The last season of Sibir became a clear example of the destruction of hopes. The Novosibirsk team approached the season with promises to play brilliant attacking hockey, for which Nemirovski was invited instead of Martemyanov, who really looked at life, Nikolai Prokhorkin was hired to play the role of leader, the foreign trio looked like one of the best in the league. This was accompanied by the long-awaited move to a new arena.
Everyone remembers how it ended: a mediocre game, the loss of Murphy for a long time, the exchange of Prokhorkin for next to nothing, the scandalous story with the Fourth Legionnaire and the inability to make the playoffs.
Changes in management
This could not go without consequences: “Siberia” described perestroika, and from the top. Kirill Fastovsky, who had worked at the Club since 2010, lost his post and Viktor Merkulov and Lev Krutokhvostov were invited to take his place. In truth, this decision was suggested long before, but Fastovsky’s authority did not allow him to get to the point. However, the events of January left no other choice.
Victor Merkulov
Photo: Sergey Babunov, photo.khl.ru
Changes in the technical team
Missing: Sergey Krivokrasov, Alexander Zavyalov, Alexander Syrovatsky.
Came: Vadim Epanchintsev, Yaroslav Lyzenkov, Andrey Sapozhnikov, Ignat Savenok, Vladislav Zankovets.
Was the fate of the interim coach decided at the end of the season? Yes, especially when a new leadership took over. Along with Krivokrasov, Zavyalov, who arrived during the last championship, and Syrovatsky left the team.
The search for a coach for Sibir was not without incidents either. It is worth recalling that Anvar Gatiyatulin was initially announced as the team’s coach, but external circumstances changed the situation. As a result, the choice fell on Vadim Epanchintsev, who last year worked in the VHL with Ugra. He will be assisted by Yaroslav Lyzenkov, who has already worked in Novosibirsk, and Andrei Sapozhnikov.
Details of the Gatiyatulin saga and “Siberia”:
Passion for Gatiyatulin. It seems that Ak Bars stole the head coach from Sibir
Lineup changes
Missing: Anton Khudobin, Ziyat Paigin, Maxim Marushev, Artyom Mikheev, Denis Alexandrov, Mikhail Nazarov.
Came: Fedor Gordeev, Egor Martynov, Valentin Pyanov, Dmitry Ovchinnikov, Sergey Shirokov, Maxim Karpov.
Novosibirsk’s off-season losses cannot be called fatal. Players who were frankly mediocre left the team, with the exception of Artyom Mikheev, who could safely be called the most stable player in Siberia last season. Nikita Shashkov’s fate also remains in limbo, but the likelihood of his continuing his career in Novosibirsk is almost zero. It’s a pity.
“If we look at last season through the prism, there were no people who could raise the flag and lead the team. It is difficult for me to analyse this story. I did not work here for the whole season, I came at the end, when there was only one friendly match left. In my opinion, there were not enough leaders. We are trying to complete this story. In our opinion, the team lacks a person who can unite the whole dressing room and lead the team,” Sibir general manager Viktor Merkulov said at a press conference in late May.
The Novosibirsk national team confirms these words. The club has signed four players who are already over 30 years old to gain experience. Martynov, Pyanov, Shirokov and Karpov should become 100% leaders. It is difficult to imagine them in any other role.
Sergei Shirokov
Photo: Ilya Smirnov, foto.khl.ru
There were also two returnees: Fedor “I am Russian” Gordeev and Dmitry Ovchinnikov, who spent last season on the Toronto farm.
Approximate composition
GoalkeepersKrasotkin – Kostin.
DefendersMorozov – Murphy Martynov – Alanov Akhiyarov – Efremov Gordeev, Lukin, Khamidullin, Zhukov.
ForwardShirokov – Bek – Karpov Butuzov – Andreoff – Ovchinnikov Belousov – Pyanov – Mikhalev Korotkov – I. Klimovich – Dubakin Reshetko, Gogolev, E. Klimovich, Yakovlev, Sushko.
With Sibir’s goalkeeping team, everything was clear from the start: Krasotkin, who made a breakthrough last season, would be number one, with Kostin as his backup.
Novosibirsk’s defence is still one of the youngest in the league. Last season this did not yield any results, but this season there is reason to believe that the experience gained will be of great help. In addition, the team was strengthened by Egor Martynov, who should help his young colleagues.
The Sibir attack looks quite ready for combat. That is, if the team’s new stars, Shirokov and Karpov, do not give up their positions. The same applies to Butuzov, who can become a victim of melancholy at any moment, and Belousov, who is an undisputed master, but sometimes loses stability at distance.
One cannot fail to mention the young shoots represented by Ovchinnikov, Mikhalev and the Klimovich brothers, from whom progress is expected in Novosibirsk. Here Vadim Epanchintsev has serious work ahead of him, as these are the trump cards up his sleeve that should not only be played in the long term, but also yield results here and now.
It is a bit strange to see how a team of Siberia’s level does not fully use the limit of five foreign players, but there is confidence that, subject to force majeure circumstances, the Novosibirsk team will continue to use this resource. It is unlikely that the management will leave a reserve in case a “secret” foreigner is discovered.
Siberia’s position on the new limit on foreign players:
Sibir GM: Of course, we are happy to increase the limit of foreign players
Perspectives
Let’s leave aside the hackneyed phrases of any team management like “we will fight for the top positions”. What does Siberia really claim to be?
Let us return to the thesis about experience, which gives us a clear answer: the result is needed right now, the people of Novosibirsk will not postpone anything anywhere. The selection as a whole allows us to count on this. But what is this result?
Naturally, access to the playoffs. Firstly, the new management needs to prove itself, and as an intermediate result, it is not bad at all. Secondly, it is difficult to see “Siberia” in the role of above. Here there is the factor of strengthening competitors and the lack of understanding of where the current path of development of the team will lead. A bet on experience can be more reliable than a bet on youth, but the other side of this coin can bring unpleasant surprises.
