Richard Delacy,



To mark the end of the first week’s play of the tenth season of the Championship, The Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of the week in four categories.

– Best goaltender was Dominik Furch (Avangard), The Czech netminder opened his campaign with three wins in three matches, including one shutout, and achieved the best save percentage (97.33) and goals against average (0.66) of any goalie in the League;

– Best defenseman was Ivan Vereshchagin (Sibir). The 22-year-old helped his team to victory in all three appearances, recording 3 assists, 10 blocks (more than any other player), and no negative ratings, ending the week at +3;

– Best forward was Sergei Shirokov (SKA), whose team's account for the new season already shows 4 wins out of 4, thanks in no small part to a goal in each game from Shirokov. The experienced Russian attacker finished the week with 6 (4+2) points, no negative ratings, and a +4;

– Best rookie was 18-year-old Jokerit forward Eeli Tolvanen, who made KHL history by hitting a hat-trick in his debut against Dinamo Minsk. In all, the youngster's figures for the week read: 3 appearances, 2 victories, 14 shots at goal and 6 (3+3) points