Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk

Valentin Ebert suddenly passed away

The Belarusian hockey mourns the loss of former player Valentin Ebert, passed away in Novopolotsk after a brief illness. During his active career Ebert, 36, played 668 games in the Belarusian Extraliga, notching 163 points (43+120), placing him among the top ten players in the 25-year history of the domestic championship. He won two titles (2002,2004), six silver medals (2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015) and two bronze (2005, 2008) playing for HK Minsk, Khimvolokno Mogilev, Keramin Minsk, Vitebsk, Yunost Minsk,Dynamo Minsk and in the last five seasons in Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk, where Ebert closed his career and become General Manager of the team

Eurohockey expresses its condolences to his family.

Belarus U20 and Khimik withdrew from Belarus Cup

Belarus Federation announced changes on calendar of Belarus Cup, named after Ruslan Salei, that was supposed to start today: two teams - Belarus U20 and SKA-Khimik Novopolotsk - were withdrew from competition for different reasons: Khimik faced a serious financial crisis during the summer, resolved only days ago, so the team started preparation very late and is not able to compete, while Federation decided to focus the U20 national team preparation for upcoming tournaments in autumn.
Check the new fixtures here

Calendar of Belarus Cup unvelied

Belarus Federation publishes today the calendar for Belarus Cup, named after Ruslan Salei, in memory of the defender tragically passed away in Yaroslavl plane crash. As in last editions, the 11 Extraliga teams plus Belarus U20 national team are divided in two groups playing a single round robin. The two winners will advance to finals. Two finalists from last edition, champion Yunost Minsk and Dinamo Maladzyechna are in thew same group, so won't meet in the final act.
As usual Eurohockey will follow Belarus Cup with game-by-game stats

Yunost and Dinamo Maladzyechna will battle for Salei Cup

Yunost Minsk and Dinamo Maladzyechna are the finalists of Salei Cup (National Cup of Belarus) 2015. In a home/away semifinal series Yunost won national champion Shakhtar Soligorsk 8-3 and 2-6 reaching the final for the seventh time since the first edition of the competition in 2001-02 equaling the record of defunct Keramin Minsk. Yunost already holds the record for the most wins, four, along with HK Gomel.
Dinamo Maladzyechna, a team founded in 2014, reached its first ever final by beating 2-1 and 3-3 Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk
Final will be played in home/away format, on October 06 in Minsk and October 20 in Maladzyechna

Semifinals defined in Belarus Cup

After the end of first phase, with teams splitted in two groups, are known the semifinalists of Belarus Cup. Trophy holder Neman Grodno was surprisingly eliminated in Group A

Yunost Minsk - Shakhtar Soligorsk
Khimik-SKA Novopolotsk - Dinamo Maladzyechna

Semifinals will be played in September, dates are to be determined, with home/away format

Valentin Lebedev passed away

Belarusian coach Valentin Lebedev died at 51 after a long illness. Well-known hockey expert, Lebedev spent all coach career in Novopolotsk, leading the hockey school from 1990 to 2003, then was in SKA-Khimik Novopolotsk coaching staff until 2011. He worked also in Belarus U18 national team staff. This season Lebedev trained SKA-Khimik-2 in Belrusian 2nd League