By Luke McGinnis
The Kyiv Capitals were founded in 2023 and spent their first two seasons competing in the top-tier Ukrainian Hockey Championship.
Early success saw the Capitals reach the league semi-finals during their inaugural 2023/24 campaign, before taking another step forward the following season.
Kyiv reached their first Ukrainian Championship final in 2024/25, where they fell to HC Kremenchuk in a seven-game series.
The Capitals made the jump to the Optibet Hockey League in Latvia ahead of last season, and once again enjoyed success in their first campaign outside Ukraine.
Kyiv finished fourth in the regular-season standings with a 28-7-5 record, collecting 61 points from 40 games, before reaching the semi-finals.
Defenceman Eduards Hugo Jansons is returning for his second season with the Capitals, after leading the club in playoff scoring and finishing tied first in league playoff goal scoring last season.
Former Nottingham Panther Deivids Sarkanis is bolstering the Kyiv forward core after finishing second in league scoring and leading the league in playoff scoring last season en route to his fifth Latvian Championship with HK Mogo.
He will be joined by fellow newcomer Kevins Strādnieks, who at just 22 has already won two Latvian Championships and finished second in league scoring during the 2024/25 season.
Estonian international Conrad Mölder takes over from former Fife Flyer Jānis Voris between the Kyiv pipes after spending the past four seasons in France’s Ligue Magnus, and will be joined by Romi Huunonen who is entering his first season outside of his native Finland.
This will be the second time Kyiv has travelled to the UK to face EIHL opposition, having faced the Coventry Blaze in a pre-season double-header ahead of the 2024/25 season.
This time, however, the Capitals are travelling north to the Dundee Ice Arena, with faceoff scheduled for 5pm on Sunday.
