20th Championship of Kazakhstan starts today

The 20th edition of Kazakhstan League starts today with ten teams competing to succeed last year champion Beybarys Atyrau. The current champions are still the favourites, along with traditional domestic power Sary Arka Karaganda and Arystan Temirtau, winner of Kazakhstan Cup last week, the first award for the club created in 2010 to bring hockey back in Temirtau after the disappearance of traditional CSKA some years ago. Always ambitious Ertis Pavlodar completes favourites grid.

During the offseason Kazakhstan hockey lost traditional team Kazakhmys Satpaev. Due to lack of funds Kazakhmys management decided to close senior team and keep junior program trying to create a new generation of local players to come back at senior level in next years. But the number of participants remained the same: a new team, HK Astana was created in the capital. The new economic power allows teams to contract various foreign players, not only from neighbouring Russia: champion Beybarys keep Latvian goalie Martin Raitums, awarded as League MVP last season, and added countrymen Kristaps Stiģis, Renars Demiters, Gatis Gricinskis, Arturs Ozolins and Andrejs Smirnovs, along with young Canadian goalie Matt Canaday. After the "Ukraine era", now Latvia seems the favourite market for Kazakh teams: also Arlan Kokshetau - Sergejs Tjoluskins and Edmunds Kniksts - and Sary Arka - Vladimirs Mamonovs and Edijs Brahmanis - have their own Latvian colony, all four were Metalurgs Liepaja key players for seasons. 'exotic touch' in Sary Arka roster come from England: forward Ben O’Connor, signed from French Morzine Avoriaz, is the first ever English player to play beyond the Urals.

Recent domestic Cup winner Arystan Temirtau has the most 'globalized' roster, with Canadians - Tyler Metcalfe and Kurt MacSweyn - Slovak Lukas Martinka, Ukranians - Denis Zabludovsky and Evgeny Emelyanenko - and Lithuanians, the Kumeliauskas brother Tadas and Donatas. Ertis Pavlodar shocked the local hockey community when signed star Ilya Solarev, KHL, a forward with KHL experience, to strenghten a very experienced roster, the oldest as average age, while Gornyak Rudny bet on young talents from big clubs Kazzinc Torpedo and Barys Astana.HK Almaty and farm clubs Kazzinc Torpedo-2 and Barys-2 complete the grid of participants.

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