Ak Bars

Full name	Ak Bars Kazan 1995-Present Itil Kazan 1990-1995 SC Uritskogo 1958-90 Mashstroy Kazan 1956-1958
Nickname(s)	"Leopards"
Founded	1956
Based In	Kazan, Tatarstan
Arena	Tatneft Arena (Capacity: 10,000)
League	KHL 2008-Present Russian Superleague 1999-2008 Russian Hockey League 1996-1999 Intl. Hockey Leauge 1992-1996 Soviet Class A2 1989-1992 USSR Championship 1976-1989 Soviet Class A2 1971-1976 USSR Championship 1969-1971 Soviet Class A2 1963-1969 USSR Championship 1962-1963 Soviet Class A2 1959-1962 Soviet Class B 1958-1959
Jersey(s)
Team Colors
Head Coach	Zinetula Bilyaletdinov
Captain	Aleksey Morozov
Affiliates	Ak Bars-2
Website	http://www.AK-Bars.ru

Ak Bars Kazan (Russian: Ак Барс Казань) is a professional ice hockey team based in Republic of Tatarstan, a federal subject of Russia. They are currently playing in the Kontinental Hockey League.

The team's name, Ak Bars, is derived from the official symbol of Tatarstan, translated as the White Leopard or Snow Leopard, a traditional symbol which has its origins with the Barsil, one of the Tatar tribes.

History

Originally founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the name was later changed to SC Uritskogo Kazan when it entered the Soviet league in 1958. It was promoted to the RSFSR championship 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 4 goals a game throughout the 1960s and 70s. 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 80s. Led by Russia’s Gordie Howe; 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 1982-1983 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 break up of the Soviet Union, sc 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 Super League 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, Evgeni Varlamov and Denis Zaripov.

In the 2004-05 season, Kazan signed 11 NHL players, including Russian superstars Alexei Kovalev and Ilya Kovalchuk and Canadians Vincent Lecavalier and Dany Heatley in an attempt to celebrate Kazan’s 1000th anniversary with a championship. They did not succeed, 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 has 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, Denis Zaripov and Aleksey Morozov who have established themselves as one of the most dominant lines in recent history. Combined with veterans like Vitaly Proshkin, Vitaly Proshkin and Vladimir Vorobiev and imports like Ray Giroux, Petr Cajanek 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]

The future of Ak Bars lies in homegrown young stars such as Vyacheslav Buravchikov and Kirill Petrov.

Ak Bars Kazan are strong rivals with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and the neighbouring team of Salavat Yulaev Ufa.

2005 NHL Lockout Additions

Dany Heatley, Darius Kasparaitis, Nikolai Khabibulin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Kovalev, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Vincent Lecavalier, Michael Nylander, Brad Richards

Honors

Champions

• Soviet League Championship: 2

1962, 1976

• Vysshaya Liga Championship: 2

1989

• Russian Super League Championship: 2

1998, 2006

• European Champions Cup: 1

2007

• Continental Cup: 1

2008

Titles

• Super League West Championships: 1

1997

• Super League East Championships: 1

1998

Runners Up

• Russian Super League Championship: 2

2000, 2002, 2007

Current roster

As of September 2, 2008

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
31		Wade Dubielewicz	L	2008	Invermere, British Columbia
01		Sergei Nikolaev	L	2008	Saratov, Russia
20		Stanislav Galimov	L	2007	Magnitogorsk, Russia

Defencemen
#		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
5		Ilya Nikulin	L	2005	Moscow, Russia
9		Andrei Pervyshin	L	2004	Arkhangelsk, Russia
36		Yakov Seleznyev	L	2007	Perm, Russia
54		Dmitri Kosmachev	R	2008	Moscow, Russia
59		Vyacheslav Buravchikov	L	2006	Moscow, Russia
74		Aleksei Emelin	L	2007	Togliatti, Russia
75		Grigori Panin	L	2007	Togliatti, Russia
82		Evgeni Medvedev	R	2007	Chelyabinsk, Russia

Forwards
#		Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
14		Oleg Petrov	C	L	2007	Moscow, Russia
15		Grigori Shafigulin	C	L	2007	Chelyabinsk, Russia
21		Mikhail Zhukov	C	L	2005	Saint Petersburg, Russia
25		Danis Zaripov	LW	L	2001	Chelyabinsk, Russia
30		Alexandr Stepanov	RW	L	2005	Moscow, Russia
34		Dmitri Obukhov	RW	L	2005	Kazan, Russia
39		Niko Kapanen	C	L	2008	Hattula, Finland
42		Sergei Zinoviev	C	L	2002	Novokuznetsk, Russia
55		Jukka Hentunen	RW	R	2007	Joroinen, Finland
58		Andrei Kuzmin	W	R	2008	Moscow, Russia
67		Dmitri Kazionov	C	L	2006	Moscow, Russia
81		Nikita Alexeev	LW/RW	L	2007	Murmansk, Russia
86		Tony Mårtensson	C	L	2008	Märsta, Sweden
90		Kirill Petrov	W	L	2006	Kazan, Russia
95		Aleksey Morozov	RW	L	2004	Moscow, Russia

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; P = Playoff

External links

• Ak Bars Kazan official site
• "Ak Bars Reaffirm Russian Dominance of European Champions Cup"
• IHF KHL Handbook featuring AK Bars

v • d • e Kontinental Hockey League
Bobrov Division	Tarasov Division	Kharlamov Division	Chernyshev Division
Salavat Yulaev Ufa	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	Avangard Omsk	Ak Bars Kazan
Dinamo Minsk	Khimik Voskresensk	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	Barys Astana
Spartak Moscow	Traktor Chelyabinsk	Lada Togliatti	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Metallurg Novokuznetsk	HC MVD	Sibir Novosibirsk	Vityaz Chekhov
Severstal Cherepovets	SKA Saint Petersburg	Amur Khabarovsk	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Atlant Moscow	CSKA Moscow	Dinamo Riga	Dynamo Moscow

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