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2447 - Omsk, Russia


The photo on the card is of Cape Kapchik on the Crimean Sea. I wonder if Anna took a trip there and picked it up.

Omsk is was founded in 1716 and is the second largest city in Siberia. Omsk was created as a fortress in order to strengthen the trade route to China. During the Second World War, Omsk benefitted from the transfer of many industries because it was so far from the fighting. In fact, Omsk was chosen to be the Soviet capital in the event the Germans won the Battle of Moscow in the winter of 1941-42. 

At the end of the war, Omsk remained a major industrial centre for Soviet military production. The OKMO tank-design bureau, was moved there in 1941, and SM Kirov Factory No 185 was moved there in 1962. T-80 tanks were produced in Omsk from the 1970s, and were also responsible for designing the BTR-T (a Russian heavy infantry vehicle), the TOS-1 (220 mm 30-barrel multiple rocket launcher and thermobaric weapon mounted on a T-72 tank chassis), and the prototype for the Black Eagle Tank. 

Avangard Omsk is a member of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). They were founded in 1950. They are the current Gagarin Cup champions after defeating CSKA Moscow four games to two. It was their third trip to the final, and first cup victory. Canadian Bob Hartley has been the coach since 2018. 

On the current roster there are two Canadians - Corban Knight and Francis Paré. Knight has 52 NHL games under his belt with 12 points. He has played with the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, and Philadelphia Flyers. Paré was born in LeMoyne, Quebec, and was undrafted in the NHL, but Detroit had his rights. In 2021, Paré accepted an invitation by Belarus to play for their national team at the 2021 IIHF World Championships. 

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