In Metallurg Novokuznetsk, during the first month of the 2016/2017 season, he was replaced twice Main coach. After the resignation of Nikolai Solovyov ( ) the team was led for some time by the sports director of Kuznya Valery Zelepukin ( ), and from September 24 is . Berdnikov is a graduate of the Angarsk hockey school. After completing his playing career in the 2008/2009 season, the specialist worked in the coaching staff of Forge, with the exception of the 2012/2013 championship, which he held at Severstal.
In an exclusive interview, the Berdnikov website spoke about how risky this appointment is for him, about the youth of Novokuznetsk, about which of the coaches he takes an example from, about his main fans and much more.
“I’m 45, I need to try something more serious than being an assistant”
You have been working in the coaching staff of Metallurg for a long time. How did you get the offer to lead the team now?
After three rounds, Nikolai Solovyov resigned. , and it was the decision of the club's management. Valery Zelepukin became acting head coach, while he combined two positions, and was also a sports director. Andrey Evstafiev, Viktor Demchenko, and I remained on the coaching staff and helped Valery Mikhailovich. After several games, Sergey Zinoviev arrived (he was in July) and expressed the opinion that we should already decide whether to invite a new specialist or appoint someone from our coaching staff. To which Zelepukin replied: “There is Sergei Pavlovich Berdnikov, I believe that he will cope, we talked with him, he is ready to lead the team.” Zinoviev said that he had no objections.
I am already 45 years old, and if I took up coaching, I need to try something more serious than being an assistant. To understand for yourself whether you are on the right path or you are in the wrong place in the profession. Let's see how everything will turn out. Before the match with Avangard, literally four hours before it, I was introduced to the team as the head coach. I work, put all my efforts, knowledge and ideas.
Did you have time to think?
As a matter of fact, it wasn't. Yes, and I didn't need it. I also helped Nikolai Solovyov, Valery Zelepukin in training process. I was aware of the work done by the team, I knew what lineup I had, so I didn’t think for a long time.
- Was there a conversation with the management after the appointment, what tasks were set?
I think the minimum task for us is not to take the last place in the League, to make a small but small step forward. The last place is always oppressive, you start to gnaw at yourself, dig in yourself ... Our goal today is to try to overall standings leave the last line, create the backbone of the team, instill your own, recognizable pattern of the game, add in literacy and professionalism.
Speaking seriously about Metallurg's tasks for tomorrow... All teams, at least, set themselves the goal of getting into the playoffs, and that's what we'll start from. Well, today, I repeat, let's start small - we will find our game and confidence from match to match.
The latest medical examination showed that physical state my team is very good. But psychologically, the guys cannot get out of a depressed state. We will win - there will be a positive and confidence. This is the easiest and surest way.
- What was the first thing they said to the guys when you were appointed?
- “Our task is to create a combat-ready team that is able to give a fight to any opponent in every match. There is no one to fear in the league, fear binds action. We need to play right, do what the coaching staff requires, so we go out to work with good mood and start doing the right thing for everyone. But I’ll be tough to ask in my work, whoever can’t, we’re not on our way.”
For any coach, heading Metallurg is a risk, because the team's capabilities do not allow one to count on serious results. Do you see this job as a risk or otherwise?
Risk? Risk is jumping into a pool from a ten-meter tower or lending money to someone (laughs). And here is my conscious decision. There is a team, there are certain opportunities - apply your knowledge, build, work, everything is in your hands. It is clear that these opportunities are not so wide - for example, after last season we lost six people, and it was the leaders of the team ... goals scored. A pair of Manukhov and Fairchild are defenders who have scored more than 25 points. Czech Kousal also scored over 30 points and was included in the national team of the Czech Republic. And in their place came the guys either from the VHL, or those guys who only cling to the game in the KHL, as well as their pupils. We did not acquire 100% leaders for big money.
So, of course, an invitation to this position is not a risk for me, but a professional challenge. Can you create something from the guys that are in the club on this moment? Can you set them up, lead them, bring your ideas, make them believe in you? Average age we have teams for 23 years - at this age a player either reveals himself or puts an end to him. I want all my guys to open up, grow into masters. There is one already classic example - Lada with Petr Vorobyov, so anything is possible in hockey. At the same time, of course, I do not compare myself with Pyotr Ilyich (smiles). Pyotr Ilyich -. And for me, this is just the first experience.
- Do you have confidence in the trust of the leadership?
The management announced that the head coach today, without any prefixes, I.O. - Sergei Berdnikov, and that's it. Hockey in the Metallurg Novokuznetsk team is led by him.
“First of all, they canceled all the gadgets in the locker room”
You are not the first day in Novokuznetsk, you know the possibilities of the local school. To what extent can the school now feed the team with young talents?
It is already fueled by local talent, probably in a way that no other team in the KHL (smiles). You have to drink. We know the best guys, all of them, if not in the squad, then in the clip for sure. Make-up from 1997 is two guys. There are a couple of people from 1998 and 1999 on the way. The youth team of 1996 has five people, and these are already the leading players in the team. This is our way, so there will be enough young people in our team and space and chances to play, but everyone will not get into it - everything will depend only on the guys themselves.
Zelepukin said that the main thing for the "Forge" is to count on their pupils, to invest in them. Do you share this opinion?
Not a single school has won anything only by its pupils. I'll give you an example. Every year, our school gives one player who, according to his potential, is able to gain a foothold in the team of masters. A school can give more than two such hockey players a year, it can be extremely rare, everything else is artificial. There are 20 players in the release, but not all of them play on high level. Perhaps many just need time and experience. Playing in the VHL in the MHL, perhaps in other leagues. They need to be released. At one time, Omsk, which twice won the Kharlamov Cup, having children born in 1991, 1992 and 1993, essentially ruined it - the guys were simply not allowed to go anywhere. Where are the championship years of Omsk now, where do they play? Although, the prospects for many guys were very big.
It doesn’t happen that everyone immediately went to the KHL. This issue must be approached wisely. There are three identical players here. One of them, perhaps, is closer in spirit to the coach. And what about the other two? Of course, let go. Maybe change to more experienced ones, based on what kind of reinforcement your team needs. This is an inevitable process, you can’t take all the young people in the KHL either. Otherwise, there will be no result, there will be excessive rejuvenation, and everyone will suffer from this - coaches, management, fans.
- How is the psychological situation in the team in general?
This is a serious topic - the psychology of a large team. The latest medical examination showed that the physical condition of my team is very good. But psychologically, the guys cannot get out of a depressed state. When there are constant defeats, some perceive it easier: they say, they lost - it's okay, there will be a next match. But others are greatly oppressed, driven into a dead end. We will win - there will be a positive and confidence. This is the easiest and surest way.
I want all my guys to open up, grow into masters. There is one already classic example - Lada with Petr Vorobyov, so anything is possible in hockey. At the same time, of course, I do not compare myself with Pyotr Ilyich.
- Kuznya is a very young team. How do you plan to instill in young people the ability to keep discipline?
We will instill, without it nowhere. First of all, we canceled all the gadgets in the locker room - came to work, put all your gadgets-widgets in an individual box, leave - take it. So that the guys are not distracted from work, being distracted by " virtual world”, social networks, communication and so on ... I am not against all this, this is part of modern life but not in our dressing room. They also introduced monetary fines, small - by the standards of the "giants", but significant for us. Moreover, both individual and collective. If someone is late, they donate 3,000 rubles, and the rest - 500 each. There must be responsibility not only for yourself, but also for the team. Or now, our trouble is a violation of the numerical strength. So, recently, if we suddenly have six people on the court, then everyone on the bench, including those in jackets, hand over 500. If there is an excessive desire, direct it in the right direction. By the way, in last match we had no violations of the strength (smiles).
- On what principles do you build work and relationships with the team? Are you a tough coach or liberal?
It is necessary to combine one and the other, not to go too far in either one or the other. Stay fair first and foremost. Everything for the result. We try to instill this in the guys: in training there should be maximum work, and in the game - maximum return. You can tighten the screws, of course, when the team loses, you also add toughness ... But maybe sometimes you start yourself too - maybe the coach is to blame for her losing? Maybe he needs to be tougher first?
- What do you first of all require from the wards?
First of all, respect for partners. So that people do not put themselves in the team above someone else. Guys, we all got into this boat together, and we are rowing, and not sailing as passengers, we are rowing to the goal. But when we get there, we'll figure out who rowed and who swam.
“Initially I came to Novokuznetsk as a forwards coach”
Immediately after the end of your playing career, you began working as a coach at the Forge. How did it happen, who suggested it?
A year earlier, Dmitry Parkhomenko ended his career, he worked as the director of the SDYUSSHOR school in Novokuznetsk, and he was offered to head Metallurg. He offered me to be his assistant. I was 38 years old, I needed a small operation on my leg, and to continue playing in such a situation ... So I ended up in the coaching staff of Kuznya. Vasily Konovalov also joined the coaching staff then. We worked with Parkhomenko for a year and a half, and then an experienced mentor came to the team as head coach, who had something to prove and from whom there was something to learn - Anatoly Yemelin. We worked with him for another 2.5 years. Then I received an invitation from Severstal, worked there for a season, and then received an invitation back to Metallurg.
- What were the teams responsible for in the game? Have your functions changed in any way along the way?
Initially, I came to the team as a forward coach. It happens like this: you were an attacker - you are responsible for the attackers, you were a defender - you are responsible for the defenders. But, from the position of today's experience, I can say that all this is nominal. The coach must thoroughly know the game both in attack and in defense, besides, in modern hockey, one simply does not happen without the other. As for physical and functional training, I can say that for me: in all the coaching staffs in which I worked, there was such a specialist with me, general physical training coach - Vasily Konovalov, professor, doctor of science. I learned a lot from him about the preparation of the team.
First of all, we canceled all the gadgets in the locker room - came to work, put all your gadgets-widgets in an individual box, leave - take it. They also introduced monetary fines, small - by the standards of the "giants", but significant for us.
- When, during your playing career, did you realize that you wanted to become a coach?
There was no such moment. Although he graduated from the Lesgaft Higher School of Coaches in St. Petersburg, while still a player. But I didn’t know whether I would be a coach or not, to be honest with you. Didn't aspire to it then. Dmitry Parkhomenko, to whom, as you can see, owes the start of his coaching career, called - he decided to try. There is energy, there is some knowledge, there is ambition. The rest, of course, came during work. The nuances here can only be gleaned from your own experience, stuffing bumps and bruises. But, it would simply not have been possible to do without cones - after all, it very rarely happens that a player is introduced into the team's coaching staff gradually. Like, you have been in the club for a long time, you have data, you understand tactical schemes, come on - you are playing the last season, and during this time we will gradually transfer you to coaches, we will learn, you are not responsible for the result yet ... With us, with Dmitry Gennadievich then everything began at once.
Many coaches on the way to the KHL start with a children's school, then the youth team or the VHL, and only then the KHL. You directly ended up in the KHL club. What are the pros and cons of this?
You know, there are people who can work specifically with teenagers. And there are those who do not have the ability, desire, pedagogical gift for this. This is quite a different activity. And then, not all cities of the country have KHL clubs! After all, someone needs to work in other leagues and with novice hockey players! And there are good specialists there too. It's just that there is a career ladder on which someone rises further, and someone finds his place in children's or junior hockey. Work is work, each one is necessary and important.
“Authorities for me in coaching are Vorobyov, Tsygurov, Nikolaev”
- The brightest moment in your playing career?
All bright moments in a career, these are the moments when you achieve your high goals. In my career, there was the European Cup as part of the Togliatti Lada, the rest of the achievements were, perhaps, a step away from the top. These are medals with Avangard and Severstal.
- At the beginning of your career, you played a little North America. How did this experience help in the future?
This experience helped me become a professional. They ask the player for full program, do not look at merit or citizenship, it makes no difference to everyone on flights and transfers. Put on the uniform - then play. And it happens that you come in the morning, and they give you a ticket, there is a bag with a uniform at the door and they calmly say to you: “Yes, we are pleased with you, but we need to work. Go to the farm club." And you yourself must figure out what and why you are missing, where you need to add.
When you were a player, you had just an example of how a team without stars in Cherepovets managed to get closer to the number of championship leaders. Can you remember how you managed to win that “silver”?
Sergey Mikhalev gathered this team bit by bit, from all over the country. In it, we also had stars of the first magnitude: the Koreshkov brothers, and Sergei Gomolyako, and Igor Varitsky. Gathered at all, very friendly team! We took this “silver” due to the atmosphere in the team, due to hockey luck, due to all the components in the game that have formed into one. When everyone in an average team is in good shape and everyone is hooked on their game, it is difficult to beat such a team.
When the season ends, the favorite pastime is leisure in my native places, in the village of Savvateevka near Angarsk, where I grew up. My grandmother is already 90 years old, she taught me how to live. I travel, I visit, I help. Nature, gardening, farming.
- Is there any hope that it will be possible to create something similar in the "Forge"?
There is confidence. But there is still a lot of work to be done! Strengthen, select the right guys, leave the core of the leaders in the team, let the youth get stronger. Plus, the team needs experience. To fight, to get hooked, to fight for the playoffs, to feel what it is. Last time Novokuznetsk played in the playoffs, even when I was a player in its composition. But I believe that the day when the Forge will achieve these results is not far off.
Which of the coaches you have worked with - Tsygurov, Belousov, Vorobyov, Mikhalev?
First of all - Leonid Georgievich Kiselev, who gave me the way to big hockey. It is impossible to forget such a person as Sergei Mikhailovich Mikhalev, his human qualities. And in coaching for me, great authorities are Pyotr Ilyich Vorobyov, Gennady Fedorovich Tsygurov, Sergey Alekseevich Nikolaev. Great masters of their craft.
- The work of someone from do you like? Have time to analyze and take something for yourself?
Not just on time - analysis hockey games this is an important part of my job. You can always see, analyze, evaluate experience and efforts coaching staff. It is difficult, and not entirely correct, to discuss the game of my colleagues' teams. And so, of course, there are elements that we are looking at.
“My grandmother is already 90 years old, she taught me how to live”
- You ended your last losing streak with a victory over Magnitogorsk, the reigning champions.
We won due to the desire of the guys to play. We started creating chances, scoring goals. Maybe somewhere the opponent got tired, lost its freshness - Magnitogorsk had three games in five days, such is the calendar. But we missed the victory in regular time - the masters in the opponent's line-up showed us what character and ability to score are. You need to be able to win, to bring games to victories. No matter how you get the guys on the bench, they must have confidence that they can win. And that only comes with experience. I hope we get more and more experiences like this. (smiles).
- After Magnitogorsk, Kuznya beat Sibir. In general, are matches with neighbors fundamental?
Omsk, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk are Siberian cities. Each match is a kind of "Siberian derby". The teams at one time played differently, showed different results. But when these collectives meet among themselves, no matter where they are located in standings, anyway, this is additional motivation, additional emotions, and this is good. And with Sibir, I'm glad that we pleased the audience with a good game against a strong opponent, got it ourselves and gave them good emotions. This will help the guys to feel additional confidence that they can use their chances to win.
- Who is your main fan?
Literally today, my uncle left my home, to Angarsk - he came to support me, to watch the matches. In general, of course, all relatives and friends are worried. But more than others, probably, his wife Svetlana is worried. “I’ll look,” he says, “the first period, then I can’t, I turn it off! It’s good that our granddaughter was born, and not a grandson, again we would have to train with trunks ... " (smiles). Her daughter, Stefania, is also worried, but her biggest passion is dancing.
There is energy, there is some knowledge, there is ambition. The rest, of course, came during work. The nuances here can only be gleaned from your own experience, stuffing bumps and bruises.
- Your son also plays hockey.
Plays. Roman Berdnikov, born in 1992, now at Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.
- In addition to hockey, do you have time to be interested in something else?
When the season ends, my favorite pastime is active rest in my native places, in the village of Savvateevka near Angarsk, where I grew up. My grandmother is already 90 years old, she taught me how to live (laughs). I travel, I visit, I help. Nature, gardening, farming. Fishing, mushrooms, sitting by the fire... True, there is not much time with our favorite work.
- If you had the opportunity to change your fate, would you do something differently?
During my childhood, after all, there were opportunities to do almost any sport, and everything depended only on desire. I came to hockey. In the city was hockey club"Ermak" and football team"Angara". But I had to take a bus to Angara, and the hockey school was 15 minutes on foot. This predetermined my choice (smiles). And so - in my childhood there was a lot of sports, and football, and basketball, and skiing, and running ... But even then, long ago, I settled on one, now forever my own, sport - hockey. And to be honest, I wouldn't change a thing.
Dossier
Berdnikov Sergey Pavlovich
Born on 01/05/1971 in Angarsk
Player career: "Vanguard" - 1991-1994, 1995-1996, 1997-1998, 2003-2004; Providence Bruins - 1993-1994; Charlotte Checkers - 1994-1995; "Lada" - 1996-1997; "Torpedo" Yaroslavl - 1997-1998; Severstal - 1998-2003, 2004-2005; Metallurg Novokuznetsk - 2005-2007, 2008-2009; HC MVD - 2-7-2008; "Siberia" - 2008-2009
Achievements: three-time bronze medalist of the championships of Russia (1996, 1998, 2001), silver medalist Russian Championship (2003), winner of the European Cup 1997.
coaching career: Metallurg Novokuznetsk - 2009-2013 (coach), 2015-present (since 2016 - head coach); Severstal - 2013-2014 (trainer)
Source Sports newspaper
The name of Sergei Berdnikov is well known to Omsk hockey fans. Recently, he began to be remembered more often. This is also due to the appearance on the ice of the son of Roman, today - a two-time winner of the Kharlamov Cup. In the Our People project, we decided to recall the past and find out how one of the brightest Avangard players of the 90s lives now
On the day of our meeting, the Berdnikov family was almost in full force: Sergey, his wife Svetlana, daughter Stefania and faithful dog Toshka. The only thing missing was Roman. However, the son has been living separately for two years and only visits his parents. And in the morning he has, as usual, training. The Berdnikov couple turned out to be very friendly and hospitable. Even with their four-legged family member, we quickly managed to establish contact: after making sure that his owner was not in danger, Toshka generously allowed me to start a conversation.
- Sergey, do you know that you have an anniversary soon? I asked, and from the bewildered look of my interlocutor, I realized that I had puzzled him. - On September 7, 1979, you signed up for the section. So in the fall it will be 35 years since you've been in hockey. Agree, a solid period.
But the truth is practically whole life… I remember that day well. My family lived in Angarsk - a small but sporty town. Football and hockey have always been held in high esteem there. Once we were playing with the boys, and suddenly our friend comes running and says that at the Ermak stadium they are recruiting boys from 1971 for the hockey team. Throwing everything, ran to record. And there are people - there is nowhere for an apple to fall. It turned out that it was necessary to come with skates, but we rushed like that. The coach told us to stand at the side for a while, and in the morning at six o'clock he appointed us the first training session, but with skates.
- Was it not too lazy for an eight-year-old boy to get up so early himself?
- Do not believe it: there was no such thing as overslept! For all the time, maybe once five extra minutes lay down before training. Such excitement, such a desire to try yourself in hockey! Some guys, in order not to oversleep, set an alarm clock on an iron cup. Thanks to our first coach Stanislav Gidrovich, we still call each other, and I will definitely congratulate you on your birthday. Players well known to hockey fans passed through it. For example, Yura Zlov - since childhood, they have been in the same trio with him, and in Lada they won the European Champions Cup. Or Dima Shulakov… In general, the Angarsk hockey school was one of the leading in Siberia. I remember how Stanislav Ivanovich, after we graduated from the eighth grade, was invited to Desna from Bryansk. He took us eight. We began to beat everyone with crazy scores - 15:1, 17:1 ... Nobody could understand anything: who are they, where did they come from? We were offered to play with CSKA, and we won - 4:3. Studied at the engineering school, lived in a hostel. The coach invited us on holidays and weekends. His wife, Tatyana Stepanovna, treated us to pies... And then they couldn't resolve some problems with the documents, and we returned to Angarsk.
- When did you decide that hockey is for life?
Everything was determined at the age of 15-17: whether it will work out or not. Looking back, I understand that many came to play, only a few remained. But at that time it was easier to leave: there is a vocational school, at the school of the Criminal Procedure Code. By the way, after graduating from school, I had the fourth category of a carpenter-machine operator. Then, after all, not everyone even knew and did not understand that you can only engage in professional sports. Even when he arrived in Omsk and met his future wife, everyone asked her: “He plays hockey, this is understandable. And where does he work?
- Since we are talking about your wife, maybe tell us how you and Svetlana met?
Quite by chance, on the phone.
- That is?
And this is our secret. Sveta worked as a nurse. She was born in the family of the now honored railway worker of Russia Gennady Korotkov. I had no idea about hockey. And a hockey player means constant separations, training camps, at any moment they can pick you up, transfer you to another team, city. And I am very grateful to her for the fact that she devoted her whole life to me and the children, although she could have made a career. Of course I remember how we had a wedding on December 27, 1991.
We then returned from China, - Sergey continued, smiling. - The tournament was held there. Leonid Georgievich Kiselev released me earlier on this occasion, but I could not get tickets. The team has already returned from the competition, I meet them in Khabarovsk. So, together with the guys, they flew to the wedding. Usually the bride is redeemed, the groom picks up. And my Svetlana came straight to the airport for me by car: they were late for registration. I barely had time to change clothes, they combed my hair - and in the registry office. All the relatives are already in place, only the groom was not there! (Laugh.)
- Svetlana, how did you, knowing what hockey is, decide to send your son to a sports school?
I didn't have a choice. Yes, and we did not decide - life so ordered. Roma was put on ice for the first time at the age of two. And that was the only time he didn't like it very much.
- They lived in America, - Sergey remembered. - 1993, Roman is only a year old. And then, when I played the season, the coach gave me his son's children's skates. Then, naively, I thought that I would put the boy on the ice, and he would go: he walked calmly on the snow. But when Roma was in the center of the rink, he got scared, went to the side all in tears and said that he didn’t want to anymore. So it had to be postponed for two years. We returned to Omsk, came to the skating rink, but at first he was afraid, he didn’t leave the side. Then I told Sveta: “I won’t go anymore, go with him yourself.” Roman's first coach, Viktor Zykov, reassured me: "Nothing, let him ride like that until he gets used to it."
And I began to take my son to training every day, ”Svetlana continued. - It was necessary to be in time by 6-7 every day, I had to get up even earlier. And Roma, from the age of four, has never said that he doesn’t like or doesn’t want to get up early and go to work. So it became clear that they hit the mark. We never forced him.
-Did a father and son ever meet on the ice?
When Anatoly Bardin worked at Avangard, such an opportunity arose, Sergey recalled. - Roma was seventeen then, but I haven't finished yet, I could help the team. I even wanted to do something like exhibition match- "Father and son". But we ended up just shaking hands and parting ways. It didn't grow.
- Sergey, how did you get to Omsk? They said that Leonid Kiselev took you right off the train.
It was so. After winning the finals of the youth championship of Russia, held in Angarsk, we came to the attention of Avtomobilist. There are eight of us, tickets to Yekaterinburg. Summer, June, Omsk platform. Leonid Georgievich comes to us with Yuri Sinyugin, Vladimir Shevchenko, Stanislav Pervushin and invites everyone to stay for a week. “And if you don’t like it,” he says, “you can leave.” We stayed and entered the university. The first year we trained with the team, played for the institute, played at the age of 17 and for the SDYUSSHOR. But they themselves understood that in terms of skill they had not yet grown to the basics.
In the meantime, the second league team was being restored in Angarsk, and Stanislav Gidrovych was appointed head coach. He called Kiselev and asked us to return. Leonid Georgievich let go. There was plenty of playing time. Experienced players gathered in the roster: Igor Grachev, Yury Chukanov, Alexander Kolesnikov. For me, that season was unique: 46 games - 46 goals. Valery Postnikov immediately took me to Magnitogorsk: the conditions were good. And two packs of Tisa clubs, a VCR and a TV paid off from Angarsk. Arrived at the end of the season, lived in a hostel. But, apparently, you can’t escape fate. Every 7:30 there is a knock on the door. I open it, Vladimir Shevchenko is standing and says: “Kiselev ordered me not to come without you. The team is going to Bulgaria for recovery camps.” A difficult situation. But Postnikov said that, they say, your right, choose for yourself. Then the situation was destroyed. And so, thanks to the perseverance of Leonid Georgievich, he ended up in the Avangard. First I got a place in the fourth link, I started playing. It was 1990. The team was good. Families went out for barbecues, they were all friends together.
It so happened that he played nine seasons in Omsk. Then came Vladimir Golubovich. Changed tactics team play which I didn't quite fit in. Was out of his element. At this moment, Peter Vorobyov from Yaroslavl "Torpedo" calls and invites him to his place. In just a few minutes, he packed up and left. There somehow immediately came to the yard. In 2003, he returned to Avangard, but did not finish the season until the end, he moved to Severstal. After all, any athlete always worries when something doesn’t work for him, he wants to open up, but it doesn’t work out. No wonder they say that it is important for a player to find his team and coach.
Kiselev for them, like a father, watched the young guys as if they were his own children, ”recalls Svetlana.
Yes, we must pay tribute to Leonid Georgievich. He was a good organizer, he could talk to a person, he knew how to attract talented guys and find an approach to them. And, importantly, he made decent conditions for hockey players at that time: a two-room apartment, a car, which was a rarity for many. He never deceived a single hockey player: he always fulfilled everything that he promised. He understood well: at that time they played until the age of 28-30. One contract for five years, the other - and the career is over. The person remained with what he earned during this time. And Kiselev was also great at setting up the game. The meeting went on for about thirty minutes, and he turned us on so much that right from the locker room we wanted to run out onto the ice and attack! A whole galaxy famous players, acting at that time for the "Avant-garde" - his merit. Do not list everyone. I think he is one of the most honored coaches in Omsk. I remember how happy the first bronze medals Vanguard! It's hard to believe what happened. He had so many plans!.. Just a couple of weeks ago, Leonid Georgievich talked to me, found out how I was doing… 
- And how did you end up in Omsk again?
It so happened that, ending his career as a player, he received an offer from Dmitry Parkhomenko to work in Novokuznetsk as his assistant. Internally already felt that the last season. I won’t say that I played badly, there was a decent indicator of utility. And then I thought: 38 years old, injuries make themselves felt. I wanted to see the game from a different perspective. Therefore, he agreed. At first it was very hard. Imagine: in front of you are the players with whom you recently tied your shoelaces in the locker room, drank tea, and now they are in your subordination. So the first year can be called retractable. Not everything worked out, there was not enough coaching knowledge. And the Forge's budget is the smallest in the league. But during that period it was possible to pull up Sergey Bobrovsky, Dmitry Orlov, Maxim Kitsyn. In the second year, in the middle of the season, there was a change of head coach, Anatoly Emelin came. I remained an assistant. Young local players who were counted on had to be sold due to the difficult financial situation. Then he ended up in Cherepovets. They failed to make it to the playoffs. There was no offer to extend the contract, although head coach Nikolai Solovyov insisted that I be left on the coaching staff. And here I am in Omsk.
By the way! Svetlana laughed. - Annoyed "Severstal" Roman Berdnikov - playing for "Vanguard", scored winning goal in one of the decisive matches, and the Cherepovets team lost one of the last chances to get into the playoffs.
- And you, Svetlana, who were you rooting for in that match?
For my son, of course! I understand hockey on an emotional level. I only care for mine. True, over time, even my parents, who used to be far from sports, also contracted the hockey disease. Mom now doesn’t even look at Roma’s games: she is very emotionally worried and scares everyone at home with her cries. So he sits in another room and only asks for the bill.
- What do you feed your hockey players?
The husband prefers normal healthy food - dishes from ordinary cabbage, meat, potatoes, pasta, vegetables ... Here is the problem with young people - they do not always follow the diet. The guys can drink Coca-Cola, chemical teas, eat chips, crackers, nuts. It is not right. In our family, such products are always banned.
I agree with Svetlana, - Sergey continued. - And even today, young players lack the ability to independently prepare for the season. They believe that they come from vacation and in two weeks of training they will be able to restore their shape. So Roman went to junior hockey league Ontario, where he won the OHL Cup in the 2010/2011 season. So there, local guys go to the university in the morning, train in the evening. Ours, on the other hand, live in a family and just lie there all day and wait for training, instead of working out on their own. individual program. The self-awareness of the player is important if he decides to be professionals. I'm glad Roman figured it out.
- What is more difficult for you: to be a coach or a player?
Two different positions. In my opinion, the hockey player is easier. If you are a professional, they give you an instruction, you fulfill it. The task of the coach is to create a team, build a pattern of the game, and achieve results. More nerves go. The player has lost and aging defeat is easy to put out of his head. And the coach must digest everything, analyze, convey to the wards their miscalculations, competently suggest, help. After all, you won’t go out on the court yourself and you won’t play the way you should!
- They say hockey players like to play pranks on each other. Did you create something yourself?
Well, no jokes at all. Especially after the holidays. I'll tell you what I loved. We flew on a Severstal airline. The plane is small: you come in from the tail, put the trunks and go into the cabin. And the microphone hung in the tail. I take it and announce in the voice of the ship’s commander: “Players who first arrived on the team, in order to smoothly pass through customs control and check luggage, go with passports to the cabin of the ship’s commander to be included in the flight record hockey team". Guys with passports through the entire cabin go to the cockpit, and in front of the entrance sits a mentor Alexander Astashov, who always guessed crossword puzzles. He pulled them back and said: “Everyone go - I brought you in already” (Laughing.) I sent Alexander Sergeevich himself to the commander, when they circled over Samara for a long time, they could not sit down. He also took the microphone and addressed the passengers: “The commander of the ship is speaking. We can't find our bearings in Samara. Whoever has a map of the Samara region, bring it into the cockpit.” Here Astashov was the very first and carried this card.
- Most memorable game season?
I would single out everything when medals were won: the first bronze in Avangard, bronze and silver in Severstal. And, of course, the European Cup. 
- As a father and a hockey player, are you satisfied with your son?
This rarely happens. I want to see more in Roman, I want him to do his best, study. But I think that when the team sets high goals, the youth is not always in the first team. Played by experienced hockey players. Although what Romka young? He is already 22. Avangard had a very good year in 1992. They had to grow up, but they were kept in the youth team and overexposed. The last ones who steadily joined the team were Kalinin and Pivtsakin. When it was?
I remember that we were always pulled up to the elders. Our 1971 year of birth played for 1968. We learned from the elders - after all, a player's growth occurs when he spends a lot of time on the court. The most promising ones appear already at the age of 17. And at this time they must be left in the team, the rest - in the JHL. The next step for promising guys is the VHL. So step by step the player prepares for the main team. Not all of us are born Ovechkins and Malkins. In our country, up to 22 years old, everyone is young and promising. If they take the guys to the team, they sit on the bench. But to keep the young guy on the bench - there will be no benefit. I would like Omsk to have its own VHL team, which would play according to the main system. Many KHL clubs have already come to this and are getting results. The same "Ak Bars", "Salavat Yulaev", Moscow "Dynamo" ...
- What can you say about the current "Vanguard"?
There are no superstars, but a good working team. Now it all depends on the coach: how the team will develop, how much the players will understand him, his system and requirements, and will begin to fulfill everything.
... We climb the stairs, along which Sergei's photographs and medals hang. Small gym. Nearby is Roman's former room, in which the mother lovingly keeps her son's numerous awards. This family is interested in everything related to Omsk hockey: the main team, youth, children's school, big and small problems that always accompany sports.
There are situations when players become truly native to the fans of the teams. But this happens quite rarely. For Omsk, Sergey Berdnikov became such a player.
First steps in sports
Berdnikov Sergey spent his childhood in Angarsk. This city is quite small, but it has its own sports history. Hockey in particular has always been very popular there. Perhaps that is why Sergey Berdnikov chose this sports section. His first coach was Stanislav Gidrovych. The students of this coach speak very well of him. It was he who instilled in children a love of hockey, discipline and hard work. In addition to Berdnikov, this team included Yuri Zlov and Dmitry Shulakov. These then children in the future also became professional athletes and played a large number of games.
Moving to Omsk
After winning in youth championship Russia, eight people from Angarsk were invited to the Avtomobilist team. But during a stop in Omsk, representatives of the local team entered the train and offered to stay. The guys agreed and decided to try. At the age of 17, Sergey Berdnikov entered a university and played for a local institute. In addition, he also continued to play for the local youth team. He perfectly understood that to the level of a professional team major league he still needs to master the skill.
Professional career
At that time, in Angarsk, a new professional team, which will play in the second league of the Russian ice hockey championship. Stanislav Gidrovych was appointed its head coach. The first coach of Berdnikov, who taught him the basics of hockey. After the appointment, he brought the young stars of Angarsk back home and gave them a lot of playing time on the ice. Behind good game Sergey Berdnikov was invited to Magnitogorsk, but he did not stay there for a long time. They became interested in Omsk "Vanguard" and invited him to his place. At first, Berdnikov played in the fourth line, but then quickly went up. Sergey spent nine seasons in Omsk. After the change of head coach, he also left the club. After playing in the Yaroslavl "Torpedo", Sergei decided to return back to Omsk. But, before finishing the season, he moved to Severstal.
End of career and transition to coaching
Sergei spent his last seasons in Novokuznetsk. He played, despite his age, quite well. Sergei Berdnikov is a hockey player who left his mark on the history of hockey. Especially Omsk, where he spent a huge number of matches and scored many goals. After finishing his career, Sergei became an assistant coach in Novokuznetsk. Then he moved to Severstal. There, the coaches had the task of reaching the playoffs. But they did not cope with such a task, and they did not renew the contract with Sergey. Then Sergey Berdnikov again returned to his native Omsk.
Sergei was not only a good hockey player, but also managed to realize himself as a coach. During his activity, he shows high dedication and love for his profession. Sergei Berdnikov is a very ambitious coach. He wants to win trophies every year without letting himself relax.
The head coach of Metallurg Novokuznetsk Sergey Berdnikov talks about his appointment, the real tasks of the club, milestones in his coaching career and much more.
Metallurg Novokuznetsk changed its head coach twice during the first month of the 2016/2017 season. After the resignation of Nikolai Solovyov ( interview with Nikolai Solovyov for KHL.ru) the team was led for some time by the sports director of Kuznya Valery Zelepukin ( interview with Valery Zelepukin for KHL.ru), and since September 24, he has been Metallurg's mentor. Berdnikov is a graduate of the Angarsk hockey school. After completing his playing career in the 2008/2009 season, the specialist worked in the coaching staff of Forge, with the exception of the 2012/2013 championship, which he held at Severstal.
In an exclusive interview with KHL.ru, Berdnikov talked about how risky this appointment is for him, about the Novokuznetsk youth, about which of the coaches he takes an example from, about his main fans and much more.
“I’m 45, I need to try something more serious than being an assistant”
You have been working in the coaching staff of Metallurg for a long time. How did you get the offer to lead the team now?
After three rounds, Nikolai Solovyov resigned. The start turned out to be unsuccessful, and this was the decision of the club's management. Valery Zelepukin became acting head coach, while he combined two positions, and was also a sports director. Andrey Evstafiev, Viktor Demchenko, and I remained on the coaching staff and helped Valery Mikhailovich. After a few games, Sergey Zinoviev arrived (in July he was appointed general director of the club) and expressed the opinion that it would be necessary to decide whether to invite a new specialist or appoint someone from our coaching staff. To which Zelepukin replied: “There is Sergei Pavlovich Berdnikov, I believe that he will cope, we talked with him, he is ready to lead the team.” Zinoviev said that he had no objections.
I am already 45 years old, and if I took up coaching, I need to try something more serious than being an assistant. To understand for yourself - you are on the right path or you are not occupying your place in the profession. Let's see how everything will turn out. Before the match with Avangard, literally four hours before it, I was introduced to the team as the head coach. I work, put all my efforts, knowledge and ideas.
Was there time to think?
As a matter of fact, it wasn't. Yes, and I didn't need it. I also helped Nikolai Solovyov, Valery Zelepukin in the training process. I was aware of the work done by the team, I knew what lineup I had, so I didn’t think for a long time.
Was there a conversation with the management after the appointment, what tasks were set?
I think the minimum task for us is not to take the last place in the League, to make a small but small step forward. The last place is always oppressive, you start to gnaw at yourself, dig in yourself ... Our today's goal is to try to leave the last line in the overall standings, create the backbone of the team, instill our own recognizable pattern of the game, add in literacy and professionalism.
Speaking seriously about Metallurg's tasks for tomorrow... All teams, at least, set themselves the goal of getting into the playoffs, and that's what we'll start from. Well, today, I repeat, let's start small - we will find our game and confidence from match to match.
The latest medical examination showed that the physical condition of my team is very good. But psychologically - the guys can not get out of a depressed state. We will win - there will be a positive and confidence. This is the easiest and surest way.
What was the first thing they said to the guys when you were appointed?
- “Our task is to create a combat-ready team that is able to give a fight to any opponent in every match. There is no one to fear in the league, fear binds action. We need to play correctly, do what the coaching staff requires, so we go out to work in a good mood and start doing our job correctly. But I’ll be tough to ask in my work, whoever can’t, we’re not on our way.”
For any coach, heading Metallurg is a risk, because the team's capabilities do not allow one to count on serious results. Do you see this job as a risk or otherwise?
Risk? Risk is jumping into a pool from a ten-meter tower or lending money to someone (laughs). And here is my conscious decision. There is a team, there are certain opportunities - apply your knowledge, build, work, everything is in your hands. It is clear that these opportunities are not so wide - for example, after last season we lost six people, and it was the leaders of the team ... The three Kazakov - Stoa - Kaprizov were the best in the league in terms of goals scored until the new year. A pair of Manukhov and Fairchild are defenders who have scored more than 25 points. Czech Kousal also scored over 30 points and was included in the national team of the Czech Republic. And in their place came the guys either from the VHL, or those guys who only cling to the game in the KHL, as well as their pupils. We did not acquire 100% leaders for big money.
So, of course, an invitation to this position is not a risk for me, but a professional challenge. Can you create something from the guys that are in the club at the moment? Can you set them up, lead them, bring your ideas, make them believe in you? The average age of the team we have is 23 years old - at this age the player either reveals himself or puts an end to him. I want all my guys to open up, grow into masters. There is one already classic example - "Lada" with Peter Vorobyov, so anything is possible in hockey. At the same time, of course, I do not compare myself with Pyotr Ilyich (smiles). Pyotr Ilyich is a great man in our hockey. And for me, this is just the first experience.
Do you have confidence in the trust of management?
The management announced that the head coach today, without any prefixes, I.O. - Sergei Berdnikov, that's all. Hockey in the Metallurg Novokuznetsk team is led by him.
“First of all, they canceled all the gadgets in the locker room”
You are not the first day in Novokuznetsk, you know the possibilities of the local school. To what extent can the school now feed the team with young talents?
It is already fueled by local talent, probably in a way that no other team in the KHL (smiles). You have to drink. We know the best guys, all of them, if not in the squad, then in the clip for sure. Make-up from 1997 is two guys. There are a couple of people from 1998 and 1999 on the way. The youth team of 1996 has five people, and these are already the leading players in the team. This is our way, so there will be enough young people in our team and space and chances to play, but everyone will not get into it - everything will depend only on the guys themselves.
Zelepukin said that the main thing for the "Forge" is to count on their pupils, to invest in them. Do you share this opinion?
Not a single school has won anything only by its pupils. I'll give you an example. Every year, our school gives one player who, according to his potential, is able to gain a foothold in the team of masters. A school can give more than two such hockey players a year, it can be extremely rare, everything else is artificial. There are 20 players in the release, but not all of them play at a high level. Perhaps many just need time and experience. Playing in the VHL in the MHL, perhaps in other leagues. They need to be released. At one time, Omsk, which twice won the Kharlamov Cup, having children born in 1991, 1992 and 1993, essentially ruined it - the guys were simply not allowed to go anywhere. Where are the championship years of Omsk now, where do they play? Although, the prospects for many guys were very big.
It doesn’t happen that everyone immediately went to the KHL. This issue must be approached wisely. There are three identical players here. One of them, perhaps, is closer in spirit to the coach. And what about the other two? Of course, let go. Maybe change to more experienced ones, based on what kind of reinforcement your team needs. This is an inevitable process, you can’t take all the young people in the KHL either. Otherwise, there will be no result, there will be excessive rejuvenation, and everyone will suffer from this - coaches, management, fans.
How is the psychological situation in the team in general?
This is a serious topic - the psychology of a large team. The latest medical examination showed that the physical condition of my team is very good. But psychologically - the guys can not get out of a depressed state. When there are constant defeats, some perceive it easier: they say, they lost - it's okay, there will be the next match. But others are greatly oppressed, driven into a dead end. We will win - there will be a positive and confidence. This is the easiest and surest way.
I want all my guys to open up, grow into masters. There is one already classic example - "Lada" with Peter Vorobyov, so anything is possible in hockey. At the same time, of course, I do not compare myself with Pyotr Ilyich.
- Kuznya is a very young team. How do you plan to instill in young people the ability to keep discipline?
We will instill, without it nowhere. First of all, we canceled all the gadgets in the locker room - came to work, put all your gadgets-widgets in an individual box, leave - take it. So that the guys are not distracted from work, being distracted by the "virtual world", social networks, communication, and so on ... I am not against all this, this is part of modern life, but not in our locker room. They also introduced fines, small - by the standards of the "giants", but significant for us. Moreover, both individual and collective. If someone is late, they donate 3,000 rubles, and the rest - 500 each. There must be responsibility not only for yourself, but also for the team. Or now, our trouble is a violation of the numerical strength. So, recently, if suddenly we have six people on the site, then everyone on the bench, including those in jackets, hand over 500. If there is an excessive desire, direct it in the right direction. By the way, in the last match we had no violations of the number of players. (smiles).
On what principles do you build work and relationships with the team? Are you a tough coach or liberal?
It is necessary to combine one and the other, not to go too far in either one or the other. Stay fair first and foremost. Everything for the result. We try to instill this in the guys: in training there should be maximum work, and in the game - maximum return. You can tighten the screws, of course, when the team loses, you also add toughness ... But maybe sometimes you start yourself too - maybe the coach is to blame for her losing? Maybe he needs to be tougher first?
What is the first thing you want from your students?
First of all, respect for partners. So that people do not put themselves in the team above someone else. Guys, we all got into this boat together, and we are rowing, and not sailing as passengers, we are rowing to the goal. But when we get there, we'll figure out who rowed and who swam.
“Initially I came to Novokuznetsk as a forwards coach”
Immediately after the end of your playing career, you began working as a coach at the Forge. How did it happen, who suggested it?
A year earlier, Dmitry Parkhomenko ended his career, he worked as the director of the SDYUSSHOR school in Novokuznetsk, and he was offered to head Metallurg. He offered me to be his assistant. I was 38 years old, I needed a small operation on my leg, and to continue playing in such a situation ... So I ended up in the coaching staff of Kuznya. Vasily Konovalov also joined the coaching staff then. We worked with Parkhomenko for a year and a half, and then an experienced mentor came to the team as head coach, who had something to prove and who had something to learn - Anatoly Emelin. We worked with him for another 2.5 years. Then I received an invitation from Severstal, worked there for a season, and then received an invitation back to Metallurg.
What were the teams responsible for in the game? Have your functions changed in any way along the way?
Initially, I came to the team as a forward coach. It happens like this: you were an attacker - you are responsible for the attackers, you were a defender - you are responsible for the defenders. But, from the position of today's experience, I can say - all this is nominal. The coach must thoroughly know the game both in attack and in defense, besides, in modern hockey, one simply does not happen without the other. As for physical and functional training, I can say that for me: in all the coaching staffs in which I worked, there was such a specialist with me, general physical training coach - Vasily Konovalov, professor, doctor of science. I learned a lot from him about the preparation of the team.
First of all, we canceled all the gadgets in the locker room - came to work, put all your gadgets-widgets in an individual box, leave - take it. They also introduced fines, small - by the standards of the "giants", but significant for us.
When, during your playing career, did you realize that you wanted to become a coach?
There was no such moment. Although he graduated from the Lesgaft Higher School of Coaches in St. Petersburg, while still a player. But whether I will or not be a coach - I didn’t know, I’m telling you honestly. Didn't aspire to it then. Dmitry Parkhomenko, to whom, as you can see, owes the start of his coaching career, called - he decided to try. There is energy, there is some knowledge, there is ambition. The rest, of course, came during work. The nuances here can only be gleaned from your own experience, stuffing bumps and bruises. But, it would simply not have been possible to do without cones - after all, it very rarely happens that a player is introduced into the team's coaching staff gradually. Like, you have been in the club for a long time, you have data, you understand tactical schemes, come on - you are playing the last season, and during this time we will gradually transfer you to coaches, we will learn, you are not responsible for the result yet ... With us, with Dmitry Gennadievich then everything began at once.
Many coaches on the way to the KHL start with a children's school, then the youth team or the VHL, and only then the KHL. You directly ended up in the KHL club. What are the pros and cons of this?
You know, there are people who can work specifically with teenagers. And there are those who do not have the ability, desire, pedagogical gift for this. This is quite a different activity. And besides, not all cities in the country have KHL clubs! After all, someone needs to work in other leagues and with novice hockey players! And there are good specialists there too. It's just that there is a career ladder on which someone rises further, and someone finds his place in children's or junior hockey. Work is work, each one is necessary and important.
“Authorities for me in coaching are Vorobyov, Tsygurov, Nikolaev”
The highlight of your playing career?
All the bright moments in your career are those moments when you achieve your high goals. In my career, there was the European Cup as part of the Togliatti Lada, the rest of the achievements were, perhaps, a step away from the top. These are medals with Avangard and Severstal.
At the beginning of your career, you played a little in North America. How did this experience help in the future?
This experience helped me become a professional. They ask the player for the full program, they don’t look at merit or citizenship, everyone doesn’t care about flights and transfers. Put on the uniform - then play. And it happens that you come in the morning, and they give you a ticket, there is a bag with a uniform at the door and they calmly say to you: “Yes, we are pleased with you, but we need to work. Go to the farm club." And you yourself must figure out what and why you are missing, where you need to add.
When you were a player, you had just an example of how a team without stars in Cherepovets managed to get closer to the number of championship leaders. Can you remember how you managed to win that “silver”?
Sergey Mikhalev gathered this team bit by bit, from all over the country. In it, we also had stars of the first magnitude: the Koreshkov brothers, and Sergei Gomolyako, and Igor Varitsky. Gathered in general, a very friendly team! We took this “silver” due to the atmosphere in the team, due to hockey luck, due to all the components in the game that have formed into one. When everyone in an average team is in good shape and everyone is hooked on their game, it is difficult to beat such a team.
When the season ends, my favorite pastime is active rest in my native places, in the village of Savvateevka near Angarsk, where I grew up. My grandmother is already 90 years old, she taught me how to live. I travel, I visit, I help. Nature, gardening, farming.
Is there any hope that it will be possible to create something similar in the Forge?
There is confidence. But there is still a lot of work to be done! Strengthen, select the right guys, leave the core of the leaders in the team, let the youth get stronger. Plus, the team needs experience. To fight, to get hooked, to fight for the playoffs, to feel what it is. The last time Novokuznetsk played in the playoffs was when I was a player in its squad. But I believe that the day when the Forge will achieve these results is not far off.
Which of the coaches you have worked withleft the most vivid impression for you - Tsygurov, Belousov, Vorobyov, Mikhalev?
First of all - Leonid Georgievich Kiselev, who gave me the road to big hockey. It is impossible to forget such a person as Sergei Mikhailovich Mikhalev, his human qualities. And in coaching for me, huge authorities are Pyotr Ilyich Vorobyov, Gennady Fedorovich Tsygurov, Sergey Alekseevich Nikolaev. Great masters of their craft.
Who's work current KHL coaches do you like? Have time to analyzecolleagues' activities and take something for yourself?
Not only do I have time - the analysis of hockey matches is an important part of my work. You can always see something, analyze, evaluate the experience and efforts of the coaching staff. It is difficult, and not entirely correct, to discuss the game of my colleagues' teams. And so, of course, there are elements that we are looking at.
“My grandmother is already 90 years old, she taught me how to live”
You ended your last losing streak with a victory over Magnitogorsk, the reigning champions.
We won due to the desire of the guys to play. We started creating chances, scoring goals. Maybe somewhere the opponent got tired, lost its freshness - Magnitogorsk had three games in five days, such is the calendar. But we missed the victory in regular time - the masters in the opponent's line-up showed us what character and ability to score are. You need to be able to win, to bring games to victories. No matter how you get the guys on the bench, they must have confidence that they can win. And that only comes with experience. I hope we get more and more experiences like this. (smiles).
After Magnitogorsk, Kuznya beat Sibir. In general, matches with neighbors are fundamental?
Omsk, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk - Siberian cities. Each match is a kind of "Siberian derby". Teams used to play differently, showed different results. But when these teams meet each other, no matter where they are in the standings, it's still additional motivation, additional emotions, and that's good. And with Sibir, I'm glad that we pleased the audience with a good game against a strong opponent, got it ourselves and gave them good emotions. This will help the guys to feel additional confidence that they can use their chances to win.
Who is your main fan?
Literally today, my uncle left my home, to Angarsk - he came to support me, to watch the matches. In general, of course, all relatives and friends are worried. But more than others, probably, his wife Svetlana is worried. “I’ll look,” he says, “the first period, then I can’t, I turn it off! It’s good that our granddaughter was born, and not a grandson, again we would have to train with trunks ... " (smiles). Her daughter, Stefania, is also worried, but her biggest passion is dancing.
There is energy, there is some knowledge, there is ambition. The rest, of course, came during work. The nuances here can only be gleaned from your own experience, stuffing bumps and bruises.
Your son also plays hockey.
Plays. Roman Berdnikov, born in 1992, now at Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.
In addition to hockey, do you have time to be interested in something else?
When the season ends, my favorite pastime is active rest in my native places, in the village of Savvateevka near Angarsk, where I grew up. My grandmother is already 90 years old, she taught me how to live (laughs). I travel, I visit, I help. Nature, gardening, farming. Fishing, mushrooms, sitting by the fire... True, there is not much time with our favorite work.
If you had the opportunity to change your destiny, what would you do differently?
During my childhood, after all, there were opportunities to do almost any sport, and everything depended only on desire. I came to hockey. The city had a hockey club "Ermak" and a football team "Angara". But it was necessary to go to the Angara by bus, and to the hockey school - 15 minutes on foot. This predetermined my choice (smiles). And so - in my childhood there was a lot of sports, and football, and basketball, and skiing, and running ... But even then, long ago, I settled on one, now forever my own, sport - hockey. And to be honest, I wouldn't change a thing.
Dossier
Berdnikov Sergey Pavlovich
Born on 01/05/1971 in Angarsk
Player career: Avangard - 1991-1994, 1995-1996, 1997-1998, 2003-2004; Providence Bruins - 1993-1994; Charlotte Checkers - 1994-1995; "Lada" - 1996-1997; "Torpedo" Yaroslavl - 1997-1998; Severstal - 1998-2003, 2004-2005; "Metallurg" Novokuznetsk - 2005-2007, 2008-2009; HC MVD - 2-7-2008; "Siberia" - 2008-2009
Achievements: three-time bronze medalist of the Russian championships (1996, 1998, 2001), silver medalist of the Russian championship (2003), winner of the European Cup 1997.
Coach career: Metallurg Novokuznetsk - 2009-2013 (coach), 2015-present (since 2016 - head coach); Severstal - 2013-2014 (trainer)
