“HOCKEY IN NOVOKUZNETSK IS LIFE”
— What do Novokuznetsk Metallurg mean to you? Favorite club you support, or headache?
— If you ask this question to any resident of Novokuznetsk, each of the 554 thousand people, young and old, will say that Metallurg is something the city cannot live without. It’s the same as a part of the human body responsible for its vital functions. This is already a whole culture. We have 32 teams, in which approximately 1,500 children play, and behind each of them there is a family that lives by hockey - mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers take them to training, buy them uniforms. It is important for them how the child feels, what he learned on the ice, how the uniform fit on him, what goal he scored, missed, plus or minus, etc. It's just life.
— Have you followed the team’s results yourself, attended matches?
- Well, of course. I stopped doing this when the new management of the club made a rash, voluntary decision: he was fired without my consent coaching staff Nikolai Solovyov, Honored Trainer of Russia, is a man whom I deeply respect and consider an authority.
This is a follower of the Soviet coaching school, he trained national teams of the country and other clubs. After this, in my relations with the leaders of Metallurg: Andrey Denyakin, a representative of the EVRAZ company, and General Director Sergei Zinoviev, I began to experience dissonance. And so, I always enjoyed going to hockey games. Previously, Metallurg was mainly under the control of the city administration, but then it was decided that the management of the club would completely pass into the hands of the general sponsor.
Denyakin was delegated by EVRAZ as the person responsible for hockey, followed by Zinoviev and after that the team’s results began to get worse and worse.
— What do you see as the reasons for this deterioration?
— As I already said, at the beginning of the season, for no reason at all, a normal coach was fired and they could not immediately find a replacement for him.
— The duties were performed by the club’s sports director Valery Zelepukin.
- Yes, and he was very important person for me. Valery played in the NHL, knows all the nuances of managerial work and selected players based on the price-quality ratio. And with him the team managed to show acceptable results. Yes, we were at the bottom of the standings, but we were aware of our place. With the arrival of the new management, everything went wrong: incomprehensible transfers, scandals among the players, some left, others arrived. As a manager with some experience, I can say that you can’t manage like that. This means that either the manager lacks some qualities, or some strange game is being played. Therefore, I look into the future with great caution.
- But Metallurg has long been in last place in the rankings. standings.
— I don’t remember that we had such a colossal gap from the penultimate place - more than 30 points.
“WE HAVE A FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP WITH WEISFELD”
— Under other leaders, did the club cause any problems?
— The main problem of Metallurg is underfunding compared to others KHL clubs. If we take the same SKA, CSKA, Avangard, then their budgets are many times higher than ours. Because of this, a lot of problems arise: it is difficult to attract players, questions arise about equipment, team preparation, transport, and logistics. But the club always fulfilled its mission - it gave promising players the opportunity to prove themselves and raise their level. And he did it successfully. With Leonid Weisfeld, we wanted to increase the status of Metallurg through increased funding, but, unfortunately, this did not happen, because the capabilities of the general sponsor are also limited. I can only thank them for continuing to support the team.
— Do I understand correctly that EVRAZ is gradually cutting the budget of Metallurg? The quality of players who join the team is falling year by year.
— Financing of Metallurg has always been at the same level. It’s just that when we had Leonid Weisfeld, and then German Titov, we managed to invite people with this money good players like Sopel, Stoa and Fairchild. This was quality management work. Plus, back then we had a whole galaxy of talented guys, the rights to which we sold at a profit to other clubs. These funds were used to maintain the club and pay salaries to the players. We got good money for the rights to Sergei Bobrovsky and Ilya Sorokin. But at the same time, I constantly heard talk about how Weisfeld was a thief, a cunning person, stealing something, making money from agents. This is what I tried to fight. We have law enforcement agencies and a city control committee, we went there, checked the documents and found nothing of the sort. It turns out that with the same amount of funding we showed then best result, on the basis of which I draw conclusions about the competence of the team management.
— Have you always found a common language with Weisfeld and Zelepukin?
— We had excellent, one might say, friendly relations. They were frequent guests in my office, we constantly met and discussed team matters. I attended all the matches, attended Metallurg’s training sessions, and even started skating at that moment. The entire infrastructure of the team was open to me, I was completely absorbed in its life. Everyone knew about this very well. At a certain point, the current managers told me: “Sergei Nikolaevich, you don’t need to appear on the team yet.” This is largely why I very rarely attended Metallurg matches this season; I went to the youth teams much more often.
— How large is the share of public funds in the Kuznya budget?
— Let's start with the fact that the entire infrastructure of the club is municipal, but Metallurg does not pay a penny for its rent. In past years, the city government covered the club's electricity and water costs. But now the budget of Novokuznetsk is decreasing every year. However, we annually provide EVRAZ with tax preferences of 600-700 million rubles - this is a huge amount. In return, the company supports the traditions of Kuznetsk metallurgists, the union of labor veterans, and performs a number of integral social functions, which, among other things, include sponsoring Metallurg. For this I am very grateful to the management of EVRAZ. The city fully supports the hockey school - 25 million are allocated annually for this business. At the same time, Metallurg, again, does not pay anything for players who grow into the team of masters.
— In this case, can we say that Metallurg is a completely private club?
- Yes, sure.
“WE HAVE LOST FAN VALUES”
— You said that “Kuznya” is very important for the fans. How, then, can one explain the sharp decline in attendance, which had not struck the imagination before?
— In past years, there were matches when the stadium was completely packed. Especially when we played with Salavat Yulaev and Omsk. We managed to win against these teams most often. After such matches we always had full stands. You can also remember the times when Brent Sopel and Chris Simon played in Metallurg, who put on a real show. Simon could get snow on his stick, drive up to someone else's bench and throw it in the opponent's players' faces. After that, he went to the bench, calmly unlaced, and the enemy could not do anything. The fans were delighted. And this year there were matches to which 500-700 people came, because there was nothing to see. 20 defeats in a row, what good is that? But then the arena was full for MHL matches.
— What about the fan ideals? IN difficult time On the contrary, we need to unite and support the team until the end. In many Russian hockey cities they do this.
— We also had this in previous years - we lost a lot, but the fans filled the stands and supported the team until the end. Last season we lost these values. Fans always came, but ordinary fans stopped coming.
— Was there any work being done to keep them in the stands?
— The club has a corresponding department that deals with this. They even get paid for it.
— How would you rate this work? If a neutral fan came to a Metallurg match, would he want to return later?
- If it were, we would have a full stadium at every game. The result speaks for itself. Therefore, I rate this work as unsatisfactory. And here we need to draw conclusions. You need to work on your mistakes, prepare a concept for getting out of the current situation and follow it.
— What goals did the management set for the team in each next season? Considering the dynamics of Metallurg's performances, the team could not even count on fighting for getting into the playoffs.
— Last year we had a very good team. There was a wonderful atmosphere there, the unity of the players was felt, starting from the smallest details. So, at a pre-season meeting with the hockey players and coaching staff, I voiced the maximum goal - getting into the playoffs, and the minimum goal - to perform better than last season. We started well - we beat Barys, but then three defeats in a row followed, Solovyov was fired and everything fell apart like a house of cards.
— More than once I have heard the opinion that the leadership of the Kemerovo region does not need Metallurg. What do you say to this?
- This is far from true. The governor understands that Novokuznetsk cannot exist without hockey team. Fans just think that if the region doesn’t give money to the club, then it doesn’t need it. But everyone forgets that according to the law, funds from the city and regional budgets cannot be used to maintain a commercial structure.
“WE WOULDN’T START A HYSTERICAL”
— When did you first learn that Metallurg could be expelled from the KHL?
“I found out about this a month before the meeting of the league’s Board of Directors. Information leaked through the press. These were provocative injections with the aim of testing our reaction, to see how we would behave.
— What actions did you take?
— I turned to Denyakin and Zinoviev with a request to figure out why we could be kicked out of the KHL? This is where the glitch occurred. I received false information from the club management. It turned out that our main problem is insufficient funding, i.e. the amount of funds allocated for the maintenance of the club by the KHL managers was no longer accepted. There was an urgent need to understand how much funding needed to be increased. Questions about infrastructure readiness were unclear - we don’t have modern systems fire extinguishing and video surveillance. We sat here and discussed: who will buy all this - the club or the city. Instead of quickly understanding what needs to be fixed and starting to implement it, we started hysterics and raised its level to falsetto: “this is a city, we can’t live without the KHL!” And you just had to fly to Moscow and clearly find out everything from the league representatives, and then submit a letter of guarantee and within six months bring the budget and arena into compliance with the requirements. Here we, together with the club, made a serious mistake.
— How realistic is the likelihood of raising Kuznya’s funding to the KHL’s minimum entry threshold?
“First we need to understand the size of this input threshold. This is unknown to me. An incomprehensible amount was announced - 700 million rubles. I don’t trust this data, but if this is so, then we would need to resolve issues of additional funding. In theory, this is a feasible task.
— Apparently, EVRAZ is not eager to increase its spending on hockey, and besides this company, there are no other major players on the market. Would you sign a lot of small contracts worth 2, 5, 10 million rubles in order to reach the required amount?
— This option worked 2 or 3 years ago. We had about a dozen small sponsors who gave a million, two, three. Thus, we managed to pour from 50 to 70 million into the club.
— It turns out that under the previous leadership sponsors were ready to give money, but now they are not.
- That's how it is. For some reason, it happened that no one is willing to give money to the current management team. And this is not some kind of insult, but an objective fact.
— Was the club’s ambiguous transfer policy and the resonant video of Anisin, Taratukhin and Pervyshin singing songs with a guitar discussed in the city?
“Everyone discussed it: the elite, fans, and ordinary citizens. Such facts form an opinion about how the club is managed. All these misunderstandings, petty intrigues, scandals, destroyed the authority of Metallurg.
— You harshly criticized Sergei Zinoviev in the local media. What is your main complaint about him?
— The main complaint is the lack of results. He forgot about the task that the board of trustees and the head of the city set for him. The goal was to improve the results of last season and not become last in the KHL standings. He not only did not improve them, but dramatically worsened them. In addition, the club was constantly in a state of tension and some kind of conflict - either with the old management team, or with the fans, or with the city administration, or with electricity suppliers. One gets the impression that the management of Metallurg does not have constructive methods for solving problems. It's time for them to start making informed decisions.
“WHY WE WERE PUT IN A CORNER?”
— What do you say to the KHL management, who made a radical decision and didn’t even give Metallurg a chance to correct the situation?
“This is exactly what we talked about at our meetings within the city community. We really weren't given a chance and weren't even explained why we were put in a corner. These things need to be spoken out. As the head of the city, I tried to get into open contact with Dmitry Chernyshenko, left him a message that we needed to talk. There was no answer. Then I wrote an official letter, which also remained unanswered. But in general, of course, such requests need to be answered. If you can’t do it yourself, entrust it to one of your deputies. You could simply say: “come to Moscow, we will give you 15 minutes, try to convince us during this time.” But I really don’t want to believe that the decision on “Forge” was made hastily, rudely, sharply and without sentimentality. I think that information about our problems was broadcast to someone, they just did not reach the mayor’s office.
— Metallurg was not the only problematic club. The KHL also had complaints about Ugra, but the governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug flew to a meeting with Vitaly Mutko and resolved all the issues. Have you ever thought about asking for help from the leadership of the Kemerovo region?
“It was precisely such thoughts that did not arise.” We tried to solve everything directly through the league. The governor sent certain types of letters and tried to provide us with support, but it did not help.
— How did city residents react to the club’s expulsion from the KHL?
“Our residents are so smart, understanding and loving of the city that they did not allow any conflicts, although many instigated this. The press wrote that Kuznya would rear up. No, no one will do this. People simply experienced this bitterness, and I spoke about this in my letter to Chernyshenko. The league only earned itself a minus in karma with this decision.
— “Kuznya” was an outsider in the KHL for several years, and perhaps now the club will have the opportunity to play a leading role in the VHL. Why was it so important for Metallurg to stay in the continental league?
- Firstly, this is a level accepted by everyone, to which the fans are accustomed. They go to see their team and other clubs in the league, which often include famous people. Some go to the theater, others to the cinema, and others to hockey. Besides, KHL games– this is what our kids who play hockey dream about. This dream was nearby, but now it has moved away. In general, this is a certain psychotype of the city, which suggests that the KHL team should be in Novokuznetsk, and I fully support it.
— Do you believe that Metallurg can be a leader in the VHL?
“I’m not going to interfere in club affairs.” Denyakin and Zinoviev assemble a team, complete it, select a coaching staff, tactics and strategy - this is their development path and area of responsibility. But it is far from a fact that we will be in leading positions in Major League.
— Do you have any concerns that due to a move to a lower league, the sponsor may reduce the amount of funding?
— The sponsor has already clarified its position – funding will remain at the same level. Local residents won’t leave the club either; they will continue to have an interest in hockey. Now it's very important point is coming for Sergei Zinoviev, although I still insist that the position of general director of Metallurg should be filled by a competent and organized person who understands sports, organization, administration, finance and accounting. But such a person is now very difficult to find. There is another option - not to join any league and bet on the school, invest all funds in its promotion and training of young hockey players.
- But it's a very long way. The fruits of such work will appear in 5-7 years, not earlier.
- Well, at some point you have to start doing this. Novokuznetsk land is saturated with talents. You need to look for them. Many of them have not been disclosed by us. The guy reaches a certain level, he was not noticed and he is done - he went into business. And if we return to the VHL, it is not a fact that Metallurg will achieve success there. So why spend money on this?
— Which vector of development are you more inclined towards?
— First, we still need to go to the VHL and try to prove ourselves there. Great responsibility lies on the shoulders of Zinoviev and Denyakin. They must make a team that can be at the top of the league. Based on the results of their work, it will be necessary to draw conclusions. If they are disappointing, then we need to take sponsorship money and use project investment to direct it to the development of the school.
— How do you assess the likelihood of Metallurg returning to the KHL in a year?
— If the team still has one general sponsor after a year, then I would estimate the probability of its return to the KHL to be below 50%. The appearance of two more sponsors will dramatically increase our chances, but, in any case, we will need to bring the readiness of our palace up to regulatory standards. In fact, you need to make a decision either to carry out major repairs or to build a new palace. On this occasion, the governor of the Kemerovo region and I have already prepared an appeal to the Government of the Russian Federation. But this is not a matter of one year or even two years.
— What should Sergei Zinoviev do for you to establish contact with him again?
— Sergei Zinoviev must stop looking for excuses for mistakes and miscalculations. He shouldn't look for enemies. You just need to sit down, define your goals and draw up a roadmap for their implementation. I have no grudge against him. I treat him with respect. He great athlete, two-time champion world, has given a lot to sports and loves hockey very much. I meet him, shake his hand, we look into each other’s eyes and as a man I have no questions for him. But as a manager, he needs to adjust many things, draw conclusions and try to turn the situation around.
Gagarin Cup winners Mikhail Anisin and Andrey Pervyshin, with whom Novokuznetsk Metallurg had terminated their contracts the day before, contacted the site’s editors.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE FACED SUCH CYNISM - ZINOVIEV’S DECISIONS ARE SABOTED
The best sniper of the 2013 playoffs and Gagarin Cup winner took the floor first Mikhail Anisin:
It is simply impossible to read and listen to those fables that have been spread about me in recent days and now former defender"Metallurgist" by Andrei Pervyshine. About my appearance at training allegedly in a drunken state - despite the fact that, to be absolutely frank, I have no medicinal ability to drink, about our lateness, and so on. In fact, we were simply not allowed to play, they deliberately brought us into conflict. This is the first time I encountered such cynicism!
Andrey Pervyshin, defender, two-time Gagarin Cup winner:
I completely agree with Mikhail. At first we didn’t understand what was happening at the club. Anisin worked more and more in the gym and on the ice - but got less and less time. I had both goals and assists, but for some reason they didn’t please the coaches. And only now it became clear who started this whole game.
Anisin: - Let's start from the beginning. Both Andrei and I were invited to the club by the new general director of Metallurg, Sergei Zinoviev, a famous hockey player, multiple champion world and winner of the Gagarin Cup. To be honest, after the first training session and communication with the guys, I realized that it would be very difficult for Sergei Olegovich - he would have to restore order everywhere and in a short time. Suffice it to say that during the preparation for the season, the players essentially wasted time - the foundation was laid mainly through jogging around the stadium. If at one time in the champion “Dynamo” or “Vityaz” they would have prepared us like this, then we would not have even made it to the middle of the season.
Almost a week or two later, Zinoviev did what was suggested - he fired Nikolai Solovyov. I never discuss coaches, especially older ones, but here everything was obvious, which with this specialist was soon confirmed at Neftekhimik.
Pervyshin: - Zinoviev is a super professional, knows everything about hockey, from morning to evening he lives with the problems of his native team. He tried to change a lot at Metallurg - and training process, and club relationships. But gradually we began to notice that some things were openly sabotaged by some employees.
- Who exactly?
Anisin: - For example, head coach Sergei Berdnikov. Sergei Olegovich recommended one thing, Berdnikov took it in stride, and then tried to do everything his own way. It is clear that nothing worked for him. After all, Zinoviev is the pinnacle of our hockey, and Berdnikov is an ordinary traveler, a temporary worker, who in Novokuznetsk managed only one thing - to hook Solovyov.
Pervyshin: - Many of the coach’s attitudes caused laughter not only among us, experienced players, but even among young people. We agreed on some points ourselves after the installations - and they worked, contrary to Berdnikov’s instructions.
But the coach needed to somehow assert himself. It is best to do this at the expense of someone. The coach chose Anisin as such a victim. Face to face, he was afraid of Misha like fire, but he came to press conferences and began to sand him down. This is not like hockey, and, most importantly, not like a man!
- Who keeps this specialist in the club?
It seems to us that if everything depended on Zinoviev, then Novokuznetsk would have had a normal coach long ago, and the team would not have languished in last place - with six wins in 37 matches.
Anisin: - This result is terrifying, but Novokuznetsk, in fact, has a promising and not at all weak team. Zemchenko, Yazkov, Soloviev, Mikheev, Lyamkin, and several other young guys are very talented, Zinoviev immediately singled them out and realized that with the help of several experienced players the team would succeed and would definitely not be the last. But you need a good coach. The current one, at the suggestion of some leaders, has solved and is solving his problems. One of them is to remove us and thereby frame Zinoviev.
Pervyshin: - Agree!
EVERYONE WAS WAITING FOR MONACO AND CHAMPAGNE, AND WE ARE IN THE FORGE AND PLAY PATRIOTIC SONGS
- Why? good coach No?
We've already said that the CEO's hands are tied. And then just recently a strange sports director came from the main sponsor, who doesn’t even know what hockey is and doesn’t even know how to skate. His task is to cut everyone’s minimum wages. So to speak, a crisis manager from the factory.
Anisin: - And in addition to this director, there were also “moles” in the team - I think, at the suggestion of Berdnikov. They leak everything beneficial to the coach onto the Internet and shield him. They also frame Zinoviev, giving information about some internal affairs and debts. It is clear where the ears grow from.
In such an environment, young players certainly cannot develop. And it is no coincidence that many are already looking elsewhere. It’s such a shame for Novokuznetsk hockey!
- Do you have any complaints about yourself? And do you understand that not everyone will believe you?
Both: - And still, we considered it necessary to speak out - so that Zinoviev would be allowed to work normally, and the club would not be quietly transferred to the lower league.
Well, the main complaint against myself is that they did not live up to Zinoviev’s hopes. Yes, we were not given the opportunity to justify them, but this is still more of an excuse - we should have gone to the press earlier and not remained silent.
Yesterday, a video of you and another club player Andrei Taratukhin singing songs caused a great stir on the Internet. Some bloggers have already called the video the most interesting in the entire current KHL season...
Anisin: - We understand why the people were excited. Our fans are accustomed to the fact that athletes usually relax somewhere in expensive clubs Monaco, they order hundreds of bottles of champagne there and, excuse the expression, stick out their heads. And here in the kitchen in Novokuznetsk, absolutely sober hockey players sing patriotic songs about the history of their country. The accusers are probably in shock (laughs).
WE WILL BE BACK!
- Nevertheless, Novokuznetsk is already a passed stage for you. What's next?
Anisin: - After all the tubs of dirt that a couple of characters have poured on us here, there is only one thing left to do - wash off and train even more. And we also want to say a big thank you to Zinoviev and the Novokuznetsk team for their support. Yes, we know several weaklings who “knocked” and who, we suspect, will be asked to throw stones at us. But they are a pitiful exception, because the people in Siberia are honest and reliable.
Pervyshin: - I also understand perfectly well that we should not be offended, but work. Starting tomorrow I won’t leave the gym. We'll be back!
MOSCOW, May 24. /Corr. TASS Rustam Sharafutdinov/. The decision to exclude Novokuznetsk Metallurg from the list of participants in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) championship is unlawful. The general director of the club, Sergei Zinoviev, told reporters about this.
The decision to withdraw Metallurg from the KHL was made on Wednesday. According to the league concept, excluded Russian clubs will have the opportunity to play in the Major Hockey League (VHL).
“We believed until the end that we would have time to fix everything. This decision goes against the regulations from which we are based. The League committed an offense,” Zinoviev said.
When asked whether the club would defend its rights in court, Zinoviev replied: “We will consult, the league’s decision is unlawful. Reason did not prevail over issues of commercialization. We could have been told about this at the beginning of the championship, and not at the end.”
The management of Novokuznetsk Metallurg has not yet decided whether the club will play in the VHL
According to Zinoviev, the management of Metallurg has not yet decided whether the club will play in the VHL. “I believe that the club should continue to exist. We will still consult and make a decision about which league we will play in. We hope that there will be some kind of sound, reasonable decision,” Zinoviev said.
Vice-president of Metallurg Magnitogorsk Gennady Velichkin said that he asked the league’s board of directors to leave the Novokuznetsk club in the KHL for the next season. “It’s true that I asked to give Novokuznetsk Metallurg one year to correct the situation. But it’s too late to think, the decision has been made,” Velichkin said.
The Novokuznetsk team has played in the KHL since the very first league championship (2008) and has never made it to the playoffs.
There is already a candidate for the post of head coach of Metallurg.
Novokuznetsk Metallurg announced personnel changes. General Director Sergei Zinoviev and the team's coaching staff led by Vadim Shakhraichuk will leave the club.
How it all started
On May 24, the president of the Kontinental Hockey League, Dmitry Chernyshenko, announced that Novokuznetsk Metallurg and Croatian Medvescak would not play in the KHL starting with the 2017/18 season. “Next season, 27 clubs will play in the KHL. The two weakest clubs in terms of sports and financial results. These are Medveshchak and Novokuznetsk Metallurg, which came last in all ratings.”
Chernyshenko: costs are lower in the VHL, “Kuznya” can use the money to develop the school
The ensuing reaction in Novokuznetsk
The mayor of Novokuznetsk Sergei Kuznetsov commented on the situation with the exclusion of Metallurg from the KHL on radio Kuzbass FM.
“We will deal with the leadership of Metallurg, which allowed this situation to happen and began to solve it when everything was practically a foregone conclusion... I don’t need a director like Zinoviev - he has some kind of interpersonal relationship with Chernyshenko, thanks to which he is not could get into his office, stood under the door.
Next, I instructed the lawyers to check how legal the exclusion of Metallurg was according to the league regulations. And finally, prepare for games in the VHL. Because with the kind of play that Metallurg showed in the last season, it is not a fact that we will play successfully in the Major League. Therefore, we need to watch the team, talk to hockey players who will agree to play in the VHL, and play in such a way as to qualify for a return to the KHL.”
Zinoviev: reason did not prevail, Kuznya has no way back to the KHL
General manager of Novokuznetsk Metallurg Sergei Zinoviev commented on the decision of the board of directors to expel the club from the league.
"Metallurg" submitted an application and entered the Higher hockey league. At the same time, the general sponsor of Novokuznetsk Metallurg, EVRAZ, maintained funding for the hockey club in the new season at the level of the 2016/17 season, despite the team’s exclusion from the Continental Hockey League.
“Kuznya” held two pre-season tournaments and was preparing for the first match in the VHL championship, scheduled for September 13.
On September 6, three and a half months after Mayor Kuznetsov’s statement, the club announced the departure of general director Sergei Zinoviev and the team’s coaching staff led by Vadim Shakhraichuk.
Club press release
“In order to achieve this goal, the interaction between the built vertical of hockey in Novokuznetsk will become even more dense and constructive. The invitation of experienced specialists should contribute to the further progress of the young pupils of the Novokuznetsk hockey school, their subsequent performance as part of the “Bears” and “Metallurg”, as well as the return to our team of those local pupils who had previously left their home club for various reasons. For this, certain changes are necessary. In the starting season, Metallurg and Kuznetsk Bears face ambitious tournament goals, to achieve which further personnel changes are also necessary. General Director of Metallurg Sergei Zinoviev and the coaching staff of the Metallurg team are leaving the club. Last working day in Novokuznetsk hockey club for specialists will be September 7, 2017,” the club’s press service said in a statement.
According to other sources, the former general director of the club, Vladimir Rokkel, is also directly related to Zinoviev’s departure from Metallurg.
Expert opinion
“I don’t understand Novokuznetsk’s personnel decisions at all over the past ten years, when the team turned into such a septic tank for training incomprehensible personnel. As for the dismissal of Zinoviev and the coaching staff led by Vadim Shakhraichuk, we do not know the reasons for this decision. I can’t say whether it was right to fire the entire work team or not. We don’t know the club’s policy, we don’t even know who determines this very policy of “Kuznya”. Nobody knows why these coaches appeared, what tasks they had. All this is done behind the scenes. I think that Metallurg should give an official explanation on this situation in the near future.
It’s hard to say what awaits “Kuznya” in the new season. The most important thing is to understand what the region wants from this team. But over the past ten years there has been no clear direction for what Novokuznetsk Metallurg is needed. There was no strategy. I am convinced that we need to come to a complete reorganization of our hockey. A Super League should be formed on the basis of the VHL, this will give impetus to the development of our sport. And, naturally, the KHL needs to be reduced. This must be done after the Olympics,” said Honored Coach of Russia Yuri Novikov, who worked at Metallurg Novokuznetsk from 1998 to 2000.
Who will be the team's new head coach?
According to the Championship, the new head coach of Metallurg will be Anatoly Khomenko, who worked for a long time in the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv system, including being on the coaching staff of Sean Simpson and Dave King.
MOSCOW, May 25 - R-Sport, Alexander Rogulev. The general director of Novokuznetsk Metallurg, Sergei Zinoviev, was given a year by the sponsors to show results in the KHL, but he did not give it, which resulted in the club being excluded from the league, the former told the R-Sport agency head coach“Forges” Nikolai Solovyov, who was dismissed at the beginning of last season.
On Wednesday it was announced that from the new KHL season Novokuznetsk Metallurg and Zagreb Medvescak will leave. “Kuznya” will continue to play in the VHL.
Not the day of “Metallurg”: the Novokuznetsk team will no longer play in the KHL >>>
“When Sergei Zinoviev came to the management, I tried to immediately find out from him whether he came to the club with some conditions, some promises from sponsors,” Soloviev said by phone. “Zinoviev responded in the style of “there is no money, but you’re holding on.” ". He said that he needed to show results in the season, then the conditions would appear. And when I reminded Seryozha that in his playing career he always refused to play according to the “today a match - tomorrow money” system, Zinoviev did not answer me."
“I lost my brother, now it’s Metallurg”
“You know, for me this 2017 is turning out to be tragic,” Soloviev continued. “Not so long ago I lost my brother, and now Metallurg has been expelled from the KHL. I met these two events with equal pain. The most offensive thing here is that neither In this case, there is nothing you can do to help with this. It is clear that Novokuznetsk hockey will not benefit from such a decision. And he will have the opportunity to return or not, for example. sports principle, no one can say that now."
According to the agency's interlocutor, Novokuznetsk may lose talented youth from the MHL club "Kuznetsk Bears". “I didn’t go to a single hockey game in Khanty-Mansiysk at the end of the season. But when the Bears arrived, I couldn’t resist,” said Solovyov. “And with the coach’s permission, after the game I went to the guys’ locker room. That’s the most important thing.” The problem is that there is now an amazing generation growing there: Nikita Lyamkin, Andrei Karavaev, and the same Kirill Zinoviev, you can list them for a long time. They needed this year in the KHL.”
“When we first came to Metallurg with Sergei Arkhipovich (Kotov), it was decided: the club should be based on its students and guys who, for some reason, did not suit other teams, but can be useful here,” added the ex-coach “Kuzni.” - Yes, the guys were not stars, but they understood our requirements and agreed with them: we built a plan for three years, during which we would be able to leave after two seasons and leave our younger colleagues. wanted to retire from their last place."
Tuleyev's intervention is necessary
Soloviev believes that Andrei Denyakin, a representative of the EVRAZ company who joined the management team of Metallurg, had little understanding of hockey issues. “The second person in the club, Andrei Denyakin, was remembered for only one moment,” said Soloviev. “We then agreed on the arrival of Misha Biryukov, a world champion, to the club, who would clearly strengthen Metallurg.” But Denyakin could not understand why we needed 38- summer hockey player, I don’t even know who he confused Misha with. He came out of the office red when I showed him who he was.”
“I don’t presume to judge Denyakin or Zinoviev - we all have both good and bad behind us. But I can say one thing: we had good results in the preseason, but with their arrival I felt in the locker room that the atmosphere “It’s already completely different,” admitted Soloviev. “You go there and everything is not the same. So even after the last game in the evening I understood that they would film me in the morning. And for sure: I came at seven o’clock, and Zinoviev and Valery Zelepukin were already waiting for me. They shouldn’t have done that. We would have worked through the season, and we certainly wouldn’t have finished it in last place.”
