Traktor’s first home game in the KHL regular championship of the 2023/2024 season attracted a full crowd at the Chelyabinsk stadium. 7,350 fans (98% of maximum capacity) filled the Valery Belousov Tractor Arena to support Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team after returning from a difficult four-game trip.
Traktor, who failed last season and did not qualify for the Gagarin Cup, started the new season quite acceptably. In the away series, the Chelyabinsk team won two victories in four games, adding 62.5% of possible points (five out of eight). It could have been even more if, while leading by a slim advantage in Yaroslavl, Traktor had not missed a goal from Artur Kayumov a minute and a half before the end of regulation time. Lokomotiv’s number 16 first sent the game into extra time and then scored the winning goal in the five extra minutes.
But the black and white ended their long journey on a positive note. In Balashija, in a closely contested match, they beat Vityaz (3-2). It is noteworthy that the team from the Moscow region opened the score already in the second minute, but 23 seconds later, Vitaly Kravtsov, who returned to the Chelyabinsk club from North America in the off-season, did not allow Vityaz to gather courage and would try to develop the advantage they had obtained.
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Kravtsov, 23, returned to Traktor to once again revive his career at his home club. The winger, who was once predicted a great future, even after a change in the situation in the NHL, could not establish himself in the not-strong Vancouver, which once again took him to Chelyabinsk, where Vitaly is always welcomed with The open arms.
One of the reasons why the forward was never able to play for the Rangers who selected him in the first round of the NHL draft was injury problems. At the beginning of last season, then-Blueshirts coach Gerard Galland, although he never really believed in the Russian’s ability to play American hockey, gave Kravtsov certain opportunities. But the first game of the regular season ended with Vitaly being sent to the doctor’s office after a collision with Victor Hedman.
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The Vladivostok native missed just over a week, returned to Rangers, played several games and was knocked out again. The game against Dallas, like the opening game of the season, ended prematurely for Kravtsov. The collision with Finnish defender Jani Hakanpää also did not seem entirely legal, but in each match a dozen or even more such game situations occur, after which the hockey players continue the game. However, Vitaly was forced to immediately leave the scene.
“Can Kravtsov learn to defend himself better? I hope so. You have to play hard and aggressive, but he probably didn’t play the best he could in those moments. I want him to be the first one to the puck… but we have to be a little more careful,” Galland said of Kravtsov’s constant injuries.
Vitali Kravtsov
Photo: Pavel Tabarchuk, foto.khl.ru
The Russian forward once again faced recovery from a new injury, then a return to the lineup and a new misfortune: first a stomach problem and then a dental infection again took Vitaly out of the Rangers. Soon, the management of the American club ran out of patience and they themselves removed Vitaly from the organization and sent the player to Vancouver. But everything was already lost.
“I think the injuries most likely came from my head. There was no confidence in my actions, there was no confidence in my game. There was a lot of desire. I ran where I shouldn’t have. There is a saying: your ass is covered in soap, but you are dry. That’s why I played like that. That’s why I had no confidence in martial arts, somewhere I lost my balance, somewhere I fell,” Kravtsov himself said about the causes of the problems in North America.
As a result, after a completely ruined season abroad, Vitaly returned to Traktor, had a good preseason and immediately started the KHL championship. Here Vitaly felt comfortable and immediately began to develop effective actions. In four games of the away series he scored 4 (1 + 3) points, and 98 seconds after the start of the home game against Lada he added another goal to his haul.
Vitali Kravtsov
Photo: Pavel Tabarchuk, foto.khl.ru
But this had to happen: the next turn turned out to be fatal for the striker. Last year’s American misfortune overtook Vitaly on the ice of Chelyabinsk. In the middle zone, Kravtsov found himself “divided” by Lada defender Maxim Berezin, who made a tough power play.
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“Pure power moves are as much an art as scoring goals. Berezin played very well,” Lada coach Oleg Bratash highlighted about the defender’s actions.
Artyom Blazhievsky, who completed the pass to Kravtsov, immediately rushed to defend his teammate. The Traktor defender received two minutes for rudeness and left the team in the minority, since the referees did not record any violation of the rules in Berezin’s actions. “Lada” immediately took advantage of the majority and subsequently squeezed “Traktor”, ruining the Chelyabinsk team’s home debut.
But the main blow awaited the Chelyabinsk team after the results of the medical examination of Kravtsov, who was never able to return to the ice in the match with Lada. The 23-year-old forward has been diagnosed with an upper body injury. Due to the injury, Vitaly, who started the Championship with five points in five games, was out of action for a long time. According to the most optimistic estimates, the forward’s recovery will take at least a month. And according to the worst fears, everything could last even six weeks.
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The Chelyabinsk club suffered a painful defeat at the beginning of the season, in which Gatiyatulin does not have the slightest margin for error after last year’s failure. Vitaly himself can only wish him good health. Endless injury problems can seriously ruin the career of a truly talented hockey player.
