Last season, Traktor, under the leadership of Alexey Zavarukhin, was the main provider of sensations in the KHL playoffs: first, the Chelyabinsk team had a furious series with Salavat, beating the favorite in six games, and then left a sad zero in the Win column in the second round for the regular season winner.
Therefore, the invitation of the Canadian Benoit Groux to replace Zavarukhin was received ambiguously by the press and people: they say: do you understand exactly what you are doing? But the skepticism about this appointment began to fade already in August during the preseason, and after a month and a half they completely forgot about it.
Benoit Grou
Photo: Pavel Tabarchuk, foto.khl.ru
One of the main characters of “Traktor” at the beginning of the regular season is Alexander Kadeikin. The forward recovered surprisingly quickly from a failed period in his career in St. Petersburg, although at the beginning of the season he played on the fourth line. Now Kadeikin plays on the first line and can move from there, probably not because of his own decline, but because someone else from the Chelyabinsk team’s central forwards will jump over his head.
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But today we will not talk about Kadeikin personally, but about how Alexander became the most important cog in Gru’s tactical designs, allowing “Traktor” to produce almost identical discs against completely different opponents.
It is a known fact that North American experts analyze the game in more detail, because this has been the case since the hard times: goals are buried under the goal. There is a firm conviction that Gru, having “felt” Kadeikin in his hands, understood: with the proper use of strong qualities, a great advantage can be obtained. And not locally, but remotely.
Below is the first example of when it started working. Yes, Alexander did not enter the protocol, but he definitely did half the job for Dronov.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. You can see the video on the league’s official website.
But this method becomes more effective when the throw comes from a person who has a strong and accurate wrist throw. Traktor has no problems with these. You don’t have to look far for an example: Vitaly Kravtsov’s second goal in the match against Ak Bars came from our team.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. You can see the video on the league’s official website.
If you wish, you can remember Vladimir Tkachev’s puck against Spartak or Nikita Tertyshny in the Moscow match against CSKA.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. You can see the video on the league’s official website.
But just standing there, imagining yourself as the Great Wall of China, isn’t enough to be successful either, right? Definitely. The first home match against Avangard will be indicative here, when Kadeikin scored two double goals in 4.5 minutes, depriving neutral spectators of at least some intrigue and adding a couple of extra gray hairs to Omsk fans.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. You can see the video on the league’s official website.
We saw the last clear example of this use of a player on the spot last season, when David Nemirovsky put Andy Andreoff there, who dodged it as best he could. And the Canadian also scored there in various ways: from the shot, from the preparation and from the timely opening.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. You can see the video on the league’s official website.
However, with the arrival of Vadim Epanchintsev, Andreoff’s role in the majority began to decline. But this is not a stone in the garden of the residents of Novosibirsk: other connections have been established there that also give results. A different approach and that’s it. You can also remember “Salavat Yulaev”, when Tomi Lyamsya was the head coach. The Finn also paid a lot of attention to this aspect, betting on Viktor Tikhonov and Alexander Kadeikin, who blocked the goalkeeper, put the post in and tried to finish.
In the NHL, of course, more attention is paid to this aspect, but here just look at the Rangers or Florida. More precisely, playing under the goal of Chris Kreider or Sam Rinehart. The level of the players on Lavioletta and Maurice’s teams may allow them not to resort to frequent “dirty” goals, but why shoot yourself in the foot? Additionally, there is no doubt that Artemi Panarin or Alexander Barkov will direct the puck to the right spot.
Chris Kreider and Sergei Bobrovsky
Photo: Frank Franklin II/AP/TASS
You can ask a logical question: what is new in this? It is true that there is nothing unique here. It is only about systematizing those basic elements that regularly produce results. And, as you know, it is very difficult to achieve. Hockey is sometimes so complex that victory can lie in the correct execution of simple and uncomplicated elements. In part, this is one of them.
In addition, it is difficult for the opponent to do anything, since these items are usually used in the majority, where due attention cannot be paid to the player. But can you throw it with a nickel, the curious reader will say? You can, of course, but there are usually players who don’t want to give up their place, and you can only damage your goalkeeper by blocking his last point of vision.
Therefore, we can say that Traktor has found a cheat code that seems to be known by everyone, but which is very difficult to implement. And Alexander Kadeikin right now appears to be the living embodiment of the system Benoit Groux is trying to build.
