Ak Bars Kazan
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| Full name | Ak Bars Kazan 1995-Present
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|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Leopards" |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Based In | Kazan, Tatarstan  |
| Arena | Tatneft Arena (Capacity: 10,000) |
| League | KHL 2008-Present |
| Team Colors | |
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| Head Coach |  Zinetula Bilyaletdinov |
| Captain | Aleksey Morozov |
| Affiliates | Neftyanik Almetievsk (RUS-2) Leopard (MHL) |
| Website | http://www.AK-Bars.ru |
Ak Bars Kazan (Russian: Ак Барс Казань, Tatar Cyrillic: Ак Барс Казан, Latin: Aq Bars Qazan, English: Kazan Snow Leopards) is a professional ice hockey team based in Kazan, in the Republic of Tatarstan, a federal subject of the Russian Federation. 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 Snow Leopard, a traditional symbol which has its origins with the Barsil, one of the Tatar tribes.
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[edit] 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, 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 and Danis 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, Danis Zaripov and Aleksey Morozov who have established themselves as one of the most dominant lines in recent history. Combined with veterans like 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 and Kirill Petrov.
Ak Bars Kazan are strong rivals with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and the neighboring team of Salavat Yulaev Ufa.
[edit] 2005 NHL Lockout Additions
Dany Heatley, Darius Kasparaitis, Nikolai Khabibulin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Kovalev, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Vincent Lecavalier, 
Michael Nylander, Brad Richards
[edit] NHL Alumni
Denis Arkhipov (1995-00), Dmitry Bykov (1999-02)
[edit] Past Team Jerseys
 1999 |
 2002 |
 2004 |
[edit] Roster
As of April 14, 2009
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| # | Player | Catches | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 32 | |
Mikael Tellqvist | L | 2009 | Sundbyberg, Sweden |
| 20 | |
Stanislav Galimov | L | 2007 | Magnitogorsk, Russia |
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| # | Player | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 5 | |
Ilya Nikulin | L | 2005 | Moscow, Russia |
| 9 | |
Andrei Pervyshin | L | 2004 | Arkhangelsk, Russia |
| 54 | |
Dmitri Kosmachev | R | 2008 | Gorky, Russia |
| 59 | |
Vyacheslav Buravchikov | L | 2006 | Moscow, Russia |
| 74 | |
Alexei Emelin | L | 2007 | Togliatti, Russia |
| 75 | |
Grigori Panin | L | 2007 | Togliatti, Russia |
| 82 | |
Yevgeny Medvedev | R | 2007 | Chelyabinsk, Russia |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Player | Position | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 14 | |
Oleg Petrov | RW | L | 2007 | Moscow, Russia |
| 21 | |
Mikhail Zhukov | C | L | 2005 | St. Petersburg, Russia |
| 25 | |
Danis Zaripov | LW | L | 2001 | Chelyabinsk, Russia |
| 30 | |
Alexander Stepanov | RW | L | 2005 | Moscow, Russia |
| 34 | |
Dmitri Obukhov | RW | L | 2005 | Kazan, Russia |
| 37 | |
Gleb Klimenko | W | L | 2009 | Voskresensk, Russia |
| 39 |  |
Niko Kapanen | C | L | 2008 | Hattula, Finland |
| 50 | |
Alexei Badyukov | LW | R | 2008 | Moscow, Russia |
| 58 | |
Andrei Kuzmin | W | R | 2008 | Moscow, Russia |
| 67 | |
Dmitri Kazionov | C | L | 2006 | Moscow, Russia |
| 81 | |
Nikita Alexeev | LW | L | 2007 | Murmansk, Russia |
| 95 | |
Aleksey Morozov (C) | RW | L | 2004 | Moscow, Russia |
[edit] Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; Pts = Points; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; P = Playoff
| Season | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Playoffs | GP in P | W in P | L in P | GF in P | GA in P | |
| 1995-96 | 52 | 26 | 13 | 13 | 69 | 136 | 110 | 3rd, Western 1 | |||||||
| 1996-97 | 44 | 31 | 8 | 5 | 67 | 143 | 88 | 1st, Super League West | |||||||
| 1997-98 | 46 | 36 | 7 | 3 | 75 | 158 | 79 | Champion | - | ||||||
| 1998-99 | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 50 | 105 | 75 | 7th, Super League | |||||||
| 1999-00 | 38 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 75 | 158 | 79 | 2nd, Elite League | |||||||
| 2000-01 | 44 | 27 | 10 | 6 | 87 | 139 | 84 | 2nd, Elite League | |||||||
| 2001-02 | 51 | 31 | 11 | 7 | 101 | 151 | 88 | 2nd, Elite League | |||||||
| 2002-03 | 51 | 30 | 13 | 7 | 94 | 156 | 106 | 4th, Elite League | |||||||
| 2003-04 | 60 | 34 | 21 | 2 | 102 | 161 | 122 | 5th, Super League | |||||||
| 2004-05 | 60 | 37 | 17 | 5 | 114 | 174 | 113 | 4th, Super League | Quarterfinal | ||||||
| 2005-06 | 51 | 30 | 9 | 12 | 98 | 150 | 109 | 2nd, Super League | Champion | 13 | 12 | 1 | 52 | 22 | |
| 2006-07 | 54 | 38 | 7 | 9 | 119 | 214 | 111 | 1st, Super League | Finalist | 16 | 11 | 5 | 56 | 36 | |
| Totals | Super League totals |
[edit] Honors
[edit] Champions
- Soviet League Championship: 2
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- 1962, 1976
- Vysshaya Liga Championship: 2
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- 1989
- Russian Super League Championship: 2
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- 1998, 2006
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- 2007
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- 2008
- Gagarin Cup: 1
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- 2009
[edit] Titles
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- 1997
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- 1998
[edit] Runners Up
- Russian Super League Championship: 2
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- 2000, 2002, 2007
[edit] League history
- Russian Superleague 1999-2008
- Russian Hockey League 1996-1999
- Intl. Hockey League 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
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Ak Bars Kazan official site
- "Ak Bars Reaffirm Russian Dominance of European Champions Cup"
- IHF KHL Handbook featuring AK Bars
