Stalnye Lisy, Tolpar, Kapitan and Mikhailov Academy goalies are to go to Chelyabinsk.

The coaches of teams West and East have announced the names of goalies to play at the Challenge Cup. Stanislav Shumik’s coaching staff picked Ilya Nabokov from Stalnye Lisy and Semyon Vyazovoi from Tolpar. Team West coached by Rinat Khasanov chose Ilya Kanarsky (AKM-Yunior, Mikhailov Academy) and Artemy Pleshkov (Kapitan).

MHL.KHL.RU tells about the goalies to play the Challenge Cup game, and coaches Lev Berdichevsky and Yury Navarenko explain their choice.

Team East Goaltenders

Semyon Vyazovoi is now in his third JHL season. As of November 3, the netminder recorded 2,56 goals against average in 11 games. His current save percentage is 93.3. Vyazovoi earned one shutout.

It is Ilya Nabokov’s third season in the JHL as well. He has a 2.42 goals against average in 14 games, 91.6 save percentage and one shutout.

Lev Berdichevsky, Team East coach, Sibirskie Snaipery head coach:
– Vyazovoi has not played against us in the 2022/2023 season, because he has been with the SHL team. But he is a very good goalie. Nabokov also leaves a positive impression. These players were called up for the Challenge Cup at the end of last year. This is to say that the coaches know these guys, they are solid netminders and have been proving this for several seasons. We considered inviting Maxim Arefyev from Irbis, but decided to call up a different Kazan player.

– The same question about the goalies from your team. Did you consider Semyon Kokaulin and Vladimir Tabatchikov?
– The level of our guys’ performance is also high, but the coaches were mainly considering Gold division players. As for our team, the skaters were studied: Ivan Klimovich, Artyom Zhukov and Alexei Varennik. Here I fully agree.

− As a rule, a goalie is substituted for another goalie at the middle of the Challenge Cup game. Have you already decided who will start the game and who will finish it?
– Not yet. In any case, they both are to play. There is still some time left, perhaps it will be decided before the game. We need to see the conditioning of the guys. I think that we will discuss it prior to the game and make the decision.

Team West Goaltenders

Ilya Kanarsky is now in his second JHL season. He has played 11 games for the two teams of the Tula system – Mikhailov Academy and AKM-Yunior with 2.71 goals against average, 95.0 save percentage and four shutouts – consecutive ones. He had a shutout streak of 253 minutes 28 seconds - the seventh best result in the history of the JHL.

Currently in his fourth season with Kapitan, Artemy Pleshkov has played 14 regular season games, has two shutouts, a 1.79 goals against average and a save percentage of 95.7. He makes top 20 goalies with most saves in the JHL history. Kapitan is ranked second in Silver Division of the Western Conference. The only higher-placed team is the one the Pleshkov’s future partner at the Challenge Cup plays for – Mikhailov Academy.

Yury Navarenko, Team West coach, Mikhailov Academy head coach:
– Ilya Kanarsky has matured and improved his conditioning. He is doing pretty well now. I think that playing for both junior teams of the Tula system was of good help for him. Our defensemen were helping and supporting him as much as possible during games for Mikhailov Academy. Another important thing is that he gets a lot of ice time. Artemy Pleshkov is an experienced grown-up guy with a good system. The expression “The goalkeeper is the half of the team” is true in his case.

– You joined Team West a bit later, what do you think of your partners, Vladimir Filatov and Rinat Khasanov?
– The results of Krasnaya Armiya and SKA-1946 speak for themselves. CSKA and SKA are elite Russian hockey clubs. They are experienced coaches and have much to learn from.

– Who will be the starting goalie and will he be substituted in the middle of the game?
– It is still too early to speak of it. I believe, we will make a joint decision closer to the game.