UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE
by Ihor Stelmach
Salt Lake City Preview: Ukraine's hockey hopefuls
On Saturday, February 9, even before they drop the puck at center ice in Ukraine's first preliminary round game versus Belarus in Salt Lake City, there will be a tremendous sense of accomplishment. The 2002 Winter Games will be Ukraine's first ever participation in Olympic hockey competition. Previously, Ukraine had earned its status in the upper echelon of hockey nations by winning the 1998 B-Pool World Championships.
Ukraine's head coach, Anatoly Bogdanov, preaches the old Soviet style of hockey, featuring crisp passing, constant cycling of the puck and an overall emphasis on an attacking offense. However, Mr. Bogdanov's theory may not be so easy to transform into practicality due to a chronic lack of troops to realize such a multi-dimensional attack.
Between the pipes, Coach Bogdanov must select between Igor Karpenko, once the property of both the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Calgary Flames, and Konstantin Simchuk. Karpenko and Simchuk have many years of tested experience on the North American professional minor league circuits.
Karpenko has the additional credit claim of winning two Russian titles while with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Unfortunately, his career resume is somewhat tainted by his meltdown at the 2001 World Championships, where he stumbled and bumbled to a lofty 5.41 goals against average with a paltry .844 save percentage.
His rival, Simchuk, managed a 47-save effort in a 5-0 whitewash to Sweden, but finished the tournament with his own impressive shutout win, 2-0 over Austria.
The defense corps would truly be fortified and very well manned if Ukrainian-born blueliners Alexei Zhitnik of the Buffalo Sabres and Oleg Tverdovsky of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks had the desire and eligibility to don the sweaters of their true national team. Having represented Russia in international competitions in the past, this option is no longer feasible for the talented Ukrainian defense duo. Thus, the Ukrainian backline will be headmanned by 26-year-old Sergei Klementiev (owner of a good hard shot from the point) and Oleksander Savitsky and Artem Ostroushko (reliable stay-at-home types).
Team Ukraine boasts three semi-noteworthy Ukrainian-born wingers with varying levels of National Hockey League experience: 12-year veteran Dmitri Khristich of the Washington Capitals, second-year rookie Ruslan Fedotenko of the Philadelphia Flyers and 21-year-old Alexei Ponikarovsky of the Toronto Maple Leafs, recalled from the AHL's St. John's Leafs in mid-January. The addition of these talented right-wingers will obviously add offensive firepower.
Little pepperpot Vadim Slivchenko's star outshined Khristich's at the World tournament by notching four goals. The forward line of Vadim Shakraichuk, Vitaly Lytvynenko and Valentyn Oletsky should return intact as a potentially potent trio.
Ukraine has struggled against the top national hockey programs at the World Championships, earning back-to-back 14th place showings in 1999 and 2000. The squad showed improvement by finishing in 10th place at the 2001 World Championships in Germany, mainly due to an impressive upset victory over Latvia.
One can only wonder about the levels of grandeur the Ukrainian nationalhockey program could achieve if more of its national players stayed at home, honing their skills training together as a cohesive unit. The legendary Ukrainian club team Sokil Kyiv used to be Ukraine's answer to powerhouse CSKA Moscow, but the club has suffered through a series of difficult years due to continually increasing player migration throughout Europe and into North America. The lure of upgraded training facilities/player development and lucrative professional contracts is too tempting for our young native sons.
In Group B of the preliminary round of eight teams, Ukraine will encounter the most difficulty against Switzerland. That said, Ukraine does have an excellent chance at knocking out France and Belarus. In fact, some international hockey experts are predicting Ukraine as a potential favorite against both these foes.
Team Ukraine has an international reputation as a feisty group that can be victorious when harnessing that feistiness. With all five skaters on the ice sticking to their offensive system of quick passes and creating the right shot on goal, Ukraine has a legitimate shot at surviving the preliminary round and gaining the medal rounds. Wouldn't that add to the already strong sense of accomplishment of just being in Salt Lake City?
Fedotenko to play for Team Ukraine
For Christmas, what do you give a professional hockey player who has just about everything?
How about official permission to leave his NHL team for a week and play for his country in the preliminary round of the Olympics?
That's what right-winger Ruslan Fedotenko found under the proverbial holiday tree when the Philadelphia Flyers told him he could miss games to play for his native Ukraine in Olympic qualifying action February 9-15.
A night after finding out the good news, Fedotenko celebrated with his first two-goal game of the season in a 4-1 victory at Washington.
Initially the Flyers were not too keen on the idea of giving Fedotenko permission to go, but General Manager Bobby Clarke had a change of heart after he realized Fedotenko is one of only a handful of NHL players on the Ukraine roster. Without players of his caliber, Ukraine has virtually no chance of advancing to the final round.
"If it means that Fedotenko misses one game or two, I don't think that's as important to us as him getting a chance to play in the Olympics and representing his country," Clarke said.
Fedotenko's response: "I'm honored to play for my country and I'm looking forward to it."
(Thanks to The Hockey News' Wayne Fish for above quotations.)
| Player | Pos. | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| Vadim Slivchenko | F | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Vadim Shakraichuk | F | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Dmitri Khristich | F | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Sergei Klementiev | D | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 20 |
| Wasyl Bobronikov | F | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Valery Shiryaev | D | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Konstantin Kasyanchuk | F | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Vitaly Litvinenko | F | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Boris Protsenko | F | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Roman Salnikov | F | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Valentyn Oletsky | F | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Vyacheslav Zavalnyuk | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Igor Karpenko | GT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andrei Sryubko | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oleg Polkovnikov | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Konstantin Simchuk | GT | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vitaly Lyutkevich | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bogdan Savenko | F | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Alexei Lazarenko | F | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Alexander Matvichuk | F | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Artem Ostroushko | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Alexander Savitsky | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 3, 2002, No. 5, Vol. LXX
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