In May, Traktor appointed Benoit Groux, a Canadian who is virtually unknown to the Russian public, as head coach. Opinions on this decision were divided. Some considered Gru to be a good and interesting specialist, others considered him an incomprehensible foreigner and a prime candidate for early dismissal.
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The start of the season has shown that the KHL, in the person of the Canadian coach, has acquired a personality that the league perhaps really lacked.
How and how has Traktor’s new mentor proven his worth?
Style, gentlemen, style!
First of all, with the arrival of Gru, the Chelyabinsk team started to demonstrate an interesting game. And this is especially important considering the situation of the team.
Traktor faced difficult problems in the 2024 offseason. The club lost many experienced hockey players and actually entered the process of local restructuring. In such conditions, appointing a new coach, and a foreign one at that, meant taking a risk. Big risk.
But for now he is making excuses. “Traktor” plays active hockey, with great dynamism and movement. It is nice to watch the residents of Chelyabinsk! Currently Traktor is one of the best teams in the KHL. If not the best.
And, most importantly, it bears fruit. At the start of the regular season, the Chelyabinsk team lost only one match in regular time and is now in the leading group of the East. In addition, Gru’s gang managed to confidently beat the star SKA, also “drying up”: 3:0!
There are fears that such an energy-consuming style will affect the team in the long run; it may collapse. But if such a scenario occurs, it will be interesting to see how the Canadian copes with the difficulties. So far, the coach brings to the KHL what several clubs have, although they have it for different reasons. Gru is trying to find the best places and the best combinations at the moment. He is not going to tie players to any specific partner, he is always on the lookout, and this allows him to level out the falls of individual hockey players, make the most of the current state and not fall into a protracted crisis.
SKA – “Tractor”
Photo: photo.khl.ru
This variability and adaptability is a striking manifestation of the American system, and Gru is putting it into practice to perfection right now, bringing something new and interesting to the KHL.
Another important advantage of the Canadian is how the hockey players played with him. Previously it seemed that without Zach Fucale, Traktor would quickly fall apart. However, the coaching staff has apparently done a good job with the goal line, and it is one of the best in the league right now. Not by name, but to the point.
Finally, Vitaly Kravtsov began to take on leadership responsibilities, whose performance at the start of the season was very encouraging. Mikhail Kotlyarevsky reveals himself in a new way. Maxim Shabanov continues to push, who after a brilliant last season did not stop developing and continued to progress.
So far the coach is doing a great job of developing the hockey players. Benoit is helping them develop and it shows.
Charisma and brilliance
It is unlikely that anyone can argue that Gru is an incredibly charismatic specialist. It is interesting to watch his press conferences and interviews, and his what-what – “almost” – and his reaction to attempts to translate the Russian idiom “the first pancake is lumpy” into English have already become a meme in the hockey community.
Of course, some journalists insisted on Benoit’s lack of a personal translator, and they did so with surprising seriousness and en masse, as if they could not find any other disadvantages of the Canadian. However, even here it is not clear why exactly he should be criticized. Firstly, if this issue is so worrying, it is more logical to ask the question to the management of Traktor and not to the coach, right? Secondly, this still has nothing to do with Gru himself. The Canadian is open to journalists, ready to answer any questions and seems to be an extremely sincere person, who arouses sympathy even from outside viewers.
Just look at his behaviour at the press conference after the victory in the match against Sochi. It lasted only 55 seconds. Gru was noticeably surprised and even looked a little sad.
VIDEO
When was the last time you saw a coach get angry at the lack of questions after a game? So that the coach doesn’t try to rush to the locker room, but is ready to communicate with journalists and answer questions?
It should also be noted that the press conference with Gru is not some kind of report or show-off. It has a nice, welcoming and friendly atmosphere.
It seems that the Canadian was able to create the same atmosphere in the dressing room. “Tractor”, where tension had built up, where a heavy atmosphere reigned, was transformed under Gru in this sense, not only in the game. And this is also a great achievement for the coach.
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A surprising situation arises when the mentor, considered one of the main candidates for imminent dismissal, was able to present a surprise, and a complete one at that.
Gru has already managed to improve the atmosphere in the Traktor locker room, adjust the game, make it extremely attractive and create conditions for the development of hockey players. In addition, he brings something new to the KHL, both in relations with players, and in communication with journalists, and in the organization of game processes. He shows the best of the American style, and it will surely be reflected. And it will allow other coaches to learn something new. Perhaps this will give impetus to the further development of Russian hockey…
And most importantly, Gru is now changing the paradigm by which we tend to look askance at foreign specialists, and proving that learning something new, looking at other systems and getting the best out of them is great. Interesting, engaging and effective. And once again reminding us that closing ourselves off from the world, and even deliberately belittling it, as Gru was belittled before the start of the championship, is the worst option.
I would like to believe that the Canadian will continue to do his job and that Traktor, under his leadership, will achieve great success.
And his press conferences will continue to be the sweetest and most interesting pastime.
