# Belye Medveditsy

Belye Medveditsy Chelyabinsk (Russian: Бе́лые Медве́дицы Челябинск, lit. 'Polar Bears Chelyabinsk') are an ice hockey team in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL). They play in Chelyabinsk, Russia at the Yunost Sport Palace. The team has previously been known as Metelitsa Chelyabinsk, Nika Chelyabinsk, Kazak-Uralsky Chelyabinsk, and Fakel Chelyabinsk.
The team is a part of the Traktor Chelyabinsk hockey organization, which also operates Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Chelmet Chelyabinsk of the VHL, Belye Medvedi Chelyabinsk of the MHL, and a number of youth and junior teams.

## History

Founded in Chelyabinsk in 1997 as Metelitsa (Russian: Метелица, lit. 'Blizzard'), the club made its debut in the second round of the 1997–98 Russian Women's Hockey League (RWHL) season. Yelena Tyushnyakova, an ice hockey defenceman better known as an Olympic speed skater, was the first captain of Metelitsa. The team struggled in their inaugural season, recording a -165 goal differential and finishing at the bottom of the league.
Prior to the 1998–99 season, the team was renamed as Nika (Russian: Ника). In 2000, the name was changed to Kazak-Uralsky (Russian: Казак-Уральский, lit. 'Cossack-Urals'). During 2002 to 2014, the team was called Fakel (Russian: Факел, lit. 'Torch').
On 5 March 2014, the team joined the HC Tractor organization and their name was changed to Belye Medveditsy. On 8 March 2015, the team was dissolved for financial reasons.

## Season-by-season results

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Belye Medveditsy, known as Fakel Chelyabinsk during 2002 to 2014.
Note: Finish = Rank at end of regular season; GP = Games played, W = Wins (3 points), OTW = Overtime wins (2 points), OTL = Overtime losses (1 point), L = Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points, Top scorer: Points (Goals+Assists)
| Season | League | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| Season | League | Finish | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | Pts | Top scorer |
| 2010–11 | RWHL | | 30 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 116 | 82 | 52 | A. Vafina 50 (25+25) |
| 2011–12 | RWHL | 4th | 30 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 74 | 149 | 36 | O. Afonina 31 (14+17) |
| 2012–13 | RWHL | 4th | 48 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 156 | 139 | 81 | O. Afonina 50 (27+23) |
| 2013–14 | RWHL | 5th | 40 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 168 | 114 | 60 | A. Huszak 72 (41+31) |
| 2014–15 | RWHL | 8th | 32 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 106 | 133 | 29 | F. Gasparics 46 (28+18) |

## Players and personnel
### 2021–22 roster

    As of 22 October 2021
| No. | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 72 | Polina Andreyeva | G | L | 19 | 2021 | Apatity, Murmansk Oblast, Russia |
| 41 | Yulia Artyomova | G | L | 25 | 2021 | Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia |
| 89 | Varvara Boriskova | F | L | 22 | 2021 | Odintsovo, Moscow Oblast, Russia |
| 30 | Sofiya Boichenko | G | L | 18 | 2021 | Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 47 | Viktoria Fyodorova | F | L | 19 | 2021 | Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia |
| 15 | Valeria Gorbunova | D | L | 23 | 2021 | Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine |
| 21 | Viktoria Kiselyova | F | L | 19 | 2021 | |
| 11 | Yana Krasheninina | F | R | 20 | 2021 | Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 77 | Alisa Kudelina | D | L | 21 | 2021 | Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 18 | Kamilla Mukhametdinova | F | L | 21 | 2021 | |
| 35 | Milana Nachyotova | D | L | 19 | 2021 | |
| 33 | Alina Narudinova | F | L | 23 | 2021 | Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 22 | Alina Orlova | D | L | 24 | 2021 | Stupino, Moscow Oblast, Russia |
| 19 | Yekaterina Osminova | D | L | 20 | 2021 | Korkino, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 74 | Yekaterina Prozorova | D | R | 30 | 2021 | |
| 68 | Maria Pushkar | F | L | 23 | 2021 | Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia |
| 42 | Anastasia Shabalina | F | L | 20 | 2021 | Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 17 | Tatyana Shatalova | F | L | 25 | 2021 | Minsk, Belarus |
| 28 | Kristina Smirnova | D | L | 20 | 2021 | Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 27 | Ilmira Taipova | F | L | 25 | 2021 | Kamsky Lespromkhoz, Mamadyshsky District, Tatarstan, Russia |
| 1 | Milena Tretyak | G | L | 24 | 2021 | Moscow, Russia |
| 37 | Berta Valeyeva | F | L | 20 | 2021 | Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, Russia |
| 23 | Zlata Vavilova | F | R | 18 | 2021 | Satka, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 7 | Natalya Vorontsova | D | L | 29 | 2021 | Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia |
| 5 | Valeria Zaika | F | L | 19 | 2021 | Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
| 94 | Yekaterina Zakharova | F | L | 30 | 2021 | Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia |
| 99 | Tamara Zhordochkina | D | L | 18 | 2021 | Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia |
Coaching staff and team personnel
* Head coach: Igor Znarok
* Assistant coach: Pyotr Pankov
* Assistant coach: Pavel Shiryayev
* Conditioning coach: Yelena Tyushnyakova

### Team captaincy history

* Yelena Tyushnyakova, 1997–98
* Viktoria Tavakova, 1998–2004
* Yekaterina Vainberger, 2004–05
* Alexandra Vafina, 2008–2011
* Anastasia Vedernikova, 2011–2013
* Alexandra Vafina, 2013–14
* Anastasia Vedernikova, 2014–15

### Head coaches

* Alexander Degtyaryov, 1997–98
* Vladimir Borodulin, 1998–2005
* Arkadi Belousov, 2008–2015
* Igor Znarok, 2021–

## Team honours
### Russian Championship

* Third Place (1): 2010–11

## All-time scoring leaders

The top-ten point-scorers in club history.
Note: Nat = Nationality; Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; = 2021–22 Belye Medveditsy player
Scoring leaders :
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | P/G |
| Yekaterina Lebedeva | F | 138 | 62 | 82 | 144 | 1.043 |
| Alexandra Vafina | F | 78 | 76 | 63 | 139 | 1.782 |
| Oxana Afonina | F | 146 | 68 | 70 | 138 | 0.945 |
| Alexandra Huszak | F | 72 | 65 | 45 | 110 | 1.528 |
| Fanni Gasparics | F | 72 | 56 | 54 | 110 | 1.528 |
| Yekaterina Anisimova | F | 123 | 48 | 47 | 95 | 0.772 |
| Anastasia Vedernikova | F | 121 | 39 | 55 | 94 | 0.777 |
| Yelena Timofeyeva | D | 173 | 23 | 70 | 93 | 0.538 |
| Yekaterina Skorodumova | F | 190 | 41 | 48 | 89 | 0.468 |
| Lyubov Vafina | F | 202 | 37 | 45 | 82 | 0.406 |
Source(s):

## Notable alumni

Years active with Belye Medveditsy listed alongside player name.
* Yekaterina Lebedeva, 2010–2014
* Yekaterina Ananina, 2011–2014
* Yelena Tyushnyakova, 1997–98
* Alexandra Vafina, 2008–2011 & 2013–14

### International players

* Fanni Gasparics, 2013–2015
* Alexandra Huszak, 2013–2015
* Franciska Kiss-Simon, 2013–2015
* Varvara Piskunova, 2008–2014
* O'Hara Shipe, 2012–13
* Lyubov Vafina, 2008–2015