Unfortunately, or fortunately for some, teams with their own distinctive style or chip are becoming less common in our league. It’s all the fault of the eternal turnover in the domestic hockey family. Everything changes: managers, presidents, coaches. These vicissitudes cannot become a guarantee of the stability of almost any organization that is part of the KHL. As soon as fans and specialists begin to get used to building a certain team, the “development vector” immediately changes, or conflicts within the club hierarchy lead to the appearance of new people in the team who think completely in one direction. different.
Against the background of this chaos, the Severstal stable shone and declared itself in recent years. Stability means total confidence in the coach, the entire team tailored to his playing philosophy and minimal changes in the management of the steelworkers. Andrey Razin’s team, despite modest opportunities, had an aggressive, unique and bold style of play that made even the most inveterate critics and enemies of the franchise “respect” black and yellow. After five successful years at the helm of Severstal, Andrey Vladimirovich accepted a new challenge. He headed the club, the ambitions of which are quite suitable for him – Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
andrey kozyrev
Photo: Grigori Sokolov, photo.khl.ru
In such a responsible offseason, the Lynx management did not look for a head coach from the list of those who have already worked on half the teams in the league with very rare and dubious achievements. The choice fell on Andrey Kozyrev, the creator of the magnificent hockey Torpedo last season. The young specialist will now find himself in roughly the same habitat as his former teammate Igor Larionov. The demand for the Severstal head coach has never been exaggerated in recent years. For a team with a very low budget, getting into the playoffs will be considered an excellent result, and if it is also supported by an aesthetic component, then it will be simply brilliant. There is a clear understanding that Kozyrev has matured as a coach to prove himself in a more responsible and complex role than the main in the VHL or the assistant in the KHL.
The departure of Andrei Razin could not but cause the loss of one of the main players of the team. The club’s record was changed by Geraskin, who left for Avangard, and Press, who followed in Razin’s footsteps to Magnitogorsk.
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It was almost impossible to keep the press, since the management had no levers to control their fate in hockey, but the situation with Geraskin was somewhat different. Igor wasn’t 27 yet, so he spent this offseason as a restricted free agent. Many connected his fate with Razin and Magnitogorsk, who made an offer to the Cherepovites, but Severstal repeated it and traded his main center for the 17-year-old “diamond” Timur Mukhanov from Omsk. There is no doubt that it was Kozyrev who wanted to sign Mukhanov, who is a fan of the agile winger. Timur may make his Severstal debut next season.
Alexander Samonov
Photo: Alexander Korkka, photo.khl.ru
No less interesting was the fate of the team’s main goalkeeper, Alexander Samonov, who was followed in the offseason by a whole line of clubs that had problems with the position of the goalkeeper. Samonov’s stock rose strongly after an impressive playoff run, where the former Russia goalkeeper managed to pick up three wins in relegation games with future champions CSKA. “Metallurg”, “Salavat Yulaev”, “Tractor” – this was the list of teams that claimed Alexander. The management decided to send the goalkeeper to Ufa, accepting in exchange a potential league star Danil Aimurzin, who did not receive due attention in his native club and should be a worthy replacement for Igor Geraskin, who had risen. Now the central axis of the “steelworkers” looks like this: Aimurzin – Abrosimov – Guslistov – Ivantsov. An acceptable option, provided that the four do not stop in development. In any case, they will have a whole season under the direction of Kozyrev -perhaps the main specialist in the country at the moment in working with young people-.
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For some, the exchange of Samonov may seem wrong and unsuitable for the club, but the management solved the problem of the first cross in the person of Aimurzin. The guy has every chance to reveal his potential in the Kozyrev system, and if he reaches the level of the same Geraskin in the next few years, the club will receive a valuable asset, which it can then dispose of as he pleases. Konstantin Shostak returns from loan from Minsk to assist goalkeeper Dmitry Shugaev. Such a tandem is a good solution to the goalkeeper issue, especially in the face of a sharp drop in the level of goalkeepers in the league.
robin press
Photo: Alexander Korkka, photo.khl.ru
Probably Andrei Kozyrev’s main headache is the sordid situation with the defensive line. The departure of Press, Pylenkov and Khabarov was decided to compensate Barberio and Burenov, who devoted less than half of the last championship to Torpedo, and Timofey Davydov, who had not fully strengthened in the KHL. Of course, an uneven replacement for the leaders of the Cherepovets defense, but in market conditions Severstal did not find the worst options for strengthening. Defenders coach Vadim Khomitsky will have to work hard to mold players from his charges who can provide maximum assistance to their goalkeepers.
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Also in summer, the club lost its captain. Egor Morozov, who became an unrestricted free agent for the first time, moves to the capital, where he will help Alexei Kudashov restore Dynamo to his former greatness. There are probably no people among Severstal fans who would accuse Yegor of not wanting to fight for the club. Throughout the many years he has spent with the team, he has grown as a player. His desire to move the club to a higher status is quite understandable. Most likely, the local student Daniil Vovchenko will become the new leader and leader of the team in the locker room. At 27, he is about to take on the unlimited burden of leadership at his home club. A very beautiful and correct story, don’t you think?
Severstal rounded out their off-season selection by 90 per cent with two great and accurate gains in attack. In exchange for monetary compensation from Khanty-Mansiysk to Cherepovets, one of the best strikers of the KHL last season, Egor Stepanov, moves. A highly talented hockey player, who for some reason was not trusted in his native Chelyabinsk. Kozyrev made another player available to him who can thunder throughout the league since September. Another successful exchange for the “lynxes” was the transfer of Alexander Skorenov. Dynamo players gave it to their conference rivals in exchange for monetary compensation. It is still not clear what made Alexei Kudashov part with the diligent striker of the second or third link after his first successful season in the league – 30 games, 18 (9 + 9) points. The extension of the agreements with Petunin, Abrosimov and Pilipenko can also be considered an absolute success. The three of them should become the strike force of Kozyrev’s team.
Alejandro Petunin
Photo: Alexander Korkka, photo.khl.ru
The planned course of the Cherepovites to rejuvenate the team with the choice of a head coach from a new cohort of coaches, of course, pleases. People are not afraid to entrust the club to a specialist with a radically different view of the game. It would be wrong to say that in the new season Severstal will surely expect the success of last season. But it is safe to assume that after the departure of the coach, with whom the previous five-year plan was directly associated, the Cherepovets will not turn gray, but, on the contrary, will reincarnate, add new colors to their style of play and force hockey denizens to look at the original team from a slightly different angle.
