final four-in hockey

Not basketball, as my bracket is hopelessly torpedoed. (I had Butler in the final 4, all the rest are out.) Ak Bars got 2 goals from Alexander Badyukov and 2 assists from Evgeny Medvedev to beat Metallurg 3-1, win the series 4-2 and advance to play Salavat Yulaev in the eastern finals. Salavat moves on by topping Neftekhmik 2-1 on the second goal by Alexander Perezhogin (both assisted by Mika Hannula) with 3:45 left in the game.



Now that we're at the final four, here's a little bit about the cities involved.






Yaroslavl
Founded: 1010
Pop.: 613,088
Located: 155 mi NE of Moscow, in Russian Republic
Arena: Lokomotiv arena 2000, cap. 9,046
Sister city of Burlington, VT
Championships: 1997, 2002, 2003

Ufa (Home to Salavat Yulaev)

Founded: 1574 by Ivan the Terrible

Pop.: 1,021,500

Located: 974 mi east of Moscow , Rep. of Bashkortostan

Arena: Ufa arena, cap. 8400

Known for Bashkir honey













Balashikha
Founded:1830

Population: 147,909

Located: 16 mi E of Moscow

Arena: Balashikha Arena, cap. 6000



No championships (yet)

Kazan (Home of Ak Bars)

Founded: 1005
Pop.: 1,105,289
Located: 450 mi E of Moscow, Rep. of Tartarstan
Arena: Taftnet arena, cap. 10,000

Known as the "third capital of Russia" after Moscow and St. Petersburg
Sister city of College Station, TX
Championships: 1998, 2006, and last year