Russia's new coach: Oleg Znarok [not officially confirmed]

[Caser]

Well, you said "Žoltoks has always been Žoltoks." when in fact he hasn't, I just pointed that out.

By the way, at 1992 WJC he was spelled as 'Joltok' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VyXZuJsca_U#t=350), which looked somewhat funny to me

 

[RobertR]

Little bit of offtiopic here, but if we talking about the names.

Watching Latvia-Canada with CBC feed, and guess what I heard. Džordžī Pūdžaks. Took my 1 sec to understand who that was.

 

[XokkeyGuy]

Is there any chance that Bykov can take over the team again? An honest and neutral answer please, not one saying that he "shouldn´t - because olympics bla bla".

 

[SoundAndFury]

Is there any chance that Bykov can take over the team again? An honest and neutral answer please, not one saying that he "shouldn´t - because olympics bla bla".

It's not that he shouldn't it's more like he won't because olympics bla bla. I can't see how RHF would turn back to him. Furthermore, Zakharkin is coaching hard in Poland at the moment

 

[Caser]

Is there any chance that Bykov can take over the team again? An honest and neutral answer please, not one saying that he "shouldn´t - because olympics bla bla".

Yes, there is a chance and it is not that small, I believe if Znarok will turn down the offer, then Bykov could be the next option.

But sorry, I can't be totally neutral here - not because the olympics, but rather of 2011 pondus world championship

 

[Mestaruus]

Never thought I'd see the day when Russians hire a foreigner as their coach. If they want discipline, which they seem to lack, they could've also considered a Finnish coach.

 

[illpucks]

Team Russia with a Good Canadian Coach

How would they do? The coaching seems to be their biggest problem.

If Ted Nolan (Canadian) can coach Latvia, it could surely work for Russia, no?

I'm sure if it was a well-respected coach like Joel Quenneville or Ken Hitchcock, the Russians and fans would embrace it.

Language barrier maybe, but use translators, and most players can speak decent English.

 

[od71]

Don't forget, it took years for Znarok to build a champion team. He is not recipe for immeduate success. Why not think about other candidates, for example Kvartalnov

 

[XokkeyGuy]

How would they do? The coaching seems to be their biggest problem.

If Ted Nolan (Canadian) can coach Latvia, it could surely work for Russia, no?

I'm sure if it was a well-respected coach like Joel Quenneville or Ken Hitchcock, the Russians and fans would embrace it.

Language barrier maybe, but use translators, and most players can speak decent English.

If he would fail - the criticism would be 500 times worse than if he would be russian. Nationalism is at its peak in Russia at the moment - even selecting a non-russian would be hard to melt for most of the fans, im afraid.

 

[Sam Spade]

Doesn't matter who coaches the team, they will lose and it will be a Ovechkins fault. Even if he doesn't play.

 

[XokkeyGuy]

Bilyaletdinov says he wants to stay, though the Ice Hockey Federation have not given their speech on this yet.

Also, Tretiak says that no foreigner will coach the russian ice hockey national team
Source: http://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sporta...slav-Tretiyak-V-sbornoy-Rossii-ne-budet-inost

 

[tohaa]

Little bit of offtiopic here, but if we talking about the names.

Watching Latvia-Canada with CBC feed, and guess what I heard. Džordžī Pūdžaks. Took my 1 sec to understand who that was.

yeah that was rather irritating

 

[BlackAdam]

Bilyaletdinov says he wants to stay, though the Ice Hockey Federation have not given their speech on this yet.

Also, Tretiak says that no foreigner will coach the russian ice hockey national team
Source: http://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sporta...slav-Tretiyak-V-sbornoy-Rossii-ne-budet-inost

Their stubbornness and pride is what causes these constant fails. Refusing to learn from past mistakes and politics will doom the Russian hockey program. There is no shame hiring someone like Mike Keenan, who has NHL and KHL experience to coach their team. As long as the Russians hold these Draconian sentiments, they will never win.

 

[SashaSemin28]

Bilyaletdinov says he wants to stay, though the Ice Hockey Federation have not given their speech on this yet.

Also, Tretiak says that no foreigner will coach the russian ice hockey national team
Source: http://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sporta...slav-Tretiyak-V-sbornoy-Rossii-ne-budet-inost

Znarok was born in the Russian SFSR tbf

 

[zhenyas most fly rep]

Their stubbornness and pride is what causes these constant fails. Refusing to learn from past mistakes and politics will doom the Russian hockey program. There is no shame hiring someone like Mike Keenan, who has NHL and KHL experience to coach their team. As long as the Russians hold these Draconian sentiments, they will never win.

Couldn't agree more although I kind of see why they wouldn't want to hire an american coach (even if for some stupid reasons), but they could at least give a chance to a european native. I heard about this Finland nation, which just happen to beat them, has some pretty renowned ones.

Weirdest thing is that their soccer federation didn't have much problem giving a famous italian coach (Capello) a king's ransom to manage their team.(and Hiddink before that)
Maybe russian posters have an explanation but I don't get why the hockey federation would have so much issue doing something the soccer federation has been doing for some time now.

 

[BlackAdam]

Russian coaching is only one part of the problem. The whole hockey program itself needs a reform. Russia needs to revaluate how they develop players. They need to start developing legitimate defenseman. You look at the final four and all 4 teams have great talent on the blue line. Russia's lack of defense is what caused them to play the trap against teams like USA and Finland which deeply affected the play of Ovechkin and Malkin.

Anton Belov would not be selected on any of the final four. Olympic hockey has evolved a long way since 1992. The Russians can't rely on outscoring the opposition with their fire power. You now need top end talent on the blueline. The Russian early exit was an attest to their glaring weaknesses.

 

[Hanji]

Russian coaching is only one part of the problem. The whole hockey program itself needs a reform. Russia needs to revaluate how they develop players. They need to start developing legitimate defenseman. You look at the final four and all 4 teams have great talent on the blue line. Russia's lack of defense is what caused them to play the trap against teams like USA and Finland which deeply affected the play of Ovechkin and Malkin.

Anton Belov would not be selected on any of the final four. Olympic hockey has evolved a long way since 1992. The Russians can't rely on outscoring the opposition with their fire power. You now need top end talent on the blueline. The Russian early exit was an attest to their glaring weaknesses.

Bilyaletdinov would have implemented the same style even if Russia had skilled dmen. That's his style, always been. I agree with everything else you said though. The lack of skilled dmen certainly hurt the transition game.

 

[XokkeyGuy]

So will we get a change in our management or will bilya****dinov stay? Feels so unnecessary to keep him after these years.

 

[Reds4Life]

The Russians should just pay Hitchcock whatever he wants. He'd instill some D into their game.

 

[Yakushev72]

Bilyaletdinov would have implemented the same style even if Russia had skilled dmen. That's his style, always been. I agree with everything else you said though. The lack of skilled dmen certainly hurt the transition game.

The Russian system is not designed to produce quality defensemen. The few who are there are almost anecdotal and by accident. Its a definite flaw that will need to be corrected. The expanded number of junior players who are in the system may have an unplanned consequence of producing more good Dmen, but so far there are no concrete measures that have been put in effect to achieve it.

 

[octopi]

Honestly, does anyone actually think there is a Russian alive today that could coach the national team to success in a best on best tournament?

They were going to let Igor Larionov GM the team several years ago. He was going to bring in Scotty Bowman. They told him to shove it, so he said he wasnt going to GM anymore if they weren't going to let him pick the best coach.

 

[VladNYC*]

I'll tell you what. If Znarok is picked we won't hear the non stop *****ing on HFboards about why some unknown KHLer was picked over Semin again. Then again we would end up with a much better team with probably only 5 or so NHLers.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

The Russians should just pay Hitchcock whatever he wants. He'd instill some D into their game.

Bring back Tikonov and Igor Dimitriev!

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

It won't happen, as Tretiak has said, but a Mike Keenan with some KHL experience may be just what the doctor ordered for Russia.

 

[hammerwielder]

I'll tell you what. If Znarok is picked we won't hear the non stop *****ing on HFboards about why some unknown KHLer was picked over Semin again. Then again we would end up with a much better team with probably only 5 or so NHLers.

You're dreaming. If fringe players like Bochenski, Dawes, Boyd, Wilson, Wolski, Cheechoo, Heska, Lee, Quint and Robinson can go over to the KHL and be near the top of the scoring race, KHL players aren't going to get it done. When are the Russian hockey federation and Russian fans going to learn that?