19 April 2026

Avangard Becomes Two-Time UTLC Ice Cup Champion

School

The decisive matchup of the UTLC Ice Cup 2026 between SKA Army and Avangard Omsk turned into a true showcase of the tournament.

The key moments of the opening period came late in the frame. First, Avangard struck twice in quick succession, with Bogdan Palitsyn and Matvey Palaukhin converting on the power play. However, with just over a minute remaining before the intermission, Dmitry Fedotov capitalized on the Omsk side’s penalty to cut the deficit.

Early in the second period, Palaukhin extended the nominal visitors’ lead once again. Later, discipline issues continued to trouble the “Hawks,” allowing Maksim Papukov to score during a 5-on-3 advantage, while shortly afterward Kirill Ozhmegov tied the game at even strength. Still, the reigning champions did not lose momentum, as Maksim Gutov restored Avangard’s lead with the team’s fourth goal.

Midway through the deciding period, Arseniy Lyubomirsky scored with a brilliant shot from the left faceoff circle. Fedotov completed his brace and brought intrigue back into the contest, but the final word belonged to Avangard. As a result, the Omsk club captured the UTLC Ice Cup title for the second consecutive year, while SKA Army finished in second place.

SKA Army – Avangard 4:6 (1:2, 2:2, 1:2)

0:1 — 13:17 Palitsyn PP
0:2 — 14:56 Palaukhin (Rogovsky)
1:2 — 18:28 Fedotov (Monchik) PP
1:3 — 25:15 Palaukhin (Klevtsov) PP
2:3 — 27:29 Papukov (Fedotov, Monchik) PP
3:3 — 33:00 Ozhmegov (Sedyolkin, Monchik)
3:4 — 38:30 Gutov (Polyakov, Popov) PP
3:5 — 49:31 Lyubomirsky (Rogovsky) PP
4:5 — 50:44 Fedotov (Monchik)
4:6 — 56:20 Polyakov

Goaltenders: Klimenko — Arkhipov

In the bronze-medal game of the tournament, Hokay faced Vikings Prague. The Beijing side stormed out of the gates, scoring three times within the opening five minutes through Yi Ji, Nikita An, and Mark Yun. However, before the first intermission, the Vikings managed to erase the deficit thanks to goals by Petr Bertl, Petr Shimek, and Petr Petrach.

By the end of the second period, Hokay had regained the lead, with Jengye Liu emerging as the key figure after scoring twice.

The third period showed that neither team was willing to surrender. At one stage, the squad coached by Ilya Solarev pulled ahead by two goals, but the Prague side fought back heroically to level the score late in regulation. The winner was finally determined in the last minute of overtime, when Kaikai Tian forced the puck across the line during a scramble in front of the net. Hokay thus claimed the first bronze medals in club history at the UTLC Ice Cup.

Hokay – Vikings 8:7 OT (3:3, 2:1, 2:3, 1:0)

1:0 — 03:03 Ji (Tian, Liu)
2:0 — 03:19 An N. (Yun)
3:0 — 04:36 Yun (An N.) PP
3:1 — 07:07 Bertl (Shimek)
3:2 — 09:30 Shimek
3:3 — 17:32 Petrach
4:3 — 21:25 Liu
4:4 — 30:01 Vashek
5:4 — 39:43 Liu
6:4 — 42:51 An N.
6:5 — 43:45 Novotny (Shimek, Vashek)
7:5 — 45:03 Ji
7:6 — 52:10 Smely (Novotny)
7:7 — 55:10 Petrach (Andel)
8:7 — 64:03 Tian

Goaltenders: Fu — Stoces

Alexey Grom, CEO of UTLC ERA:

“Congratulations to everyone on the completion of the sixth international UTLC Ice Cup tournament! This year, Barys Arena once again brought together young talents from Europe and Asia. We recorded two historic achievements: first, the geography of participants expanded to five countries, and second, a Beijing team won bronze medals for the first time in tournament history. Special congratulations to Avangard Omsk for successfully defending their championship title.”

Following the final game, the tournament awards ceremony took place. Among the attendees were Daulen Rakhmetullin, First Deputy CEO of UTLC ERA; Alexander Komarov, Counselor of the Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan; Ilya Meshcheryakov, Managing Director for New Projects at Kazakhstan Temir Zholy; and Alexey Mamontov, Deputy General Director of Barys Astana.

Individual Awards

Best Goaltender — Jan Stoces (Vikings)
Best Defensemen — Kirill Melnikov (SKA Army), Arseniy Lyubomirsky (Avangard)
Best Forwards — Denis Lozhayev (Barys), Jengye Liu (Hokay), Daniil Skurchik (Dynamo-Juniverse)
Tournament MVP — Kirill Ozhmegov (SKA Army)