New season beckons with questions on CSKA form

29 August, 2008, 12:02

CSKA Moscow will be one of the most interesting teams to watch in the upcoming Continental Hockey League season. Vyacheslav Bykov's men were knocked out in the quarter-finals last season and will be hoping to improve, on what was a poor result by their high standards.

Expectations are high amongst CSKA's players and management as the new season faces off in just under a week's time. And the side enters the Continental Hockey League as one of the top clubs with Russian national team coach Vyacheslav Bykov still in charge.

However, the Army men's pre-season games created more questions than answers.

Their performance at Moscow Mayor's Cup has been poor going down to Krylya Sovetov in their latest encounter. CSKA dominated throughout the game but failed to take advantage of the lion's share of opportunities to score.

While at the other end their defenders gave too much space to the opponents with schoolboy errors adding to the negative record in this game.

But Bykov doesn't seem to be too concerned.

“We know what our problems are, and we're going on work on it. Give us time. Yes, it's not very long to go till the season gets underway, but our performances should improve in competitive games. The team's mental level will be higher and, I hope, that will pay off,” he said.

According to Bykov last season's weakest line were the goalies, so youngster Konstantin Barulin and former Edmonton Oilers star Jussi Markonnen have been signed.

Despite being much less experienced Barulin has played more during the pre-season. However, for the head coach the question of the main goalie is yet to be decided

“You know the strict foreign players limit in our league, so I can’t rely only on Markonnen. I think they'll play an equal number of games next season. So far none of them has been impressive, but obviously they will improve, especially Barulin,” says Bykov.

Among CSKA's newcomers is former Russia's captain Anton But.

Alongside Sergey Rozin and Mika Hannula he was the most eye-catching player in their line-up.

But will CSKA shine in the upcoming seson? The answer is not far away, as they make their debut in the Kontinental Hockey League on September third against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.