F Denis Tolpeko (Seattle, Regina, 2003-06) was traded by Salevat Yulaev Ufa to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (both Russia, KHL) for 2016 second- and third-round picks in the KHL Junior Draft. Last season, with Salevat Yulaev, he had 10 goals and eight assists in 59 games.
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The 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship is scheduled for Helsinki, Finland, where games are to be played in two arenas, including Hartwall Arena.
Team USA and Canada are to play their round-robin games in an older arena that is owned by the city of
Helsinki. The playoff round is to be played in Hartwall Arena.But what if the U.S. government stepped in and told Team USA that it couldn’t play there? What if teams from European Union (EU) countries weren’t allowed to play there? What then?
Why would that happen?
Well . . . follow along here . . .
The MacBeth Report informs us that on Thursday the U.S. government added Roman Rotenberg, Kai Pannanen, Långvik Capital, Airfix Aviation, and two companies operated by Pannanen to its embargo list.
Rotenberg holds Finnish and Russian passports.
Pannanen is a Finnish citizen who is a member of the board of directors of the Jokerit hockey team.
Långvik Capital is owned by Arkady and Boris Rottenberg. Roman Rottenberg is Boris’s son and Arkady’s nephew.
Arkady Rottenberg owns the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow and is a childhood friend and judo partner of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Boris Rotenberg owns the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow soccer team. He also is a childhood friend and judo partner of Putin.
Airfix Aviation is owned by Gennady Timchenko, who owns the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg franchise and is the chairman of the KHL’s board. He holds Russian, Finnish and Armenian citizenship.
Which brings us to Arena Events OY, which owns Hartwall Arena and a majority interest, perhaps even 100 per cent, in Jokerit, which is to play in the KHL in 2015-16.
Arena Events purchased Jokerit and Hartwall Arena in 2012. At that time, Arena Events was owned by Långvik Capital and Timchenko. However, Timchenko, and Arkady and Boris Rotenberg soon found themselves on the U.S. sanctions list, so the ownership picture changed, with Roman Rotenberg becoming the owner of Långvik Capital.
The Finnish government asked the U.S. government about the inclusion of two Finnish citizens and four Finnish companies on the sanctions list. According to Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, the U.S. told Finland “the list was expanded to include people and practices who support already-blacklisted magnates Gennadi Timchenko and Boris Rotenberg.”
Marko Lempinen, a columnist with Ilta-Sanomat, speculated that should Jokerit get added to the list the team might fold.
After all, EU companies aren’t allowed to do business with companies or individuals on the EU sanctions list.
Lempinen also wondered in print when Timchenko and Arkady Rotenberg will decide that such problems associated with Jokerit and Hartwall Arena aren’t worth the bother any longer. As Lempinen mused, they are billionaires and wouldn’t be harmed economically by folding Jokerit and letting Hartwall sit unoccupied for a year or two.
Which brings us back to the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The tournament opens Dec. 26, 2015, with Russia meeting Czech Republic in Hartwall Arena.
As mentioned, the playoff round is to be held in Hartwall Arena. Let’s assume that Team USA qualifies for the playoff round.
If Jokerit and Hartwall Arena are on the embargo list, can Team USA play any games in the facility?
In fact, if Roman Rotenberg is added to the EU sanctions list, along with Långvik Capital, can teams from any EU countries play in Hartwall Arena without violating the sanctions?
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Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the Vancouver Giants, didn’t do anything Friday to quell the rumours of a possible move. The Giants play in Pacific Coliseum where, he told Greg Douglas, who writes a Saturday column for the Vancouver Sun, that “the rent we’re paying is the highest in the league. It’s not working.”
There has been speculation that the City of Surrey is prepared to offer up some land if a developer wants to build an arena. That led to rumours that the Giants might be on the move.
“I keep hearing that a new arena in South Surrey is in the planning stages,” Toigo told Douglas. “But so far it’s just been a lot of talk.”
Douglas pointed out that the Giants’ attendance has fallen from 8,717 in 2008-09 to about 5,800 last season.
“Am I concerned about it? Absolutely,” Toigo told Douglas. “We’re starting to lose money. . . . The Coliseum is tired and needs capital funding but doesn’t get a subsidy from any level of government.”
Stay tuned. This story likely is far from over.
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The Calgary Hitmen have added two former WHL general managers to their scouting staff. Roy Stasiuk has been named Prairie scouting director, while Dallas Thompson will work as B.C. scouting director. . . . The Hitmen also announced the retirement of Ray Payne, who was their travelling scout. He will continue to scout for the Hitmen on a part-time basis in the Vancouver area. . . . Stasiuk, from Edmonton, was on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ scouting staff for the past six seasons. He has worked in the WHL with Prince Albert, Red Deer, Edmonton, Kootenay and Lethbridge. He had a stint as general manager in Lethbridge, after working as assistant GM/director of player personnel with Kootenay. . . . Thompson worked for 10 years as the general manager of the Prince George Cougars. . . . Dan Bonar remains Calgary’s director, player personnel and oversees the scouting staff.——
The Everett Silvertips have lost Travis Huntington, their play-by-play voice. He is leaving the organization for personal reasons. . . . “The decision to leave was a very difficult one motivated by a desire to be closer to family and friends in Colorado,” Huntington said in a news release, “but I will greatly miss being a member of this team and the friends I’ve made.” . . . Huntington, 32, was the director of broadcasting and public relations for four seasons. . . . He is from Platteville, Colo.——
Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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Glad everyone on my flight is safer now that they took my toothpaste
— Brendan Burke (@bburke_1) August 1, 2015
Meanwhile, at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton . . .
The lady next to me, in her 60's, denied a beer at the ball game because of their "ID everyone" policy. Why did we let the idiots take over?
— Chris LaBossiere (@ChrisLaBossiere) August 1, 2015
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F Chris Bruton (Spokane, 2004-08) signed a one-year contract with the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite). Last season, he had two goals and two assists in 52 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL). . . . Braehead head coach Ryan Finnerty said Bruton is "going to take advantage of the MBA course at the University of the West of Scotland." . . .
F Vladimir Bobylev was in the lineup for Spartak Moscow in a 4-3 exhibition loss to SKA St. Petersburg on Wednesday afternoon in Espoo, Finland. Bobylev, wearing No. 47, was listed as the fourth-line centre. A game summary wasn’t available, other than goals, and Bobylev didn’t score. . . . Spartak’s schedule had it practising in Espoo on Thursday and flying to Moscow today, where they will skate on Saturday. Spartak’s next game is scheduled for Thursday against 
Amur Khabarovsk in Moscow.
The ECHL’s Quad Cities Mallards have signed D Kevin Gibson, a 25-year-old out of the U of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is the son of former major league baseball player and manager Kirk Gibson. Marc Nesseler of Quad-Cities Online has more 
The chances of Swedish D Oliver Kylington playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings improved on Wednesday when AIK said it wouldn’t stand in the way of him playing in North America. . . . Kylington was selected by the Calgary Flames in the second round of last month’s NHL draft. The Wheat Kings later selected him in the CHL import draft. . . . Kylington, who is from Stockholm, had signed a two-year contract with AIK, a Swedish professional team. . . . On its website, AIK general manager Anders Gozzi said: “We do not stop Oliver from the opportunity he has been given.” . . . Kylington is quoted as saying: “I went into this season with a full focus on helping AIK (in the) coming season. I really believe in the venture to which the club is now doing and I wanted to be a part of it.” . . . Kylington, 18, will attend the Flames’ rookie camp and then, presumably, main camp. Because he was drafted out of Europe, he could play for the Flames, their AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, or the Wheat Kings in 2015-16.
The Saskatoon Blades have acquired D Bryton Sayers, 19, from the Victoria Royals for a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2017 WHL bantam draft. Sayers, from Prince Albert, split last season between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Victoria. . . . In 2013-14, he had 11 points, including four goals, with Lethbridge. Last season, he had 10 points, two of them goals, in 38 games with the Hurricanes, and a goal and an assist in 20 games with Victoria. . . . The Royals had acquired Sayers from Lethbridge on Jan. 10, in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . In 2012-13, he was the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League’s defenceman of the year while with the Prince Albert Mintos.
The Tri-City Americans have signed F Brett Leason, who was a third-round pick in the WHL`s 2014 bantam draft. From Calgary, the 6-foot-3, 185-pounder had 83 points, 43 of them goals, in 30 games with the Calgary Stampeders of the Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League last season.
The Portland Winterhawks have signed D Jack Dougherty, 19, who was a second-round selection by the Nashville Predators in the NHL’s 2014 draft. He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Predators on Friday. . . . Dougherty was a freshman with the U of Wisconsin Badgers last season, putting up two goals and seven assists in 33 games. . . . Before heading to Portland, Dougherty will take part in USA Hockey’s national junior team evaluation camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. It runs from Saturday through Aug. 8. . . . Portland will have four players at that camp, veteran forwards Paul Bittner and Dominic Turgeon and freshman D Caleb Jones being the others. . . . Dougherty, from St. Paul, joins Bittner, D Nick Heid, D Blake Heinrich and F Keegan Iverson as fellow Minnesotans on the Winterhawks’ roster.
The 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship will be held in Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis or Tampa. USA Hockey announced Tuesday that those cities are the finalists to play host to the tournament. . . . Detroit, which has billed itself as Hockeytown USA, didn’t make the cut, although it was one of at least 12 cities that had expressed an interest. . . . The list will be shortened even more over the next two months, with the host city to be selected before year’s end. . . . The fact that five major cities are left in the running tells you just how big this tournament has become in North America. As Chicago Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz said yesterday: "Next to the Olympics, I think that’s the biggest hockey event there is out there.” . . . The 2016 tournament is to be held in Helsinki, Finland, while the 2017 event is scheduled for Montreal and Toronto. . . . Chris Peters of cbssports.com takes a really good look at the picture 
Ryan McGill, a veteran WHL head coach, is on his way to the OHL, having signed a two-year contract as head coach of the Owen Sound Attack. . . . He replaces Greg Ireland, who resigned earlier this month and now is the head coach of Adler Mannheim in Germany. . . . McGill, 46, spent the past three seasons as head coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. His contract wasn’t renewed at season’s end. He is the second coach to move from the Ice to the OHL, following Kris Knoblauch, who has coached the Erie Otters for two-plus seasons. . . . “To get a head coach of Ryan’s calibre, in the time frame we were working under is unbelievable,” Attack general manager Dale DeGray said in a news release. “Ryan brings with him a wealth of experience and success, both at the professional and junior levels. He’s a competitor who knows how to win. Our organization is extremely lucky to have him.” DeGray also likes McGill’s familiarity with small-market franchises. “Ryan played in Swift Current, coached in Kootenay and now being the head coach of the Owen Sound Attack means that he has been a part of three of the smaller markets in the Canadian Hockey League,” DeGray added. “Performing in a small-market in front of a very loyal fan base will be nothing new to him and something he is comfortable with. The man knows how to win.” . . . The Attack also signed Derek King, 48, to a two-year deal as assistant coach. He spent the past six seasons on the coaching staff of the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman, who now is doing some writing for Yahoo! Sports Canada, has more 
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