They came with the youngest roster in the tournament. They left with the trophy and the acclaim of the Cardiff public ringing in their ears. Nomad Astana’s first Continental Cup victory was a triumph on all fronts.

On the ice, the Kazakhs were simply a step quicker than the opposition. In the first two games, against Cardiff and Herning, they seized control in the opening seconds: up 2-0 on the Devils after 2:28, up 3-0 on Blue Fox at 4:38. Youth, clearly, had its fling in this year’s final.

“We were the youngest team in Cardiff and it felt like we were able to recover a bit quicker than everyone else,” said forward Maxim Musorov, who had 4 (2+2) points through three games. “It didn’t matter that sometimes we were playing older guys, maybe stronger or more experienced than us. We had great character and we battled to the end.”

Those lightning starts were no coincidence, but it wasn’t the sole factor.

“We wanted to get that fast start, maybe catch the opposition a little bit off guard,” Musorov. “Luckily for us it worked well, we took our chances, scored goals. Then our goalies did well, made big saves and we defended as well as we could.”

Goaltending was a big thing. Nikita Boyarkin made 33 saves as Nomad was outshot by Cardiff but still took a 5-2 win. He also did well against Herning on his way to securing the nomination as the tournament’s top netminder. At 25, he’s one of the older players on the team and represented his country at the 2021 and 2023 World Championships.

Now he’s hopeful that success in Cardiff will give a further boost to the national team as it looks to build on three seasons in the elite division.

“I think this is a very important tournament,” Boyarkin said. “It’s always interesting to play an international tournament, to face teams from other countries. And not many teams from Kazakhstan have won this trophy, so it means a lot to our team.

“We don’t have many older players here, not everybody has international experience. This win gives a big impetus for the future, especially the World Championship.”


The term “new generation” is often over-used in respect of national programs. In Kazakhstan, though, there really is a handover right now. For many years, the national team was dominated by dual nationals. Players like Kevin Dallman, Nigel Dawes and Brandon Bochenski played in the country, got the passport and got a shot at international play late in their careers.

Those days are over. The future will be built around players like Musorov, Boyarkin, Abay Mangisbayev or as yet uncapped 24-year-old Artur Gatiyatov, who was the Continental Cup Final’s leading scorer with 5 (2+3) points. In Riga last season, Kazakhstan sent a little-known roster of home-grown talent – and defied the doomsayers to take a comfortable sixth place in Group B.

“That whole team was a Kazakh team,” said defender Tamirlan Gaitamirov, one of the small group of players who has experience in North America. “Lots of guys are getting that opportunity now.

“We have good guys in that older generation, players like Roman Starchenko. We have to look at them, learn, take as much as we can – but we understand that now our generation needs to grow. We need to be better, to be ready to represent our country with all our hearts. We can’t let Kazakhstan down.”