Leonids Tambijevs’ team will continue their preparation for the season with a test match against the local Dinamo. The Minsk team has their training camp at home this summer, which is a huge advantage, no doubt. Even if not on their own ice, training is certainly more pleasant in their hometown. East or West, home is best, however, in the case of the Bison, it didn’t help them much. Dinamo lost four out of five preseason matches, including a great defeat against Magnitka, VHL debutante. Their only success was a victory over their most recent opponents, Norilsk, with a score of 5:3. The other matches that the Bison played were all against KHL teams – CSKA (2:4), Avangard (1:2), and their Moscow counterparts (2:1).
But as we know, these results mean little. The most interesting part will begin on September 3.
Last season
Last season, the Minsk team made it to the playoffs from the eighth place, where they faced off against Moscow's Dynamo. The series ended in favor of Moscow with a score of 4:2. The Bison had one home and one away victory in the playoff series.
Familiar faces
There are no players in the current Bison lineup who have played for the Sailors. Yes, defenseman Jordan Cross played for Admirals, but those are our colleagues from Milwaukee. Therefore, we will move to Vadim Shipachyov in this section. It’s hard to find a more recognizable figure in modern Russian hockey playing for Dinamo, and it would be a challenge to find one throughout the entire KHL. The difficulties in his relationship with the management of Kazan's Ak Bars made the forward sign a two-year contract with the Minsk team. It’s difficult to predict how the 37-year-old forward will perform in his new club. However, Dinamo is already rubbing its hands together waiting for the league's main records. We can only speculate about which match Vadim will score the missing 8 points to take the lead in the all-time KHL scoring race.
Upcoming match
The Minsk team is not in a hurry to play on their own ice. Therefore, the first meeting of the teams will take place at the Olimpiya Park complex. The opening faceoff will be at 17:00.
