Boost retirement: KHL fired three head coaches in a week

A series of high-profile resignations occurred in the KHL. On Monday, November 17, three coaches of top clubs were out of work at once. The two main ones are Alexei Kudashov, who was fired from Dynamo Moscow, and Benoit Gru, who, according to the official version, left his post at Traktor himself. At Lokomotiv, they refused the services of Dmitry Ryabykin, Bob Hartley's longtime assistant, who was responsible for most of the work. A few days earlier, Vyacheslav Butsaev's ordeal in Siberia had ended. Thus, in less than a week, the head coaches changed in three clubs at once.

Hacking from the shoulder

It is difficult to find a common vector between these resignations: everyone has managed to accumulate arguments against themselves. Only the story of the Gru, who voluntarily left Tankograd, gets out. On the other hand, no one will leave a top club at the height of the season if the situation doesn't suit them. Some players got tired of the Canadian's harsh orders last year. In the playoffs, he released the team in time, and charged with the thought of the Traktor Cup, he reached the finals. In the new season, Gru faced various problems: the departure of the main star overseas, a mistake in choosing the main goalkeeper, disagreements with the players and a general decline. And the Canadian couldn't stand it.

"I have decided to resign as head coach of Traktor," the club's press service quoted Gru as saying. — Lately, I no longer see myself as the person who should lead the team. I feel extremely tired, both mentally and physically. Over time, this became a problem for me.

In the rest of the stories, the impatience of the leadership worked. In previous seasons, it seemed that the clubs were moving away from impulsive decisions: there were fewer early dismissals. This season has reversed the trend. By mid-November, five teams had already changed their head coaches, and Sibir had done it twice. So far, the post has been handed over to Yaroslav Luzenkov, but he has already accumulated two defeats in a row, and a third castling cannot be ruled out for the regular season. We keep Amur in mind: Alexander Galchenyuk is officially on sick leave, and Alexander Andrievsky continues to lead the team.

When the KHL switched to a long 68-match regular season, the coaches complained about the lack of experience in preparing for such a marathon. The management met us halfway and gave us time to correct mistakes. Earlier, when the coronavirus took over the world, the number of resignations decreased due to the chaotic nature of the lineups: some of the players were in the covid protocol, they were urgently replaced by young people and guys from farm clubs. There was no time for coach changes in such a mess. Now that the teams have settled into the extended calendar, the leaders have returned to their former harsh regime and are ready to cut from the shoulder.

"I came to Severstal like I was in first grade, listening to the coach with my mouth open."

Nikita Kamalov, a hockey player from the Cherepovets club, talks about his impressions of joining the team, the results of this KHL season and the chances of reaching the second round of the playoffs.

High degree

Frequent dismissals raise the issue of managerial responsibility. Butsaev's arrival in Siberia looked like a mistake from the very moment his name appeared on the list of candidates. Sochi didn't shine with foresight either, bringing back 75-year-old Vladimir Krikunov. The most experienced coach is simply not ready for the current realities. The story looks even more strange when you remember that in the summer the club fired the newly appointed Vyacheslav Kozlov. And now he has replaced Kudashov at Dynamo.

— According to my information, no one has really explained why Kudashov is obliged to leave the team, — says Alexey Shevchenko, hockey columnist for Sport-Express. — Some crazy arguments are coming up. Something like "no bright game" or "bad minority". There were rumors about some kind of loud conversation with CEO Sergey Sushko, during which it was not possible to find a common language. But again, it's the same in all clubs. And now that the surprise has passed, I understand perfectly well that sooner or later such a big scandal was bound to happen. Because at Dynamo, the coach never felt at ease. I have never seen such a huge number of bosses and people who are not responsible for anything at all.

The ability to wait and believe in the people they appointed remains a rare quality of managers. Vadim Epanchintsev, whom they themselves invited a year ago, literally survived in Siberia. Amur unjustifiably believed in Galchenyuk, but two months later he disappeared from the store, and an assistant took his place. The main thing in these stories is poor timing: with the exception of Siberia, where Butsaev should not have been appointed, and Sochi, where Krikunov should not have been invited. Managers demonstrate low qualifications and a habit of shifting the blame to others. Apart from Sergey Gomolyako at Lada, no one has lost their positions.

The epidemic of resignations hit the KHL suddenly. After an abnormal summer, the regular season continues to keep a high degree of events. Coach changes did not seem logical in all teams. It would have been much clearer to reshuffle Ak Bars at the start of the season or SKA, which Igor Larionov turned into an overpaid version of Torpedo. But Dynamo and Traktor, the clubs that played in the semifinals in the last playoffs, took off. Now they have to look for new coaches. As long as the managers don't keep going through the old deck of specialists, otherwise the circle will continue.