HC Tornado

Hockey Club Tornado Moscow Region (Russian:Хоккейный клуб «Торнадо» Московская область, translation:Khokkeynyy klub «Tornado» Moskovskaya oblast'), often shortened to HC Tornado, Tornado Moscow Region or Tornado Dmitrov,|In English, the team is also referred to as “Moscow Region Tornado,” “Tornado Moscow Oblast,” or “HK Tornado” (transliteration of ХК «Торнадо»).  The name “Women's Hockey Club Tornado” or “WHC Tornado” (Женская хоккейная команда «Торнадо» (ЖХК «Торнадо»)) is often used by Russian-language sources, most notably by the club on its social media accounts, but is rarely encountered in other languages. }} is a women's ice hockey club in the Women's Hockey League (ZhHL). The team is based in Dmitrov, Moscow Oblast, Russia, and they play at the ice rink of the Sportkompleks Dmitrov (Спортивный комплекс Дмитров). Tornado has claimed the Russian Championship title nine times and won the European Women's Champions Cup four times.

History
HC Tornado has been a top competitor in the women's ice hockey Russian Championship since the club's inaugural season in 2003–04. During its first through fifteenth season, Tornado was the dominant force in the Russian Women's Hockey League, winning seven Russian Championship titles in and never finishing below second place. They medaled at five IIHF European Women's Champions Cup tournaments, winning the cup in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014, and claiming silver in 2006. During the period, Tornado also won three Challenge Cups and four Czech Women's Cups.

In the 2018–19 regular season Tornado ranked fifth, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in team history. The poor performance was attributed to the absence of several key players, Lyudmila Belyakova and Angelina Goncharenko on maternity leave and the departure of Maria Batalova to Agidel Ufa.

The team returned to the top half of the ZhHL in the 2019–20 season, bolstered by the return of both Belyakova and Goncharenko. Tornado finished the regular season as the second ranked Russian team but the newcomers to the league, China-based Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays, upset the ZhHL's traditional order, blazing to the top of the ranks and pushing each of the Russian teams down a peg. As a result, Tornado finished the regular season as the third-ranked team overall and faced the first-ranked Vanke Rays in the playoff semi-finals, where they were swept by the eventual champions.

National team participation
The club's players have historically represented a significant contingent of the Russian national ice hockey team rosters at the IIHF World Women's Championship and Winter Olympic Games.

The 21-woman roster selected to represent Russia in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2014 Winter Olympics included nine HC Tornado players. In December 2017, eight Russian team players were disqualified from the tournament and banned for life from Olympic participation for doping violations. Four of the implicated players were with HC Tornado at the time of the games, forwards Ekaterina Smolentseva, Galina Skiba, and Tatiana Burina, and defenceman Anna Shukina. Sanctions were later annulled for Smolentseva, Burina, and Shukina. The disqualification of Skiba and two other Russian players was upheld, as was the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee by the IOC. The ZhHL did not sanction any of the eight players involved and their totals from the 2013–14 season remain on record.

Russia was banned from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics by the IOC as part of the Oswald Commission rulings regarding state-sponsored doping. However, Russian athletes were permitted to compete under the designation Olympic Athletes from Russia. In practical terms, this was largely performative as the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) women's ice hockey team roster was nearly identical to the Russian national team roster that competed at the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship. The team was coached by long-time HC Tornado head coach Alexei Vladimirovich Chistyakov and included ten Tornado players. Tornado players Maria Batalova and Yelena Dergachyova served as the team's two alternate captains and HC Tornado captain Anna Shokhina was the team's top scorer in the tournament. OAR lost the bronze medal game against Finland and finished in fourth place.

Foreign players
The number of expatriates who have played with HC Tornado is fairly small compared to its Russian alumni. However, most of the team's foreign player have been members of their countries’ national teams, including players from the top-tier Canadian, Slovak, Swedish, and United States' national teams.

2019–20 coaching and support staff

 * Head Coach: 🇷🇺 Alexei Vladimirovich Chistyakov
 * Assistant Coach: 🇷🇺 Alexei Ivanovich Zherebtsov
 * Goaltending Coach: 🇷🇺 Sergei Borisovich Kostyukhin
 * Team Manager: 🇷🇺 Pavel Vyacheslavovich Pevchev
 * Doctor: 🇷🇺 Yuri Alekseevich Smirnov
 * Masseur: 🇷🇺 Vera Nikolaevna Andreeva

Team captains

 * Yekaterina Vyachslavovna Smolentseva, 2009–10
 * Olga Viktorovna Permyakova, 2011–2015
 * Anna Konstantinovna Shokhina, 2015–present

Head coaches

 * Alexei Vladimirovich Chistyakov, 2009–present

General managers

 * Olga Viktorovna Votolovskaya, 2007–2014
 * Mikhail Cherkovsky, 2017–18
 * Sergei Konovalov, 2018–present

Women's Hockey League

 * 🥇 Russian Champion (9): 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017
 * 🥈 Runners-up (6): 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018
 * 🥉 Third Place (1): 2020

IIHF European Women's Champions Cup

 * European Women's Champions (4): 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014
 * Runners-up (1): 2006

Other

 * Simple cup icon.png Challenge Cup (3): 2004, 2005, 2006
 * Simple cup icon.png Czech Women's Cup (4): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

Sources:

Season-by-season results
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by HC Tornado.

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 (0 points); GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Source:

Single-season records
'' For statistics measured by percentage or average, skaters playing in less than 80% of games and goaltenders playing in fewer than 10 games in a season not included. ''
 * Most goals in a season: Yekaterina Smolentseva, 102 goals (48 games; 2012–13)
 * Most assists in a season: Yekaterina Smolentseva, 84 assists (48 games; 2012–13)
 * Most points in a season: Yekaterina Smolentseva, 186 points (48 games; 2012–13)
 * Most points in a season, defenceman: Inna Dyubanok, 100 points (48 games; 2012–13)
 * Most points per game (P/G) in a season: Yekaterina Smolentseva, 3.88 P/G (48 games; 2012–13)


 * Most penalty minutes (PIM) in a season: Tatiana Burina, 106 PIM (45 games; 2012–13)
 * Best save percentage (SVS%) in a season: Yelizaveta Kondakova, .928 SVS% (12 games; 2016–17)
 * Best goals against average (GAA) in a season: Valentina Ostrovlyanchik, 1.25 GAA (24 games; 2014–15)

Career records

 * Most career goals: Anna Shokhina, 242 goals (262 games; 2012–present)
 * Most career assists: Anna Shokhina, 274 assists (262 games; 2012–present)
 * Most career points: Anna Shokhina, 516 points (262 games; 2012–present)
 * Most career points, defenceman: Inna Dyubanok, 192 (108 games; 2009–2013)
 * Most career points per game (P/G): Yekaterina Smolentseva, 3.20 P/G (80 games; 2009–2014)
 * Most career penalty minutes: Tatiana Burina, 302 PIM (2009–2017)
 * Most games played, skater: Anna Shokhina, 262 games (2012–present)
 * Most games played, goaltender: Anna Prugova, 116 games (2009–2015)

 All-time scoring leaders 

The top ten point-scorers of HC Tornado.

Note: Nat = Nationality; Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; = current HC Tornado player; Bold indicates team record

Sources:

Notable alumni
Flag indicates nation of primary IIHF eligibility. Season(s) active with HC Tornado listed alongside player name.

Sources:
 * 🇷🇺 Nadezhda Alexandrova, 2015–2019
 * 🇷🇺 Maria Batalova, 2014–2018
 * 🇨🇦 Correne Bredin, 2008–10
 * 🇷🇺 Tatiana Burina, 2009–2017
 * 🇷🇺 Yelena Dergachyova, 2014–2019
 * 🇷🇺 Inna Dyubanok, 2009–2013
 * 🇷🇺 Iya Gavrilova, 2013–14
 * 🇷🇺 Angelina Goncharenko, 2014–2018
 * 🇸🇪 Elin Holmlöv, 2011–2013
 * 🇸🇰 Jana Kapustová, 2008–2013
 * Iveta Koka, 2009–10
 * 🇸🇪 Kim Martin Hasson, 2011–12
 * 🇷🇺 Olga Permyakova, 2009–2015
 * 🇷🇺 Kristina Petrovskaia, 2009–2013
 * 🇷🇺 Zoya Polunina, 2009–2014
 * 🇸🇰 Petra Pravlíková, 2009–10
 * 🇸🇪 Danijela Rundqvist, 2011–12
 * 🇷🇺 Marina Sergina, 2009–2014
 * 🇷🇺 Anna Shukina, 2011–2015
 * 🇧🇾 Mariya Skvortsova, 2009–10
 * 🇷🇺 Yekaterina Smolentseva, 2009–2014
 * 🇷🇺 Yekaterina Smolina, 2009–2015
 * 🇺🇸 Kelley Steadman, 2013–14
 * 🇷🇺 Svetlana Tkacheva, 2011–2015, 2017–18
 * 🇸🇰 Zuzana Tomčíková, 2013–14