental League, to put it mildly, are completely untenable. So what is the point of this banquet then?

It is clear that the maintenance of the MHL and RHL clubs, which are at the disposal of some VHL clubs, costs a pretty penny, but the players' salaries should also be lower and significantly. So are employee salaries. Moreover, in the VHL you will not find any development coaches, skating coaches, scouts, sales departments of 20 people, a pack of certified physiotherapists and other attributes of AHL clubs, where, sometimes, the staff has 50 people, and everyone is really busy.

The leaders of the AHL come to the KHL and become leaders here, but the leaders of the VHL at this level are insolvent. So what is the point of this banquet?

The minimum salary in the AHL is $42,375 per year. In the VHL - 150 thousand rubles ($ 3,000) per year for players under the age of 21 and 450 thousand ($ 9,000) - after 21. The maximum in both leagues is not limited, there is no ceiling, but no one earns in the same American Hockey League more than 400 thousand dollars (the minimum contract in the NHL is 525 thousand) with an average salary of about 80 thousand. Only 15 players have salaries above 300 thousand there - and these are necessarily bilateral agreements with unrestricted free agents (from 27 years old), which are either partially (for independent clubs; according to a complex formula taking into account indicators) or completely covered by the NHL parent club. One-sided purely Akhael contracts worth more than 200 thousand dollars are simply unthinkable, and in the VHL they, imagine, are found. How this is possible, and where a lot of money goes, is another question.

Calder Cup finalist Grand Rapids, Detroit's independent farm club, has a budget of between $3 million and $3.5 million a year. Of these, 350,000 go to logistics, 500,000 to rent the 11,000th Van Andel Arena, about one and a half million to pay salaries to 40 employees (the sales and marketing department is the largest, the average attendance, by the way, is 8082 people) plus 10 interns . This "fee fund" is actually quite modest, because coaching staff paid by Detroit, and many have part-time jobs. The remaining money from the budget goes directly to the players. At the same time, it should be noted that in the 2015 playoffs, only four hockey players who are not related to the Red Wings, whose salaries do not exceed the AHL average, are playing for the Griffons. That is, almost the entire roster is partly paid for by the Red Wings, which carefully bring their staff to the NHL, including coaching. Suffice it to say that there are as many as 15 full-fledged graduates of Grand Rapids in the Detroit squad, and Mike Babcock will most likely be replaced by Main coach"Griffins" Jeff Blashill.

This, of course, is in many ways a unique system, but in the NHL and AHL, everyone strives for something like this one way or another. Some people do worse, and some even do better, like Tampa and Syracuse, for example. But everyone wins, including the fans of Akhaelian teams. And that's why:

1. NHL clubs can easily bring the players of the system to the desired level, spending mere pennies. About 80% of the league's hockey players went through the AHL school one way or another (short business trips to get in shape, of course, do not count, otherwise the percentage would be much higher);

2. AHL clubs get the opportunity to reduce costs while strengthening squads;

3. The difference in salaries in a bilateral contract is often tenfold, or even more (although in rare cases it can be twofold), which gives a powerful incentive to players to develop;

4. The AHL's bylaws state that its top priority is player development. In view of this, the following rules have been adopted: out of 18 field players in the application for the match, 13 must qualify as “developing players”. That is, to have no more than 260 career matches in professional leagues. The American hockey league, and the NHL, and the KHL, and the VHL, and all the major European championships with their sub-league systems. Therefore, the AHL is a very young league: the average age is 24 against 26 in the VHL, 27.3 in the NHL and 27.7 in the KHL. Screenings are constantly going on, if veterans remain, then they are really great professionals, even if they are perhaps deprived of talent;

5. Add that most powerful stimulus to youth, and at the end you will get the highest speeds and the readiness of teams to gnaw the ice every second, which, of course, is reflected in the entertainment for the better.

The ongoing struggle for a place in the sun is what makes the AHL such a useful league for the NHL. And at the same time for USA Hockey with Hockey Canada. The competition within the teams is huge, the youth spurs both themselves and others, everyone wants to break into the first link - an ideal springboard for a step up. Well, if it's too difficult, then at least light up and move up in the rankings in the reports of the scouts of other teams. Perhaps some of the clubs will want to trade you and make a bet on you.

You should also not forget that for the development of the player, the more playing time, the more games in different situations, the more responsibility, the better. This, however, does not bother the FHR in the least, which strives to forcefully shove as many semi-finished products into the KHL as possible, and they don’t give a damn that there is almost no sense in 5-7 minutes of playing interspersed with jail terms in club boxes.

At the moment, the VHL does nothing for Russian hockey, just throwing away suitcases of money

In SKA, Ak Bars, Salavat, Dynamo, Traktor, they understood this, deciding to come to grips with the farm clubs, but this is not enough, especially since: with all responsibility he declares that his league will never will become a farm competition, talks about some kind of history, although what does history have to do with it?

What's the use of history if half a league are well-fed, aspiring veterans who get paid more than they could get anywhere else? And all this against the backdrop of disastrous marketing and the complete unprofitability of the clubs. The following steps are required:

1. Make player development a priority;

2. Introduce a similar AHL qualification adjusted for fewer matches;

3. Remove the simply idiotic rule from the 3rd paragraph of the 35th article of the VHL regulations, which reads:

The Club has the right to include in the "Main Team" list of hockey players of the KHL club who have concluded the relevant bilateral contracts, subject to the following conditions:

- no more than 9 hockey players for Clubs that have a common organizational and/or financial structure with the KHL club;

– no more than 4 hockey players for the Clubs that have concluded an agreement on sports cooperation with the KHL club;

4. At the same time, introduce a ban on sending players from the KHL to farm clubs who can play in the JHL due to their age, so as not to weaken the Youth Hockey League;

5. Refocus on making a profit instead of wasting money, for which purpose introduce the concept of a maximum salary that cannot exceed the minimum in the KHL (750 thousand rubles a year for players under the age of 21, 3 million rubles a year for players over 21 years old) . Again, this is an added incentive.

At the moment, the VHL does nothing for Russian hockey, just throwing out suitcases of money. Yes, clubs perform a certain social function, but they will continue to perform it even with the appearance of a common strategy - now it does not exist. It is possible that it is even better to perform. And at the same time benefit themselves and the big hockey pyramid.

It is not surprising that this is not understood in the FHR. With this organization, everything has been clear for a long time. But the new leadership of the KHL was going to reform Vyshka, and the release of a considerable number of MHL players with a new age limit may not be accidental. Not a fact, of course, but a big fan of Big Data Dmitry Chernyshenko should not have lost sight of such an inefficient structure as the VHL.

For lovers and fans, these are not just words.

A bit of history

History of this sports association does not last as long as hockey itself, but it is also worth attention. The league was organized in 2009, on November 24th. Since then, the composition of the teams participating in the championship, the players and the main characters have changed many times, but the essence has not changed.

Competitions

VHL is a whole life for fans and, moreover, for players! When the competition begins, the season opens, the life of hockey players begins to bounce. During the competition, nothing else exists for them but the game.

Russian hockey leagues

At the moment, there are many different hockey leagues, the most popular of them are the VHL and the KHL. The abbreviations KHL and VHL are deciphered as Continental and Higher. Continental is a little higher in status.

Team composition

VHL players are from the MHL. After training in the Youth League, young future hockey stars move into the ranks of the Major League players.

Season

The game season opens every year at the beginning of autumn. The opening day of the season is a floating date. In 2017, the gaming season opened on October 8th. The final game of the season will take place on February 28, 2018.

Participating teams

This season, 27 from different cities of Russia are declared to participate. At the moment, the favorites are the leading teams of the VHL, these are: Dynamo - St. Petersburg, SKA-Neva - St. Petersburg, Izhstal - Izhevsk (Udmurtia) and Saryarka (Karaganda) with Khimik (Voskresensk).

Forecasts

At the moment, in the 2017-2018 season, the playoff tournament of the Major Hockey League is underway. The VHL was formed relatively recently, but this kind of competition is already more than a tradition. Of course, sports have been betting and predicting for a long time. But what do the professionals say?

Of the many hockey experts, those who cannot be considered biased judges were involved. That is, specifically the head coaches and strategists of teams that for some reason did not take part in the games.

Predictions for sports, especially when it comes to hockey, are a very fickle thing. You can't predict for a long time. In this sport, the state of affairs can change critically quickly and rapidly.

At the meeting, special attention was paid to some favorites (including the favorites of the past years). In the analysis and approximate calculation of the chances of "Saryarka" and "Chelmet", the specialists unanimously decided that there would be no problems for "Saryarka" in this game and the team would easily win. It should be remembered that it is Saryarka that is the current owner of the Bratina and the champion of the 2015-2016 season.

The next game on the agenda of the meeting was Izhstal - Kazzinc-Torpedo. In this issue, only one percent of those present gave their preference to the Kazakh team. But these opinions were quickly discounted, as those who voted turned out to be connected with the team of a single homeland. Sports experts boldly wished for the victory of the Izhevsk team.

"Hammer-Prikamye" - "Lipetsk". Of the total number of respondents, opinions were literally divided into two camps. If you believe this poll 100%, then you can say that the game will end in a draw.

Results

Sport is an extremely objective thing, and hockey is also fast. Now all the teams are only at the very beginning of the VHL championship, which means that it is too early to judge. Despite all the forecasts, the busiest time of the season is yet to come. How the championship will turn out, we will find out only in March next year.

“In prosperous clubs, salaries are 120 thousand rubles a month.” 5 interviews about reforms in Russian hockey

The leadership of the second most powerful hockey league in Russia has written letters of resignation, the clubs of the Continental League are pleased with new opportunities for interaction with the VHL, and hockey players are trying to collect debts. Details from the life of the major league - on "Match TV".

FHR President Vladislav Tretiak and Managing Director VHL director German Skoropupov long before the rights to host the major league championship were returned to the hockey federation. Photo: KHL.

In March, it was planned to create another league in Russian hockey: the HPL, which stood for "hockey premier league." The farm clubs of the Continental League teams were supposed to play in the HPL. At the same time, the new structure would partially duplicate the functions that the Major Hockey League now performs, and it is not entirely clear where to get so many hockey players to fill it as well. By the beginning of May, a decision was ripe: there would be no HPL, and reforms would be carried out in the VHL, which, in particular, would make life easier for top clubs in the matter of calling their hockey players from farm clubs or teams with which there are cooperation agreements. It is assumed that this can be done throughout the championship. At the same time, hockey players who are on bilateral contracts could previously freely move between clubs almost until the VHL playoffs - I immediately recall the example of Alexei Sopin in the winter of 2013: on January 31, the KHL had a deadline for transfers, on February 4, Sopin still played in the VHL for Balashikha, and then was promoted to the base and on the 21st scored two goals for Dynamo Moscow in the Gagarin Cup (and eventually won with the playoff team).

In the 2016/2017 season, the Major League Championship will be held under the auspices of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation. This means that club contributions will go to the Russian Hockey Federation, which in turn will allocate a budget for the operation of the VHL. The league is expected to be managed by an organizing committee, which will include three representatives of the FHR and two representatives each from the KHL and the VHL.

Why is the leadership of the VHL leaving?

VHL managing director German Skoropupov, who led the league from the first season of 2010/2011, did not agree with the current reforms and resigned. In an interview with Match TV, he explained the reasons for his departure.

“This is not an impulsive decision, not a loud slam of the door,” says Skoropupov. - I am the executive director of the general meeting of leaders of VHL clubs, that is, I am subordinate to the interests of clubs and regions. When we wrote an open letter (it was signed by 18 clubs - Match TV), an option arose: if they don’t hear us, we can go to play in the VHL championship (not to be confused with the VHL championship - Match TV), for which there are rights for another two years. We sent out bulletins asking if the clubs are ready to go for it. And on June 2, by 18:00, we received all the answers. A minority of clubs were ready for such a step.

- How?

I won't give the exact number. But there are not many clubs left that are ready to defend their interests. When the regions and clubs decided to go under the hockey federation, I resigned. There was no point in plucking the rest of them somewhere. I did not want to harm anyone and did not want to create any kind of fragmentation. In the current situation, I don't feel like I can be of any use. And no personal gain can stop this feeling. I just can't do things I don't understand.

During the 2012/2013 lockout, Alexander Semin went to play for the Krasnoyarsk Sokol in the VHL - and only then signed a contract with the KHL club Torpedo. Photo: RIA Novosti / Sergey Chernykh.

Most importantly, we tried not to lose the sports component of the tournament. I do not find it useful for a player's growth when he walks between two teams in the KHL and the VHL. I think that a player will grow only in strong competitions, having gone through the entire tournament with the team. Otherwise, we need another league with different goals and objectives: like in the hockey Premier League project, when everyone KHL club he maintains his own farm club. And when regions with a VHL club have to work for a region with a KHL club and be subordinate to the training of players for another region, this is simply unacceptable in our conditions. How interesting will such competitions be for fans?

- It is clear that this may not be in the interests of sponsors and club owners. But isn't it in the interests of the players themselves? VHL hockey players will be motivated, knowing that they can be promoted to the KHL club at any time.

“Well, what kind of running is this going to be?” And how will the player grow here? Here, from the KHL, a hockey player will be sent to the VHL team - and where should the coach put him if he has a simulated five?

- So in the AHL, they cope calmly. And there is attendance.

“They are built differently. Their sports component does not suffer: when you can lower it, when you can’t. It would never occur to anyone there that any team in the playoffs would have an advantage in connection with these buffs.

- If there was an appeal from the clubs, if the clubs were so worried about their independence, then why didn’t anyone follow you?

- Our clubs are mainly financed from the budget, that is, by the executive branch. So this is a question for the leaders of the regions. You see, I am proud that the perception of our work for all this time has been positive on the part of the ice hockey federation, fans, players, specialists. The clubs really felt like a league and understood that decisions in the VHL are made in favor of the entire league, and not just one club. How it could work differently, I don't know. It is all the more important to take into account the interests of the clubs in today's economic conditions.

- Because you can beat off the interest to invest in hockey?

- Well, of course. What is the point for the governor to invest money from the budget in competitions if they suddenly cease to arouse interest among the inhabitants of the region? my main task there was an alignment of clubs in terms of opportunities. Judging by the standings, we have achieved this: the teams were very tight. The attendance of our playoff matches is often limited only by the capacity of the sports palaces. In the same Izhevsk, people could not get to hockey: there were no tickets. Even with this dilapidated economy - I mean the old ice palaces– we have done a lot: put things in order, created the best possible conditions for fans and players. Plus, all of our matches were streamed for free on live. It was not easy, but we are the first in Russia to do it. And we are the first in Russia to hold official championship matches on open ice: having little resources, they came up with and implemented a large-scale project "Russian Classics".

February 17, 2012, Krasnoyarsk. The first "Russian classic": "Sokol" (Krasnoyarsk) - "Locomotive" (Yaroslavl). Photo: KHL

Are you leaving alone?

We had a small but very strong team. Most key executives have written resignations. I'm trying to convince them to stay. I don't want them to make decisions on emotions, otherwise they think that they will betray someone if they stay.

- For a man who retires, you are too correct.

- I'm not leaving because of some kind of resentment: I respect the Russian Ice Hockey Federation. I’m leaving simply because I can’t fulfill this decision and I don’t feel the strength to be useful to project currently being proposed.

What do they answer in the FHR

FHR Executive Director Dmitry Kurbatov did not comment on Skoropupov's resignation. In a conversation with a Match TV correspondent, Kurbatov did not agree with the statement that the VHL was becoming a farm club league: “There are new opportunities for moving players, but this does not make the VHL become a farm club league. Competitions will be interesting and no decline should occur. It is incorrect to say that something will change so much that interest in competitions will decrease. Now the transfer rules will change, including at the end of the season, we will be able to move players faster. But nothing else has changed in this regard."

What are the VHL clubs concerned about?

“I don’t really want to break an old car that drove well,” says CEO HC "Sarov" Viktor Levashov. - Was good system but decided to change it.

What will change for clubs?

- If for the last six years the clubs had a majority when voting on any issue and they themselves made decisions, now there is no such majority - and instead of clubs, everything will be decided by functionaries. And this is the main thing, and everything else is the consequences. I must say that the Premier League has always been distinguished by the fact that the regulations were adopted by the vote of the clubs and did not change under external influence. Now clubs do not participate in the development of regulations.

- In the new season, KHL clubs will not have restrictions on the movement of players with bilateral contracts to the VHL and back. How do you feel about this item?

- For understanding: KHL clubs could move players to our league and back anyway, there was just a reasonable limit: before the VHL playoffs. And the desire to remove this restriction arose due to the fact that last season one of the KHL clubs flew out of the playoffs and, without reading our regulations, wanted to send six to eight hockey players with bilateral contracts to the VHL. The leaders of this KHL club began to call the director of the major league and ask to resolve the issue. But no one went against the regulations, for which the VHL clubs voted. And immediately a scandal arose: “Our hockey players are not allowed to play!”

– What would be bad if they transferred the players? Would the team get a surprise buff in the playoffs?

- The championship should be played according to clear rules that cannot be changed at the last moment. If, relatively speaking, the sixteenth VHL team before the playoff meeting with the first, bypassing the regulations, receives eight people from the KHL club, in my opinion, this is not entirely correct. As far as reforms are concerned, I am in favor of maintaining a balance of interests.

– How many people with bilateral contracts are on your team?

- During the season, about twenty people pass: from Torpedo, from Chaika. From two to six play at the same time, but for the most part they are young hockey players. BUT KHL players we have one or two recovery matches after an injury, for example. This is a normal process. Mostly on bilateral contracts, we have young players from Torpedo, who do not get into the main team, and the most promising from Chaika. Our club was created specifically for the Torpedo system. Everything is different: someone has one farm, someone has two (like SKA), someone has none (like Metallurg Novokuznetsk). MHL - VHL - KHL - this is the elevator in which most hockey players try to get to the top floor. And the major league has always been built into this system, interacted and was not isolated - and at the same time it was controlled by the clubs that played in it. At the moment, as I said, the clubs are removed from the management of the league.

– What would you like to influence, but is unlikely to be able to?

- For example, in the VHL they want to accept an Estonian club. Previously, we would have thought ten times whether the league needed this club or not. Because it's the clubs that will pay for their trips to Estonia, not the league. And now the clubs do not have a majority of votes and decisions come down from above - and it seems to me that the people who make these decisions are not very familiar with the financial condition of the VHL clubs. Now more than half of the teams are in survival mode. We are not cut off from the general economic situation.

Salavat general manager Leonid Weisfeld is waiting for the opportunity to send hockey players to the VHL all year round. Photo: KHL.

What are the KHL clubs happy about?

- How do you perceive the reform of the VHL?- a question to the general manager of "Salavat Yulaev" Leonid Weisfeld.

- If I knew what the reform would be, I would comment.

- Don't you know?

Well, I just know what they're going to do. But we have revolutions every day.

- And what would you like to get as a result?

“I wish I could send people up and down without any limits. Without restrictions on terms, on quantity. And now, for example, I cannot send a player to the VHL if there is a playoff going on. It is necessary that the general manager of the KHL club be able to move players from the KHL and back all year: in July and August.

– Explain why this is necessary?

- Here we need to decide: why does the VHL exist? If this league wants to be autonomous, independent and on its own, then yes - these transitions are not needed. If this is a league to train people in the KHL, then there is no way without it. Let's say I'm in the playoffs and there's a young guy who doesn't make it into the roster. But he needs practice - and I let him down. Or some team does not get into the KHL playoffs - and so that the young people do not finish the season in February, I lower them to the VHL. They must play, train, and it will turn out that they have up to next game six months. Here everything is obvious.

- Are you surprised by the reaction of the leaders of the VHL, who resigned?

- Not surprised. Why be surprised? This is a power struggle. It's just that if they had not rested on these issues in due time, then everything could have been resolved. There weren't that many disagreements. But they wanted to be kind of independent.

On the last match season 2015/2016 in Almetyevsk gathered 2380 spectators with a capacity of 2200 palace. Photo: VHL press service

How do players perceive it?

In the application for the season, farm clubs should have no more than 40 players, the rest of the teams - no more than 30 players plus up to 10 with bilateral contracts. It is assumed that no more than 10 hockey players aged 29 years and older can be included in the application.

Hockey players themselves, playing in the VHL, are not satisfied with everything. One of them anonymously told the correspondent of "Match TV" about how things are in the league clubs.

- Here they write: “KHL clubs must pay off their debts for last season by June 15, otherwise they threaten to prevent them from going to the championship.” Wonderful. And no one controls the big leagues like that. In the VHL, the most important thing is to get the right number of teams. Last year, Zvezda-VDV was for quantity - it did not pay any player and withdrew. This year, only three or four teams have paid the promised bonuses to the players. And most of the teams have not seen not only bonuses - they are waiting for salaries. You have to apply to the trade union, to the inspection, to the prosecutor's office. You can solve something if you do not allow clubs with serious debt. But it will affect the number of commands. And so - there are clubs that have thrown someone and continue to play. Probably there is no such hockey player major league, which was not thrown somewhere. I communicate with guys over 30 who come to the big leagues after the KHL. For some reason, they don’t stay long: they say that they would play a season or two, but they are already tired of these trials, of having to beat out the money that you agreed on before the season. To some extent, I understand the leadership of the league: the main thing for them is that the club remains, even with debts, so they could turn a blind eye to some violations. But half of the clubs have a reputation for being unreliable.

It was profitable for the VHL clubs to keep hockey players on bilateral contracts: after all, the KHL club pays them a salary, there are no expenses. And now they can be taken away at any moment - of course, one can understand the dissatisfaction. The reform is unfavorable for clubs that have been playing in the big leagues all their lives. The same Orsk, Angarsk, Almetyevsk take this tournament seriously, they have a lot of people going to hockey - and they don't want to be perceived as someone's farm club.

Now they seem to make a limit: a maximum of 10 people in a team after 27 years (according to our information, after 29 years - "Match TV"). The VHL is now only aimed at young people. And the fate of middle-aged players, such a feeling, simply does not bother anyone anymore.

How much do they pay in the big leagues on average?

- If earlier a player with a level of “near the KHL” could earn 250-300 thousand rubles a month in the major leagues, now salaries have fallen. The same "Toros", where the maximum salary was 300 thousand, they say, lowered the ceiling to 200. Players of the age in prosperous clubs usually get 120-130 thousand "dirty". There are increased stakes in each team, but there are two or three of them. By and large, there are no normal salaries anywhere, somewhere in general they play for 50 thousand, somewhere for 90. Previously, this was still compensated with bonuses: from 10 to 20 thousand for a victory, but now there are three or four clubs in the entire league that have fully paid off awards for the entire season. And when you sign a contract, it’s better not to count on bonuses right away.

This year, the awards seemed to be given only in Orsk, Toros and somewhere else. Saryarka, the guys say, reduced the bonuses: they talked about one amount, but gave another. In Sputnik, for example, they gave a bonus before the playoffs in February, and the players were told that the debts would be returned in the reverse order: that is, they gave out for February, now they will pay for January, then December, and so on. In many clubs, salary delays: somewhere in April they did not pay, somewhere else they owed debts in March. And everyone closes their eyes, nowhere is this described, because well, who is interested in the major league? Tretiak, perhaps, will delve into all this and stand up for hockey players? I’m talking with a friend who plays for the Asian League - there’s nothing like that there, everyone pays on time.

Text: Alexander Lyutikov, Nikita Krotov

A photo: press service of the VHL; photo.khl.ru; RIA Novosti/Sergey Chernykh

Tomorrow the sixth season of the VHL starts in Neftekamsk, but for now we are getting acquainted with the main figures for past seasons and interesting facts about the upcoming championship.

Number of teams that took part in the draws:

2010/11 - 20 , 2011/12 – 23 , 2012/13 – 27 , 2013/14 – 26, 2014/15 – 24 . Before the creation of the VHL in the 2009/10 season, the major leagues were 27 commands.

Total VHL regular season games played 3130 matches played in the playoffs 363 match. Total number of games played over 5 years – 3493 .

Played in the VHL for 5 seasons 2730 players. In each of the seasons, the proportion of young players (under 20 years of age) exceeded 7,5 %.

2010/11 – 8,12 %; 2011/12 – 7,51 %; 2012/13 – 11,66 %; 2013/14 – 9,03 %; 2014-15 – 9,69 %.

The league's average age by season has never been older 26 years. 2010/11 - 25,88 ; 2011/12 – 25,93 ; 2012/13 – 25,68 ; 2013/14 – 25,87 ; 2014/15 – 25,86 .

The youngest teams in each of the seasons:

2010/11 - Dynamo Tver (21.85); HC Navy (22.06); Toros (24.85)

2011/12 - Lokomotiv (20.34); HC Navy (22.68); "Crystal" Saratov (23.81)

2012/13 - Loko (20.83); HC Navy (22.66); HC Sarov (23.25)

2013/14 - Chelmet (23.67); Dynamo Balashikha (23.69); HC Sarov (23.89)

2014/15 - Bars (20.66); HC Sarov (23.35); Dynamo Balashikha (23.42)

The oldest teams in each season:

2010/11 - Molot-Prikamye (28.39); "Kazzinc-Torpedo" (28.10); "Ruby" (27.78)

2011/12 - Rubin (28.70); Donbass (28.61); "Trans-Urals" (28.23)

2012/13 - Rubin (29.03); Buran (28.44); "Southern Ural" (27.68)

2013/14 - Rubin (28.83); "Falcon" (27.79); Buran (27.42)

2014/15 - Rubin (28.84); "Satellite" (28.34); "Kazzinc-Torpedo" (28.02)

Behind 5 VHL game seasons were attended by almost 7.5 million spectators (7404227) . The average attendance was 2119 spectators. For comparison, in 2009/10. the average attendance for major league games was 1700 spectators. The growth amounted to almost 25 %. Attendance at playoff games is noticeably higher. Last season she was 3350 spectators. Further growth depends on the actual capacity of the arenas.

There is a trend of falling performance in the regular season: 2010/11 - 5,44 ; 2011/12 – 5,60 ; 2012/13 – 5,31 ; 2013/14 – 4,99 ; 2014/15 – 4,88 . However, this is a general trend in hockey.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the intensity of regular season games. The winners of the regular season in the last two seasons have the most minimum interest points scored: a year ago, Toros had 66,7 %, this season at Saryarka 70,5 %. For comparison, the winner had the maximum percentage of points in the 2011/12 season - Rubin then scored 76,1 %. The second prize-winners also have the lowest figures in the last two seasons: a year ago, Rubin had 65,3 %; this season at Izhstal - 60,9 %.

On the other pole standings, which finished last, Bars has the highest percentage of points scored among outsiders in the last 4 seasons - 30,8 %. The penultimate team has the highest figure for 5 seasons – HC Sarov – 36,5 %. The third from the end of the "Falcon" is the maximum for 5 seasons 42,9 %. These figures testify to the tendency of equalizing the forces of the teams taking part in the VHL championship. This is illustrated by such an indicator as the difference in the percentage of points scored by third teams from the beginning and end of the standings: 2011/12 - 36,5 %; 2012/13 – 31,4 %; 2013/14 – 30,6 %; 2014/15 – 16,1 %.

Number of players who played in the VHL with previous or subsequent experience in the KHL in the last 5 seasons (at least 1 game or getting into the application for the game): goalkeepers - 78, defenders - 197 , attackers 411 Total - 682.

On Sunday, the application of the clubs for the season ended and there is an opportunity to introduce the main participants in the VHL championship in a little more detail.

In total, the applications are 644 player: 63 goalkeeper 217 defenders and 364 forward. The oldest - Vadim Averkin(HC Sarov) born in 1978. Three more players a year younger: Maxim Belyaev("Saryarka"), Alexey Kosourov("Diesel") and Nikolai Pronin("Star" Chekhov).

520 players have experience of playing in the second largest league of Russian hockey.

Among them, in each playing role, one can distinguish hockey players with the most games in the major leagues over the past 15 seasons.

Goalkeepers : Sergey Khoroshun (419), Mikhail Demidov (360), Vitaly Evdokimov (298), Yuri Petrov (289), Denis Khudyakov (262).

Defenders People: Denis Belsky (750), Alexey Chechin (690), Alexey Ermolaev (633), Evgeny Vakhrushev (601), Nikolay Zimin (572).

forwards People: Anton Kochurov (780), Roman Muzychko (683), Maxim Korobov (652), Roman Kozlov (649), Maxim Khapov (642).

It is impossible to ignore the main snipers, assistants and scorers from among those who appear in the applications.

Snipers : Roman Muzychko (197), Maxim Khapov, Stanislav Golovanov (167 each), Anton Kochurov (148), Roman Kozlov, Artur Sarvarov (143 each).

assistants : Viktor Lugovskoy (244), Maxim Korobov (224), Maxim Khapov (222), Dmitry Trusov (218), Anton Kochurov (197).

scorers : Maxim Khapov (389), Viktor Lugovskoy, Stanislav Golovanov (359 each), Maxim Korobov (346), Anton Kochurov (345).

Among goalkeepers 24 goalkeepers have experience playing in the Super League and the KHL. The largest number of matches on account of Danila Alistratov (157), Alexei Kuznetsov (138), Evgeny Lobanov (122), Vitaly Evdokimov (98) and Sergey Khoroshun (69).

81 The defender performed at the highest level. The most experienced among them are Ilshat Bilalov (329), Denis Baev (299), Pavel Kanarsky (266), Evgeny Dubrovin (223), Roman Popov (220).

154 forwards played at least one match in the elite of domestic hockey. Evgeny Fedorov (854), Ruslan Nurtdinov (714), Nikolay Pronin (701), Alexey Kosourov (597) and Pavel Vorobyov (458) have the most games.

11 forwards have more than 50 goals on their sniper rosters high level: Ruslan Nurtdinov (145), Evgeny Fedorov (110), Nikolai Pronin (98), Alexei Kosourov (87), Pavel Vorobyov (76), Alexander Golovin (74), Egor Shastin, Kirill Knyazev (65 each), Sergey Piskunov ( 63), Andrey Kuzmin (58), Alexey Zavrukhin (57). Very serious company!

And only in this season in the VHL declared 259 players with experience in the Super League and the KHL.

Vladimir Zhidkov, specially for VHL