Next reshuffle: Gagarin Cup finalist appoints new coach

The regular season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) has ended a week-long pause for the national teams' games in the framework of the Channel One Cup. At the end of this break, a number of clubs underwent coaching changes, which are an abnormal number this season. Moreover, for some reason, another series of such personnel decisions happened only at the end of the December break. For example, Traktor Chelyabinsk confirmed Evgeny Koreshkov, who also works at the headquarters of the Russian national team, as the head coach, while Admiral Vladivostok dismissed Leonid Tambiev, who was suspended from team management before the break.

The roots

Back in late November, Evgeny Koreshkov was appointed assistant coach of Traktor. At that moment, the Ural club found itself in a state of emergency after Benoit Groux unexpectedly left the team. The Canadian specialist has been working as the head coach since the summer of 2024 and achieved great success in his first season, leading Chelyabinsk to the Gagarin Cup finals.

This season, after a significant upgrade of the squad, has not been very successful for Traktor. He was confidently in the playoff zone, but no longer at the top of the Eastern Conference table, as a year ago. Nevertheless, the club's management had no desire to change the coach. Therefore, his personal decision to leave Russia, which was announced on November 17, surprised many. The Gru explained this by saying that he feels "extremely tired, both mentally and physically."

"It was quite unexpected when Benoit announced to us that he did not have the internal resources to continue working at Traktor," Ivan Savin, general director of the Chelyabinsk club, told Izvestia. — We expected him to fulfill his contract in full. Nevertheless, he made the decision to leave. We weren't ready for it, but now we're moving forward.

Rafael Richet, a 31-year-old Gru assistant, was appointed acting head coach, with whom the team won only two out of eight matches. Chelyabinsk remains in sixth place in the East, and the threat of relegation from the playoff zone does not look illusory: the gap from ninth place is only five points.

As a result, the club approved Koreshkov for this position, who had just returned from Novosibirsk, where he was at the Channel One Cup as Roman Rotenberg's assistant in the Russian national team. He entered Traktor's headquarters on November 21 under Richet.

"When I was invited to the Traktor coaching staff, I didn't think about the offer for a long time, because this is a very serious club that sets itself big goals," Koreshkov told Izvestia after the Channel One Cup. — It is difficult to say objectively about the state of the team and its problems, because I have been in it for a very short time. But I see her high potential. And I feel ready to work as a head coach if the club's management entrusts me with this post.

On Friday, the 55-year-old specialist will make his debut at the head of Traktor with a home match against Metallurg, where he spent the best years of his career as a player.

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Tambiev

The Latvian specialist worked at Admiral for just over four years and became one of the main centenarians as head coach of the KHL club in the 2020s. During this time, Tambiev proved himself to be one of the strongest specialists in the league, who achieved unprecedented success for Far Eastern hockey in very limited conditions.

Given the flight range and the short recovery time, for many years the very fact of the struggle for entry into the playoffs was considered a good result for Vladivostok Admiral and Khabarovsk Amur, and getting there was generally a success. Amur has achieved this only three times in its history and can repeat it in the current championship. Admiral, founded in 2013, had entered the Gagarin Cup three times before Tambiev, most recently in the 2016/17 season. Under Tambiev, there were two playoff appearances - in 2023 and 2025. And two years ago, the team reached the second round, becoming the first in the history of Far Eastern hockey to win the Gagarin Cup series.

The team had a lot of problems and unsuccessful streaks this season, but it actively fought to get into the playoffs and now retains its chances of getting there. Nevertheless, after losing the fourth match in a row on December 5, Admiral announced Tambiev's dismissal and temporarily appointed assistant Ilnur Gizatullin in his place. On December 16, Tambiev was finally fired from the club, but no permanent head coach was appointed in his place.

—Leonid did a great job at Admiral: two playoff appearances, one of which ended in the second round, speak for themselves," Vladimir Krikunov, the former head coach of the Russian national team, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — And this season, everything was not so bad for the team, since it is still only three points behind the playoff zone, having played one or two matches less than its competitors. Tambiev could well have led Admiral to the Gagarin Cup now, so his resignation is not very clear, especially given that the club, as practice shows, has not come up with a ready-made replacement.

Also in the coming days, according to Sport-Express, Dynamo Moscow may appoint Vyacheslav Kozlov, who has been acting since November, as head coach.