Kontinental League - Amur Khabarovsk v Dinamo Riga

Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) is starting. That is basically Russian Championship with addition of three non-Russian teams: Dinamo Riga (Latvia), Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) and Barys Astana (Kazakhstan). League is divided in four divisions (Bobrov, Tarasov, Kharlamov and Chernyshev) with six teams in each group.

Opening match of KHL in season 2008/2009 will be played on far east, in Khabarovsk, where Amur will play against newcomer in league - Latvian Dinamo Riga.

I can't talk much about rosters as Dinamo Riga has completely new team. Worth of mentioning are their ex-NHLers Mark Hartigan (Detroit Red Wings), Marcel Hossa (Phoenix Coyotes), Duvie Westcott (Columbus Blue Jackets) and some other players with NHL experience like Matt Ellison (Milwaukee Admirals, AHL)... Totally new team with new coach, Julius Supler. They are probably the strongest of three non-Russian teams and they should fight for Play-off spot. Their preparation games finished as follows:

25/07/2008: Dinamo Riga - HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas 2:1SO

02/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Amur Khabarovsk 3:2

04/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Dinamo Minsk 5:2

06/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Barys Astana 7:2

13/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Tappara Tampere 3:1

14/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Ilves Tampere 1:3

15/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Blues Espoo 2:3SO

16/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Blues Espoo 3:4

23/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Atlant Mytischi 1:2

24/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2:3OT

26/08/2008: Dinamo Riga - Lada Togliatti 4:2

So, as you can see, good results. It's interesting that they hosted tournament with other two non-Russian teams and won on it easily. Except that, they had Finnish Tour on Tampere Cup, finishing 4th, and played good against Russian teams on Governer Cup and finished 2nd. What is notable is that most of their good results came in early August, as pre-season was coming to end they got beaten more often, but that could also have some connection with the teams they've played. Anyway, good preseason.

Amur is "old" Russian Superleague team. Last season they even managed to enter Play-offs as 16th, getting knocked out in first stage against regular season winners and later Russian champions - Salavat. In this break they don't look strengthen. They've lost some good players as Platil (Philadelphia), Malkov (Dinamo), Chebaturkin (Dinamo Minsk)... Yes, they brought some new players like Kyle Wanvig (Norfolk Admirals, AHL), Bryce Lampman (Iowa Stars, AHL), Sergei Borisov (Dinamo Minsk) or Oleg Belkin (Lada Togliatti), but roster now looks thin as they had more substractions then additions to the squad. Their pre-season:

02/08/2008: Amur - Dinamo Riga 2:3

06/08/2008: Amur - Riga 2000 2:3

09/08/2008: Amur - Vityaz 2:3

12/08/2008: Amur - Dizel 2:1

13/08/2008: Amur - Neman Grodno 2:3

14/08/2008: Amur - Lada-2 3:3

15/08/2008: Amur - Dizel 2:1

19/08/2008: Amur - Sibir 1:2

22/08/2008: Amur - Barys 3:4OT

23/08/2008: Amur - Avangard 2:5

25/08/2008: Amur - Sibir 1:2

26/08/2008: Amur - Barys 2:1

Not the best pre-season for them. Third place on Lada Cup where they experimented a lot. Also third place on Blinov Memorial. Average pre-season, weaker then Dinamo's.

So, why to bet home team. There are two reasons. Not all Latvian ppl looked on Dinamo success as a good thing. Latvian Federation demands Dinamo to pay 500 000 $ because they of loss of sponsors after Dinamo has decided to play in KHL instead of the Latvian League. In case they don't pay federation may attempt to ban Dinamo from playing in the KHL and all the Dinamo players would be denied from playing in the IIHF tournaments and wouldn't get an international transfer card. That would be a big blow only for Latvian national team, as most of them are playing in Dinamo Riga. However, i don't think it will happen, but i think it could affected moral of the team.

Second important thing is that this is the longest away trip that any team in KHL has to make. From Riga to Khabarovsk, i think it's seven time zones difference, if not eight... That's main Amur advantage when we compare them to other KHL teams, they usually use it good and take points at home. Last few season their small arena was sold-out on regular basis, now they have new, Platinum arena with capacity of 7100 and i think it will be packed for season opener.

Home advantage is great advantage here, Dinamo looked a bit better in pre-season, but we will see what are they capable when the real thing starts. Amur usually has good season openers, last season they've beaten Kazan Bars, season before that they played also Kazan and lost only in OT (at that time Kazan was Russian champion). This odds have value to me, but as it's only the beginning of the championship keep your stakes small...

Pick : Amur
Odds : 2.05
Stake : 4 / 10
Bookmaker : Expekt
Match Result : 2-4
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor: http://scythe.blogabet.com/

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