The international tournament that’s been abandoned since 2007 is back.
Nagano Cup 2010!
Feb 11（Thu/Hol） 13:00 Japan v Slovenia; 16:00 Denmark v Kazakhstan
Feb 12 （Fri）16:00 Slovenia v Denmark; 19：00 Japan v Kazakhstan
Feb 13 (Sat) 13：00 Kazakhstan v Slovenia; 16：00 Japan v Denmark
All games at Nagano Big Hat, tickets are 2000 yen.
It’s almost certain that the San Jose Sharks have pulled out of their venture in China with the China Sharks, the only Chinese entry in the Asia Legue. First, in a recent IIHF article, it was announced that China has hired Belarussian Andrei Kovalev to coach both the national team and the Chinese Asia League team (doesn’t say Sharks).
China hired former Belarusian national player Andrei Kovalev as its new head coach. He signed a contract through April 2010.
The 43-year-old has plenty of international experience as a player. Kovalev played in eight World Championships and two Olympics with Belarus. He also won U20 gold with the Soviets. He played for Dynamo Minsk and Dynamo Moscow in the Russian and Soviet league before a two-year stint in North America in the AHL and other minor leagues, and 13 years in Germany. He ended his playing career in 2007 with Yunost Minsk.
After retiring, he worked with Yunost before becoming the assistant coach of HK Vitebsk.
Kovalev will be assisted by Chinese coaches and he will also be the head coach of the Chinese team in the Asian League. The club is located in a new 8,000-seat arena in Shanghai and it’s the strongest club team in the country.
Then in the Blades-Bucks preseason games over the weekend, apparently people were given pamphlets for the upcoming Asia League season with a team named “China Dragon”.
Removal of Sharks personnel (especially coach) from the Chinese team, and the addition of Kovalev definitely indicates a change in direction away from the Sharks, but with the China team’s opening game quickly approaching on 24 September, they’ll have to get their act together in a hurry. And it looks like yet another year where top level Chinese hockey is changing directions with no clear long term plan.
Shuhei Kuji is really impressing with his speed. Kuji, who plays for Wasata University in Japan and for the Japanese National Team, was invited to Mini-Camp by Islanders GM Garth Snow.
早稲田大学のキャプテンで、数少ない日本代表の大学生の久慈修平選手が、現在NHLのニューヨーク・アイランダーズのプロスペクト・キャンプ（NHL経験者のプロスペクト、ドラフト指名選手と、招待選手←久慈選手はここ）に参加しています。現地からの情報は入ってきていませんが、写真は一枚出てきました。キャンプでは#54を付けています（招待選手は大きい番号なんでしょう）、そしてこの場面ではアイランダーズが今年のドラフトで全体１２位指名したディフェンスのCalvin de Haan選手と１対１ドリル（？）をやっています。結果はどうであれ、有意義なキャンプになるでしょう。誰かインタビューしてくれないかな？
Waseda University captain and Japanese national team player Shuhei Kuji has been invited to the New York Islanders Prospects Camp. This is a big deal, as players with NHL experience such as Josh Bailey and top draft picks like John Tavares (can’t get any more top prospect than this) will also be participating. No doubt this will provide valuable experience for Kuji to play against superior competition and hopefully make some strides in his game, and maybe even get drafted in the future (though the chances of this is very slim).
Incidentally, Kuji was the only non-Toyo University player selected on to the 2009 Kanto University Championship All Star Team earlier in the year.
