Belye Medveditsy

Belye Medveditsy 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 (), 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 (). In 2000, the name was changed to Kazak-Uralsky (). During 2002 to 2014, the team was called Fakel (). 
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===
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
Nat	Player	Pos	GP 	G 	A 	Pts	P/G
 	 	F 	138	62	82	144	1.043
 	 	F 	78 	76	63	139	1.782
 	 	F 	146	68	70	138	0.945
 	 	F 	72 	65	45	110	1.528
 	 	F 	72 	56	54	110	1.528
 	 	F 	123	48	47	95 	0.772
 	 	F 	121	39	55	94 	0.777
 	 	D 	173	23	70	93 	0.538
 	 	F 	190	41	48	89 	0.468
 	 	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
==References==
==External links==
*Team information and statistics from EliteProspects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or HockeyArchives.info
 
Category:Women's ice hockey in Russia
Category:Zhenskaya Hockey League teams