Belye Medveditsy Chelyabinsk () are an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team in the

Zhenskaya Hockey League The Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL; russian: Женская хоккейная лига, translit=Zhenskaya khokkeynaya liga, translation=Women's Hockey League), officially called the Women's Hockey League (WHL), is a professional ice hockey leagu ...

(ZhHL). They play in

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

, Russia at the

Yunost Sport Palace Yunost Sport Palace () is an indoor sporting arena located in Chelyabinsk, Russia. The capacity of the arena is 3,500. It was built in 1967 and served as the home arena for the ice hockey team Traktor Chelyabinsk until 2009, at which time the te ...

. The team has previously been known as Metelitsa Chelyabinsk, Nika Chelyabinsk, Kazak-Uralsky Chelyabinsk, and Fakel Chelyabinsk. The team is a part of the Traktor Chelyabinsk hockey organization, which also operates Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Chelmet Chelyabinsk of the VHL, Belye Medvedi Chelyabinsk of the MHL, and a number of youth and junior teams.

History

Founded in Chelyabinsk in 1997 as Metelitsa (), the club made its debut in the second round of the 1997–98 Russian Women's Hockey League (RWHL) season. Yelena Tyushnyakova, an ice hockey

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

better known as an Olympic

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

, was the first

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Metelitsa. The team struggled in their inaugural season, recording a -165 goal differential and finishing at the bottom of the league. Prior to the 1998–99 season, the team was renamed as Nika (). In 2000, the name was changed to Kazak-Uralsky (). During 2002 to 2014, the team was called Fakel (). On 5 March 2014, the team joined the HC Tractor organization and their name was changed to Belye Medveditsy. On 8 March 2015, the team was dissolved for financial reasons.

Season-by-season results

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Belye Medveditsy, known as Fakel Chelyabinsk during 2002 to 2014. Note: Finish = Rank at end of regular season; GP =

Games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, W = Wins (3 points), OTW = Overtime wins (2 points), OTL = Overtime losses (1 point), L = Losses, GF =

Goals for A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

, GA = Goals against, Pts =

Points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

, Top scorer:

( Goals+ Assists)

Players and personnel

2021–22 roster

Coaching staff and team personnel * Head coach: Igor Znarok * Assistant coach: Pyotr Pankov * Assistant coach: Pavel Shiryayev * Conditioning coach: Yelena Tyushnyakova

Team captaincy history

* Yelena Tyushnyakova, 1997–98 * Viktoria Tavakova, 1998–2004 * Yekaterina Vainberger, 2004–05 *

Alexandra Vafina , image = Svetlana Tkacheva (l) Darcia Leimgruber (c) Alexandra Vafina (r).jpg , image_size = , caption = Vafina (r) and teammate Svetlana Tkacheva (l) challenge Swiss forward Darcia Leimgruber (c) at the 2011 World Championship. , birth_ ...

, 2008–2011 * Anastasia Vedernikova, 2011–2013 * Alexandra Vafina, 2013–14 * Anastasia Vedernikova, 2014–15

Head coaches

* Alexander Degtyaryov, 1997–98 * Vladimir Borodulin, 1998–2005 * Arkadi Belousov, 2008–2015 * Igor Znarok, 2021–

Team honours

Russian Championship

* Third Place ''(1)'': 2010–11

All-time scoring leaders

The top-ten point-scorers in club history. Note: Nat = Nationality; Pos =

Position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

; GP =

; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts =

; P/G =

Points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

; = 2021–22 Belye Medveditsy player Source(s):

Notable alumni

Years active with Belye Medveditsy listed alongside player name. *

Yekaterina Lebedeva Yekaterina Sergeyevna Lebedeva (russian: Екатерина Сергеевна Лебедева; born 14 September 1989 in Yekaterinburg, Russian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian ice hockey forward. On December 12, 2017 she and five other Ru ...

, 2010–2014 * Yekaterina Ananina, 2011–2014 * Yelena Tyushnyakova, 1997–98 *

, 2008–2011 & 2013–14

International players

Fanni Gasparics Fanni may refer to: People * Fanni Gasparics (born 1994), Hungarian ice hockey player * Fanni Gyarmati (1912–2014), wife of Hungarian teacher and poet Miklós Radnóti * Fanni Gyurinovics (born 2001), Hungarian swimmer * Fanni Kenyeres (born 19 ...

, 2013–2015 * Alexandra Huszak, 2013–2015 * Franciska Kiss-Simon, 2013–2015 * Varvara Piskunova, 2008–2014 *

O'Hara Shipe O'Hara may refer to: Place names * Cardinal O'Hara High School (Springfield, Pennsylvania), United States * Lake O'Hara, a lake in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada *O'Hara Glacier, a glacier in Antarctica *O'Hara Township, Allegheny Cou ...

, 2012–13 * Lyubov Vafina, 2008–2015

References

{{reflist

External links

* Team information and statistics fro
EliteProspects.com
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Women's ice hockey in Russia Sport in Chelyabinsk Zhenskaya Hockey League teams