- Ak Bars Kazan
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Ak Bars
Ак Барс
Full name Ak Bars Kazan 1995–present
- Itil Kazan 1990–1995
- SC Uritskogo Kazan 1958–90
- Mashstroy Kazan 1956–1958
Nickname(s) "Barses (Snow Leopards), Cats" Founded 1956 Based In Kazan, Russia Arena Tatneft Arena
(Capacity: 10,000)League KHL 2008-present
Division Kharlamov Conference Eastern Uniform 
Team Colors Head Coach 
Zinetula BilyaletdinovCaptain Aleksey MorozovAffiliates Neftyanik Almetievsk (RUS-2)
Bars (MHL)Website www.ak-bars.ru Ak Bars Kazan (Russian: Ак Барс Казань, Tatar Cyrillic: Ак Барс Казан, Latin: Aq Bars Qazan, English: Kazan Snow Leopards) is a professional ice hockey team based in Kazan, in the Republic of Tatarstan, a federal subject of the Russian Federation. They are a current member of the Kontinental Hockey League.
The team's name, Ak Bars, is derived from the official symbol of Tatarstan, translated as Snow Leopard, a traditional symbol which has its origins with the Barsil, one of the Tatar tribes.
Contents
History
Originally founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the name was later changed to SC Uritskogo Kazan when it entered the Soviet Class B league in 1958. It was promoted to Soviet Class A2, where it gained promotion to the top tier of Soviet hockey. Kazan's performance was respectable, starting the season by winning 6 out of 19 games against the best of the Soviet teams before falling away in the second half of the season and was demoted.
From this point onward, SC Uritskogo Kazan established a reputation as a consistently strong team in the second tier leagues of the USSR. Renowned as a high scoring team, Kazan averaged over four goals a game throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Twice they won the USSR League (lower tiers), being named Champion of Russia in 1962 and 1976.
SC Uritskogo Kazan's most successful period occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The team was led by Russia's Sergei Stolbun; scoring ace Gennady Maslov (current coach of Ak Bars-2 Kazan), who enjoyed a short stint with the Soviet Wings and set a club record of 140 points in 76 games in 1982–83; and Ravil Shavaleev, who was regarded as one of the finest defenseman to ever come out of Tatarstan. During this period, Kazan was consistently among the top teams in the league but failed year after year to gain promotion to the top flight of Soviet hockey.
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Uritskogo Kazan became Itil Kazan in 1990 and participated in the IHL. Itil was only mildly successful, narrowly avoiding relegation to the Vysshaya Liga in 1991 and 1992.
It was following the establishment of the Russian Superleague (RSL) in 1996 that the golden age of hockey in Tatarstan began. Renamed Ak Bars Kazan after the traditional symbol of the Tatars, the snow leopard. Benefiting from the resources boom in the Urals, Ak Bars began its history in fine form, finishing first in their respective divisions in 1997 and 1998 along with winning the RSL in 1998. During this period, Kazan lacked the high scoring of their predecessors but regardless continued to be a dominant team in Russian hockey, finishing runners-up in 2000 and 2002. During this period, Kazan developed players such as Denis Arkhipov and Danis Zaripov.
In the 2004–05 season, Kazan signed 11 National Hockey League players, including Russian superstars Alexei Kovalev and Ilya Kovalchuk and Canadians Vincent Lecavalier and Dany Heatley, in an attempt to celebrate Kazan's 100th anniversary with a championship. They did not succeed, however, as a lack of continuity and chemistry saw them finish in fourth place and were upset in the first round of the playoffs by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.
Since then, Ak Bars Kazan dominated the RSL, winning the league in 2006 on the back of a brilliant performance from Aleksey Morozov. In 2007, Kazan paced the league with 35 wins and 214 goals in 54 games before falling at the final hurdle to Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
Ak Bars has been led in recent years by the dominant "ZZM" line of Sergei Zinovjev, Danis Zaripov, and Aleksey Morozov, who have established themselves as one of the most dominant lines in recent history. Combined with veterans such as Vitaly Proshkin and Vladimir Vorobiev, and imports, such as Ray Giroux, Petr Čajánek, and Jukka Hentunen, Kazan has remained one of the top teams in the league. However, they have been at times criticized for lacking consistency and relying too heavily on star players such as Morozov.[1]
Ak Bars Kazan are strong rivals with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and the neighboring team of Salavat Yulaev Ufa. However, Ak Bars was the strongest rival with Dynamo Moscow in 1990s.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; P = Playoff
Season GP W L T Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs GP in P W in P L in P GF in P GA in P 1995–96 52 26 13 13 69 136 110 3rd, Western 1 1996-97 44 31 8 5 67 143 88 1st, Super League West 1997–98 46 36 7 3 75 158 79 Champion - 1998–99 42 20 12 10 50 105 75 7th, Super League 1999–00 38 26 8 3 75 158 79 2nd, Elite League 2000-01 44 27 10 6 87 139 84 2nd, Elite League 2001–02 51 31 11 7 101 151 88 2nd, Elite League 2002–03 51 30 13 7 94 156 106 4th, Elite League 2003–04 60 34 21 2 102 161 122 5th, Super League 2004–05 60 37 17 5 114 174 113 4th, Super League Quarterfinal 2005–06 51 30 9 12 98 150 109 2nd, Super League Champion 13 12 1 52 22 2006–07 54 38 7 9 119 214 111 1st, Super League Finalist 16 11 5 56 36 Totals Super League totals Past team jerseys
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1999
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2002
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2004
Honors
Champions
- Russian Open Championship (4): 1997-1998, 2005–2006, 2008–09, 2009–10
- KHL Gagarin Cup (2): 2008–09, 2009–10
- Russian Super League Championship (2): 1997-1998, 2005–2006
- KHL Eastern Conference Cup (1): 2009–10
- KHL Opening Cup (1): 2009–10
- IIHF European Champions Cup (1): 2007
- IIHF Continental Cup (1): 2008
- Super League East Championships (1): 1998
- Super League West Championships (1): 1997
- Soviet Class A2 (3): 1962, 1988 (West), 1989 (West)
- Soviet Class B (1): 1976
Runners-up
- Russian Super League Championship (3): 1999-2000, 2001–2002, 2006–2007
Players
Current roster
Updated November 14, 2011.[2][3]
NHL alumni
- Denis Arkhipov (1995–2000)
- Dmitri Bykov (1999–2002)
- Pavel Datsyuk (2000–2001)
- Fedor Tyutin (2003–2004)
Anton Babchuk (2002–2003)
Jiri Hudler (2003–2004)
2005 NHL lockout additions
References
- ^ IHF Forums http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=7374
- ^ "HC «Ak Bars» Team Roster". www.ak-bars.ru. http://eng.ak-bars.ru/team/. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
- ^ "Ak Bars Kazan team roster". www.khl.ru. http://en.khl.ru/clubs/ak-bars. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
External links
- (English) Ak Bars Kazan official site
Kontinental Hockey League Western Conference Eastern Conference Bobrov Division Lev PopradTarasov Division Kharlamov Division Ak Bars KazanYugra Khanty-MansiyskChernyshev Division TopicsSeasons2008–09 • 2009–10 • 2010–11 • 2011–12Junior drafts2009 • 2010 • 2011Games and CupsAll-Star Game • Gagarin Cup • KHL Conference Finals • Continental Cup • Lokomotiv Cup • Russian Championship • KHL vs NHLSee alsoTeam changes • Potential expansion • List of goal scoring champions • List of scoring champions • List of territorial draft picks • Rivalries in the KHLCategories:- Ak Bars Kazan
- Ice hockey teams in Russia
- Kontinental Hockey League teams
- Sport in Kazan
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