The Russian Hockey Federation wrapped up its season last week. At club level, everything seems to be in good order. The Russian championship provided some excellent competition and the strongest club-Magnitogorsk's Metallurg-won.

Russian clubs also dominated the European hockey scene and for the first time ever, the Euroleague final match was a showdown between two Russian clubs-Moscow's Dinamo and Magnitogorsk. Metallurg came out on top, adding the prestigious European prize to its national title.

But the Russian national team is in an entirely different situation. Performance in 1998 and 1999 was far from inspired. Trainer Alexander Yakushev's team came in a steady last and managed only three victories in all four rounds-Pragobank tournament, Karyala Cup, Baltic Cup and Swedish Hockey Games-of the European tournament. That is a disaster for Russia; the national team used to breeze through to victory in the European championships.

The national team also put on a poor showing at the world championship in Norway, coming in only 5th. But that did not stop the Hockey Federation from deciding to keep Yakushev in his job to prepare for next year's world championship, to be held in St. Petersburg and Yaroslavl.

Another issue that came up at the Hockey Federation Council's meeting was the number of teams that will participate in next year's season. Some of Russia's most famous teams have found themselves in difficult straits. These include Moscow teams Spartak, Krilya Sovietov, Viktor Tikhonov's CSKA, Voskresensk team Khimik, and Chelyabinsk's Traktor.

These teams ran into problems just after the August crisis. Wealthy teams from Siberia, the Far East and the Volga region-backed by large companies (as Magnitogorsk Metallurg) or by local administrations (Yaroslavl and Kazan)-rode out the crisis and strengthened their teams. The old trade union-backed teams, on the other hand, have found themselves desperately short of funds.

For some regional leaders, hockey is like a favorite toy, and they will pour vast sums of money into it. Doctors, teachers and so on may be paid precious little or not at all, but hockey players live the good life. Such is the situation in Kazan, Omsk, Magnitogorsk and Yaroslavl.

Having a strong regional team is prestigious, as it is seen as being like the United States, where NHL clubs are the pride of each state. But Moscow is different. Mayor Yury Luzhkov prefers soccer, and as for the trade unions that used to fund clubs like Spartak and Khimik, they can hardly make ends meet these days.

Financial problems have become so severe that on several occasions, Spartak, Khimik, and Krilya Sovietov were unable to travel to matches held in other cities. As the season drew on, some of the top players left Spartak, Krilya Sovietov and Traktor because of low and irregularly paid salaries. Spartak even went on strike on one occasion, refusing to play CSKA until their wage arrears were paid. Krilya Sovietov tried to bring in new people, changing its president, trainer and administrators, but failed to find a way out of the crisis. It was thus no surprise to see former star teams in Russian hockey at the bottom of the national league table.

The only hope for these teams is if the Hockey Federation Council decides to increase the number of teams in the top league to 32, allowing them to remain in the top division. But the proposal was rejected by 17 votes to 15.

For the first time in Russian hockey history, the top league does not include four-time USSR champion Spartak, two-time USSR champion Krilya Sovietov, and legendary teams like Khimik, Traktor, and CSKA. Only two Moscow teams will be in the Super League now: Dinamo, and Boris Mikhailov's CSKA. That's a real blow for Moscow hockey and it is not yet clear when the capital's teams will find themselves back on their feet.

The Russia Journal asked Gelani Tovbulatov,

Vice-President of Spartak, to comment on the situation:

I get the impression that there is a real campaign directed against the Moscow clubs. Some people in the provinces are obviously fed up with Moscow's hegemony in hockey, and they are taking advantage of the economic situation to bring us down. We're all so busy trying to be like the United States, like the NHL, but the worst teams never play in the Stanley Cup. Now that we're out of the first division, we're going to lose our last sponsors; they're not going to want to put money into second division matches. That means we could be out of the first division for a good while. In the provinces, there was always this "beat Moscow at all costs" mentality. Beating a Moscow team, that was a real cause for celebration. But I'm not sure that fans in Omsk and Kazan will be so happy that Moscow clubs aren't going to come and play their teams anymore.

Twice, we proposed a more rational approach. We wanted to divide the Super League into zones and increase the number of teams. No one listened to us; that's their right. But because of that, what we have now isn't a real hockey championship, but a competition between money and regional ambitions. So, I can only express my sympathy for Russian hockey fans who are going to lose out.