Sokil Kyiv facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sokil Kyiv
City	Kyiv, Ukraine
League	IHL
Founded	1963
Home arena	Kyiv Palace of Sports
Colours	Blue, white
Head coach	Oleh Shafarenko
Captain	Dmytro Nimenko
Franchise history
1963–1973	HC Dynamo Kyiv
1973–1992	HC Sokil Kyiv
1992–1993	HC Sokil-Eskulap Kyiv
1993–present	HC Sokil Kyiv

Hockey Club Sokil Kyiv (Ukrainian: ХК Сокіл Київ; English: Falcon Hockey Club), often called Sokil Kyiv, is a professional ice hockey team. It is based in Kyiv, Ukraine. While their main home is in Kyiv, the team also plays in Brovary, which is nearby.

Sokil Kyiv was one of the first clubs in the Professional Hockey League of Ukraine. They have also played in leagues in Belarus, Russia, and the Soviet Union. Until 2014, Sokil was the oldest and most successful team in Ukrainian hockey. They won 12 of the 19 Ukrainian Hockey Championships since 1992. The team took a break from 2014 to 2020.

The club started in 1963 as part of the Dynamo Sports Club. They changed their name to Sokil in 1973. Sokil is the second big professional ice hockey team from Kyiv. The first was also called Dynamo, founded in 1953. Sokil is the most successful Ukrainian team to play in the Soviet Championship League. They finished third in 1985, which was a great achievement. In 1986, Sokil was the first Ukrainian team to play in the Spengler Cup hockey tournament, finishing second. They also won the Eastern European Hockey League championship two times in a row, in 1998 and 1999.

Sokil is known for helping many top young hockey players grow. Some of their players became NHL All-Stars, like Dmytro Khrystych and Oleksiy Zhytnyk. Others won the Stanley Cup, such as Ruslan Fedotenko and Anton Babchuk.

Team History: From Dynamo to Falcons

Starting Strong: The Dynamo Years (1963–1973)

The team began in the summer of 1963. It was founded by Adrian Miziak, a sports leader in Ukraine. The team was first called Dynamo Kyiv. Even though 1963 is the official start, an older Dynamo team from Kyiv played in the Soviet Cup ten years earlier.

The new team started in the second level of Soviet ice hockey. Their first game was on October 27, 1963, against SKA Kuybyshev. Dmitri Boginov was their first head coach. Viktor Martinov scored the team's first goal, and they won the game 4:1. Martinov was the team's top scorer that season.

Dynamo finished 6th in their first year. The next year, they had the best record in their division. This earned them a spot in the top Soviet league. In 1965–66, Kyiv had the second-largest arena in the Soviet Union. However, Dynamo struggled in the top league. They played for five years but did not perform well. A highlight was their 1968 Soviet Cup playoff run, reaching the quarterfinals.

After a tough 1969–70 season, the team was moved down to a lower league. Coach Boginov left and Igor Shichkov took over. The team slowly improved in the next three years.

The Falcons Take Flight (1973–1996)

In 1973, for the club's 10th birthday, the team changed its name. They stopped being "Dynamo" and became "Sokil," which means "Falcon" in Ukrainian. They kept their traditional white and blue colors.

Sokil's performance was not always steady in the 1970s. But when Anatoli Bogdanov became head coach in 1976, things changed. By 1978, the team finished second and returned to the top Soviet league. In their first season back, great goaltending helped them reach the playoffs. They made it to the semifinals of the Soviet Cup, where they lost to the famous CSKA Moscow team.

During this time, many star players emerged. Between 1981 and 1990, six Sokil players were chosen for the league's Soviet League All Stars. Some were picked multiple times.

Sokil team in 1984–85

Sokil stayed competitive. The addition of local players Dmytro Khrystych and Oleksandr Hodyniuk in 1985 and 1986 made the team even better. Their 3rd-place finish in 1985 was the best in the team's history. Ramil Yuldashev won an award for the most hat-tricks (3 goals in one game) that year. Nikolai Narimanov led the league in goals. In 1986, Sergei Davydov also won the hat-trick award. Sokil was invited to the Spengler Cup tournament, where they finished second to Team Canada.

Winning the Tampere Cup in 1989 was a big moment. However, the team faced challenges as the Soviet Union began to break apart. The end of the Iron Curtain meant that NHL teams could draft players from Ukraine. The Los Angeles Kings drafted Oleksiy Zhytnyk in 1991. He is still the highest-drafted Sokil player.

Even with these changes, some players continued to shine. Yuldashev led the league in goals in 1990 and points in 1991. Valeri Shyriaiev was named the top defenseman in both years. After a very low finish in 1992, coach Bogdanov left. The team also changed its name briefly to Sokil Eskulap for the 1992–93 season because of a new sponsor. The team struggled under new coach Alexander Fedeev. In 1996, Sokil left the Russian Hockey League.

During these years, many local talents continued to develop. Ruslan Fedotenko, a future Olympian and Stanley Cup champion, left the team in 1996 to play in the NHL. Anton Babchuk and Nikolai Zherdev, who came from Sokil's junior program, were later drafted in the first round of the NHL draft.

New Leagues and Challenges (1996–2009)

When the IHL league ended, teams from the former Soviet countries joined the new Eastern European Hockey League. With a new coach, Oleksandr Seukand, Sokil found success again. They finished first in the league four times and won the championship in 1998 and 1999. Sokil players like Valentyn Oletsky and Dmitri Markovskiy won scoring titles. Konstantin Kasyanchuk was named the league's best forward in 2001, and Vadim Seliverstov was the top goaltender in 2003.

From 2004 to 2007, the team also played in the Belarusian Extraleague. They continued to do well until 2006–07, when they struggled and did not make the playoffs. This was the first time in over ten years they missed the playoffs.

Despite less government funding for hockey, the team joined the Russian Major League. They had some success there. In their first season, Sokil finished 5th in their division and had the 4th best offense in the league. The team continued to improve, finishing with a strong regular season record. They won their first playoff series but lost in the next round.

Recent Years

Sokil playing in the Belarusian Extraleague

After the 2008–09 season, Sokil announced they would return to the Belarusian Extraleague. This was mainly because the Russian Ice Hockey Federation asked foreign teams to pay for travel and other costs for visiting teams. They also had to pay a large annual fee.

For the 2009–10 season, Sokil spent more money and signed several Ukrainian players from the Kontinental Hockey League. These included Kostiantyn Simchuk, Serhiy Varlamov, and Serhiy Klymentiev. However, they faced more money problems and lost players. They finished 4th in the Belarusian league and lost in the semifinals. But Sokil continued their winning streak in the Ukrainian Championship, winning their 12th title.

The team's financial problems continued in the 2010–12 season. They lost many key players and missed the Belarusian league playoffs. Their winning streak in the Ukrainian Championship ended when they lost to HC Donbas in the finals. In 2012, Sokil left the Belarusian league and joined the new Professional Hockey League of Ukraine.

In their first two years in the PHL, Sokil did not win the Ukrainian Championship. Their rival, HC Donbas-2, became the new top team. To make things worse, the team had serious money issues. Players said they were not getting paid. In December 2013, players went on strike because of unpaid salaries. The team had to cancel games.

Team Colors and Symbols

Team Logo

When the team was called Dynamo, their original colors were white and blue. This is why they were nicknamed "white-blues." When they became Sokil in 1973, they changed their colors to red and blue. These were the colors of the Kyiv coat of arms at the time. Later, the team returned to white and blue, adding a darker blue and black.

Since 1973, Sokil's main logo has shown a horse-chestnut leaf. This leaf is a symbol of the city of Kyiv. This symbol has always been on the team's jerseys. A picture of a falcon was added later. To celebrate their 45th birthday in 2008–09, Sokil updated their logo. The new logo had a modern, more aggressive falcon, but still kept the classic chestnut leaf in the background.

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  Original logo, 1973

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  Sokil jersey hem logo, used briefly

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  Logo, until 1990

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  Classic logo used until 2008

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  2008–present

Team Jerseys

Current jersey

The team's first jerseys were white with blue stripes across them. In 1973, when the team became Sokil, red was added as a main color. The stripes were removed for a more modern look. In 1992, when the sponsor "Eskulap" was added, the team logo changed to a tryzub (a Ukrainian symbol). The Coca-Cola logo was also on the jerseys for a while.

When the blue and white colors returned, the jerseys changed designs many times. They had different arm and hem stripes, shoulder designs, and colors. The current jersey has a design that looks like feathers instead of traditional hockey stripes. This is the same design used by Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. The jerseys are made by a Russian company called Lutch.

Team Achievements

League Wins

• Eastern European Hockey League winners (2): 1998, 1999
• Ukrainian Hockey Championship winners (12): 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
• Soviet Championship League third place (1): 1984–85

Other Tournament Wins

• Cup of Eastern European Hockey League winners (2): 1998, 1999
• Ukrainian Hockey Cup winners (1): 2007
• Ukrainian Federation Cup winners (1): 2010
• Tampere Cup winners (1): 1989

Sokil Players

Honored Players

Retired Numbers

Retired jerseys hanging from the rafters

Sokil Kyiv has honored five players by retiring their jersey numbers. This means no other player on the team will wear these numbers. All these honored players were born in Ukraine.

_{*Both Zhitnik and Shyriaiev are also in the Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame.}

Individual Player Awards

Team Leaders

Players Drafted into the NHL

The following players were drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft. They played for the Sokil ice hockey team before being drafted. In total, 11 players from Sokil have been drafted into the NHL.

The most famous players drafted from Sokil are defenseman Alexei Zhitnik and forward Dmitri Khristich. Zhitnik played over 1000 regular season games in the NHL. Khristich scored over 250 goals and 500 points.

Anton Babchuk was drafted 21st overall

	Player	Hometown	Origin	Drafted by	Year	Round	Overall
D	Tatarinov, MikhailMikhail Tatarinov	Angarsk	Russian SFSR	Washington Capitals	1984	011	0225
RW	Khristich, DmitriDmitri Khristich	Kyiv	Ukrainian SSR	Washington Capitals	1988	06	0120
D	Godynyuk, AlexanderAlexander Godynyuk	Kyiv	Ukrainian SSR	Toronto Maple Leafs	1990	06	0115
C	Kuzminsky, AlexanderAlexander Kuzminsky	Kyiv	Ukrainian SSR	Toronto Maple Leafs	1991	06	0120
D	Zhitnik, AlexeiAlexei Zhitnik	Kyiv	Ukrainian SSR	Los Angeles Kings	1991	04	081
RW	Vologjaninov, IvanIvan Vologjaninov	Kyiv	Ukraine	Los Angeles Kings	1992	011	0254
D	Hunko, YuriiYurii Hunko	Kyiv	Ukraine	St. Louis Blues	1992	010	0230
D	Alekseyev, AleksandrAleksandr Alekseyev	Kyiv	Ukraine	Winnipeg Jets	1992	06	0132
D	Buschan, AndreiAndrei Buschan	Kyiv	Ukraine	San Jose Sharks	1993	05	0106
G	Karpenko, IgorIgor Karpenko	Kyiv	Ukraine	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	1995	08	0185
LW	Koveshnikov, AnatoliiAnatolii Koveshnikov	Kyiv	Ukraine	Dallas Stars	1995	08	0193

NHL Players from Sokil's Junior Program

The following players learned to play hockey at Sokil's junior school. They later went on to be drafted into the NHL.

Nikolay Zherdev is the highest drafted player from Kyiv's history

	Player	Hometown	Origin	Drafted by	Drafted from	Year	Round	Overall
D	Klymentiev, SerhiySerhiy Klymentiev	Kyiv	Ukraine	Buffalo Sabres	Medicine Hat Tigers	1994	05	0121
D	Linnik, MaximMaxim Linnik	Kyiv	Ukraine	St. Louis Blues	St. Thomas Stars	1998	02	041
LW	Ponikarovsky, AlexeiAlexei Ponikarovsky	Kyiv	Ukraine	Toronto Maple Leafs	Krylya Sovetov	1998	04	087
LW	Mikhnov, AlexeiAlexei Mikhnov	Kyiv	Ukraine	Edmonton Oilers	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	2000	01	017
D	Volchenkov, AntonAnton Volchenkov	Moscow	Russia	Ottawa Senators	CSKA Moscow	2000	01	021
D	Babchuk, AntonAnton Babchuk	Kyiv	Ukraine	Chicago Blackhawks	Elemash Elektrostal	2002	01	021
C	Mikhnov, AndriyAndriy Mikhnov	Kyiv	Ukraine	St. Louis Blues	Sudbury Wolves	2002	02	062
LW	Zherdev, NikolaiNikolai Zherdev	Kyiv	Ukraine	Columbus Blue Jackets	CSKA Moscow	2003	01	04
C	Sobchenko, DaniilDaniil Sobchenko	Kyiv	Ukraine	San Jose Sharks	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	2011	06	0165