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Hockey Club Barys (Kazakh: Барыс хоккей клубы; Russian: Хоккейный клуб Барыс), commonly referred to as the Barys Astana,[1][2][3] is a professional ice hockey team based in Astana, Kazakhstan. They are members of the Chernyshev Division of the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The team was formed in 1999, to play in the Kazakhstan Hockey Championship. Barys won two Kazakhstan Championship titles in 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons. They also competed in the First and Supreme League of the Russian Ice Hockey Championship, in parallel. In 2008, Barys joined to newly formed Kontinental Hockey League. Their home arena is the Kazakhstan Sports Palace, where they have played since 2001. Barys is the part of the Astana Presidential Sports Club.[4] Barys serves as a base club for Kazakhstan men's national ice hockey team.[5][6]
Barys was founded on November 26, 1999.[7] The team's name, Barys, is derived from the national symbol of Kazakhstan, translated as snow leopard.[8][9] The team's inaugural season was 1999–2000, where they played in the Kazakhstan Hockey Championship.[7] Barys would stay there until 2009.[7] In 2004–05, Barys was admitted into the Russian hockey system. They made their debut in the First League of the Russian Ice Hockey Championship; in parallel, Barys kept a second team in the Kazakhstan Hockey Championship.[7] Barys' debut in Russia was interesting, with the team doing fairly well.[7] They played three seasons in the First League, where they finished respectively 3rd, 2nd and 1st of the Ural - Western Siberia zone where they played. With this first place in 2007, Barys was allowed into the Supreme League of the Russian Ice Hockey Championship.[7]
Barys played a single season in the Supreme League of the Russian Ice Hockey Championship, a good one, where they finished second out of 14 in the Eastern conference.[7] They reached the playoffs, where they began by sweeping HC Belgorod in three straight games in the first round, before falling to Khimik Voskresensk in four games.[10] Barys however won the Kazakhstan Hockey Championship that year.[7] Barys' main team did not participate in the regular season of the league (however, its affiliate, Barys-2, did), but the league's format was so that the three best team of the league after the regular season would play the three best Kazakh teams (Barys' main team, Kazzinc-Torpedo and Kazakhmys Satpaev, all three were playing in the Supreme League) in the final round. Barys won the tournament, dethroning defending champions Kazzinc-Torpedo, en route to their first Kazakhstan Hockey Championship title.[11]
In 2008, Barys applied to join the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League. The league's authorities allowed Barys in, making it the first Kazakhstani team into the new league. The team won its first game in the KHL on September 3, 2008 abroad, defeating Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2–1 in the shootouts.[12] They registered their first home game eleven days later by beating defending Russian champions Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3–2, this time again in shootout.[13] The team finished its first season with a 15th place overall in the league. Barys secured a spot in the playoffs on February 26, 2009, defeating 6-4 Vityaz Chekhov in the last day of the regular season.[14] In the first round of Gagarin Cup playoffs, Barys faced Ak Bars Kazan. Kazan swept Astana three games to nothing to advance to the second round. Kevin Dallman finished the season as the league's fifth best scorer with 28 goals and 30 assists (58 points) record; he also finished as the league's leader for shots on goal with 217.[15] Konstantin Glazachev finished 9th overall in the league in scoring with 52 points. Meanwhile, the team secured a second straight Kazakhstan Hockey Championship title.[16]
The 2009–10 season saw Barys have a very similar season than the previous. Veteran Jozef Stümpel finished top scorer of the team, with 52 points, two better than Maxim Spiridonov, who was the best goal scorer of the team with 24. Fan favourite Kevin Dallman also was a major contributor, with 14 goals and 27 assists. Newcomer Jeff Glass did a fine job between the pipes, with 19 wins and a 2.87 goals against average, helping the team finish fourteenth overall of the KHL, a one place improvement from 2008–09. Barys was however once again swept in three games by Ak Bars Kazan in the first round of the playoffs.[17]
Barys opened 2010–11 season with Andrei Khomutov as the new head coach.[18] However, the team's previous manager Andrei Shayanov remained in the team as an assistant coach. In September 2011, league's authorities considered Kazakhstan Sports Palace the worst in the league.[19] The main reason was the regrettably little capacity.[19] Later, the team's owner Kazakhstan Temir Zholy decided to build the new Barys Arena for 12,000 seats, whose opening planned to 2015–16 season.[20][21] The team compiled a 20–21–4–9 regular season record with 77 points. As the 7th seed of the Eastern Conference, Barys faced Ak Bars Kazan in the first round of playoffs, again. Ak Bars won series without losing a game 4-0.
In the 2011 off-season, Barys announced the signing of Dustin Boyd and Nigel Dawes, who later formed BBD line along with Brandon Bochenski.[22] In the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Barys fired Andrei Khomutov after seven losses in eight games.[23] Andrei Shayanov replaced him and led the team to 6th place in the Eastern Conference. Barys fell in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to the 3rd seeded Metallurg Magnitogorsk in seven games.[24]
During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Barys strengthened by signing Ryan McDonagh, Victor Hedman and Nik Antropov. Vladimir Krikunov appointed as a new head coach. Barys finished the season with a 23–18–5–6 record for 85 points. In the first round of the 2013 Gagarin Cup playoffs, Barys defeated by Traktor Chelyabinsk 3-4 in series. After the season, Krikunov decided to left the team, because refused to coach Kazakhstan men's national ice hockey team in parallel with Barys.[25]
In the 2013 off-season, Barys appointed Samruk-Kazyna to combine the main sports teams in Astana.[4][27] Having resigned most of their free agents, the club wouldn't much change in the 2013 off-season, with the exception of losing UFAs Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev, Vitali Novopashin and Mikhail Grigoriev. On June 19, 2013, the team signed goalie Ari Ahonen for one year.[28] Barys strengthened defense, signing Mike Lundin, Maxim Semyonov and Evgeni Blokhin.[29][30] On August 8, 2013, unrestricted free agent Nik Antropov signed with the Barys a two-year deal.[31] In its season opening game on September 8, 2013, Barys defeated Severstal Cherepovets 10-1.[32] During the season, Barys signed a season long contracts with Cam Barker and Zach Hamill.[33][34] Barys's Brandon Bochenski and Talgat Zhailauov selected to play in the 2014 KHL All-Star Game, as the result of fans and journalists voting.[35] Barys finished as the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference. Recording 26 wins, 18 losses, 6 overtime/shootout wins and 4 overtime/shootout losses, they finished with 94 points for the regular season. In the first round of the 2014 Gagarin Cup playoffs, Barys defeated Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4-0 in series to overcome the first round for the first time in its KHL history. Barys losed to Salavat Yulaev Ufa in Eastern Conference Semifinals 2-4 in series.
On May 5, 2014, it was announced that former long-time Barys's captain Kevin Dallman signed a three-year contract.[36] On June 18, 2014, the KHL reported that Andrei Nazarov would move from Donbass Donetsk to become the new head coach at Barys, replacing Ari-Pekka Selin who had been sacked as coach of the Kazakhstan men's national ice hockey team on June 11.[37]
The team colours are navy, sky blue and white. The team logo is officially the head of a snow leopard, above the team name "Barys" wrote in arabic script style. The team's home jersey is mostly navy with sky blue and white trim, while the away jersey is white, with navy and sky blue trim. The current jersey was unveiled on May 27, 2013.[38] The design of the jerseys was presented by Reebok with adding an orange strip on the sleeves. The club's longtime kit supplier is Lutch sportswear company.
The team mascot is Barsik, an anthropomorphic snow leopard.
Barys's biggest rival in the Kontinental Hockey League is Ak Bars Kazan. Rivalry between the teams often refers as Cat Derby among fans and media.[39][40] Both teams have the same name meaning snow leopard. Barys is a Kazakh mountain snow leopard, the Ak Bars is the same leopard but the Tatar team emphasised “white” by adding “ak” in front, secondly the team logos resemble each other.[41] The teams played in the first playoff round of the first three KHL seasons, and Ak Bars defeated Barys every year without losing a game.
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Barys Astana. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Barys Astana seasons.
The players who have served as team captain with Barys in the KHL.[44]
Kazakhstan Hockey Championship
KHL All-Star Team
Faith Towards Hockey Award
Golden Helmet Award
KHL Best Sniper Award
These are the top-ten point-scorers in KHL franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed KHL regular season.[46]
= current Barys player
Ontario, Quebec City, Quebec, Ottawa, Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Barys Astana, Kazzinc-Torpedo, Saryarka Karagandy, Beibarys Atyrau, Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk
Barys Astana, Dinamo Riga, HC Dinamo Minsk, Toronto Maple Leafs, Frölunda HC
United States, Russia, Sweden, Canada, Germany
Barys Astana, Kazakhstan Hockey Championship, Kazakhstan, Junior Hockey League (Russia), Astana
Kazakhstan Hockey Championship, Barys Astana, Kazakhstan, Kontinental Hockey League, Junior Hockey League (Russia)