Translated material
SKA - King. In the kingdom, it is wrong
The club from St. Petersburg for the first time in his history won the Gagarin Cup. The prospects for the development of the KHL did not clarify this
The SKA hockey club (St. Petersburg) was visiting the Kazan "Ak Bars" 6: 1. SKA won the final series in five mothers (4: 1) and first won the Gagarin Cup. So ended the seventh season of the continental hockey league. The competition created as the Russian alternative to the North American NHL, meanwhile, is losing the course: the number of clubs is reduced, leading hockey players still prefer to Russia the United States and Canada.
In the short history of the Gagarin Cup, this is just the second case, when the holder of the main trophy KHL wins it with such a completely obvious advantage. Both times, the Gagarin Cup with a score of 4: 1 won the same coach - Vyacheslav Bykov . He won his first trophy in 2011, being the head coach of the Ufa club Salavat Yulaev. Now Bykov was equal to this achievement with the mentor of Ak Barca Zinetula Bilyaletdinov , on the account of which there are also two Gagarin Cup won - though with the same club, all the same Ak Bars.
In truth, no one expected such an almost clear advantage of one finalist over another other than St. Petersburg fans. Ak Bars, under the leadership of the defender of the USSR, is considered a team that is almost perfectly building up the defense playing hockey, which reminds the style of the Czechoslovakia of the 70s of the last century, which is almost perfectly building a defense. In the final of this season , the seven -stimunal series with overtime, stubborn struggle in each match and not a very great advantage of one rival over another was supposed. So, in general, it turned out: in the starting match of the SKA finals, he won 4: 2, and the next games ended with the advantage of one of the rivals in one goal - 1: 0, 2: 1 and 3: 2, and in two meetings, the winning puck was thrown in the last minutes of the main time. But overtime, contrary to expectations, never happened.
Ak Bars had the advantage of its site in the final, and when SKA won the first two matches in Kazan, the intrigue actually disappeared. Few doubted that Ak Bars could not win the same and win twice in St. Petersburg. The Kazan, however, won the third meeting, then lost the fourth, and before the fifth game in Kazan, everyone was sure that the intrigue would be revived. And everyone was mistaken: the crushing in the fifth match in Kazan - 1: 6 - laid the limit of the hopes of the hosts. Thus, Ak Bars in the final series could not win any of the three home meetings! In hot pursuit, it seems that the Kazan "led" to the fact that their rivals for the first time in the history of the KHL won the series (semi -final against CSKA), yielding with a score of 0: 3. Perhaps the Bars were psychologically ready for the fact that after such feats the opponent considers the tasks for the season completed.
But SKA had another, it seems, the decisive factor - Ilya Kovalchuk . One of the few star players remaining in Russian hockey, he was bought in 2013, just taking into account the cup experience of the game in the NHL. Kovalchuk could not win the Stanley Cup, his “New Jersey” lost his “Los Angeles” in the 2012 finals. But a player with more than 10 years of experience in the NHL, as expected in SKA, was obliged to play an important role in the struggle for the Gagarin Cup. SKA in this struggle seemed an eternal loser, having never played in the final until this year. And now the Kovalchuk factor worked: in a decisive match, the 32-year-old veteran abandoned two goals and was eventually recognized as the most valuable player in the final series.
And, of course, noting the first success of SKA in the Gagarin Cup, it is necessary to note the club management. SKA in hockey has a reputation among Russia fans similar to the one that has Zenit in Russian football. Or, if you look for analogies in previous times, CSKA of the Soviet period. This is a club that has the support of the country's top leadership and therefore has some, relatively speaking, preferences. For about ten million dollars, Kovalchuk can hardly afford another KHL club. SKA President is Gennady Timchenko , and Roman Rotenberg , vice president, is far from the latest people in Russia, characters close to the president, so talking about SKA preferences look far from groundless. In addition, the KHL recently headed by Dmitry Chernyshenko, who is considered the "man Timchenko."
Let us pay attention to an almost anecdotal coincidence: this season, the champion of the country was determined according to the results of regular championship, Gagarin's Cup actually turned into a separate competition . The championship won CSKA, and although Gagarin's Cup is formally more “crucified” by the tournament, it is the Moscow club that has the right to consider itself the strongest in Russian hockey. The incident turned out: it was CSKA who lost SKA in the semifinals of the Gagarin Cup ...
The KHL was formed in 2008 with obvious ambitions to compose active competition of the North American hockey league. The financing of the KHL clubs is carried out in many respects due to large enterprises such as metallurgical plants or state corporations, Gazprom is the General Sponsor of the competition. Last season, it became clear that the global plans for expanding the geography of tournaments and increasing the number of clubs to 32 will have to be abandoned: after the Gagarin Cup “Lion” from Prague, the Zagrebsky club Medvezhchak, which was liquidated in 2014, would not be created by the NHL club in Milan, and the fate of the “Motorist” from Yekaterinburg and Yekaterinburg and Amur from Khabarovsk, unclear the future of Slovan from Bratislava and previously announced the bankruptcy of the Moscow Spartak. In the 2015-1016 season, 24 clubs will take part in the open championship of Russia (before their number reached 28). On the prospect of the KHL of the crisis period in an interview with Radio, Liberty is thought by the Moscow sports observer Sergey Mikulik:
-The signs of the KHL crisis appeared last year, when the Leo team successfully performed in the final of the Gagarin Cup, then the fate of the final against Metallurg was decided only in the 7th match. After that, according to all the canons of the market hockey economy, the Leo was supposed to choose the best from good sponsors, and the best of them. Instead, the team was counted, because Gazprom, which sponsored, as you know, many clubs, primarily the St. Petersburg SKA (and SKA achieved nothing last year), decided to remove the money from the table. It turns out that they say that we feed foreigners who almost become champions instead. I think this is the most eloquent example of why the NHL from the KHL will never work.
- The NHL exists perfectly without gratuitous support from American corporations - clubs are self -financing, self -sufficient and quite prosperous economic enterprises. Why does this scheme not work in Russia?
NHL is a league of income, and the KHL is a cost league
-The KHL was conceived like tracing paper with a NHL, but the economy in two countries works differently. The ideal scheme was dreamed of introducing Vyacheslav Fetisov, still being the Minister of Sports of Russia, because he knows about the laws of the functioning of a professional hockey league from his experience. The idea itself was wonderful - so that, as he said, the money did not go between the teams, so that the transfers were just exchanges. The best manager, according to such a scheme, is one who "seals" not from the position of money, but on issues of sportsmanship and acquisition of clubs. But when we had the first transfer, such a scheme was displayed: one team lined the right to another team of hockey player X in exchange for monetary compensation Z. Moreover, the player was not formally purchased, but exchanged. And now, I think that from this our league went along the crooked path ...
- Do you think that in Russia there cannot be a high -level commercial hockey?
- Alas, it cannot. This year they talked a lot about the take -off of CSKA - but this is also a process from the point of view of the hockey economy is artificial. The club plays in the barn, which for some reason is called the Sports Palace of 5,000 capacity. Well, what can be the self-sufficiency of the team with such a huge budget, if for any home match it cannot even theoretically sell more than 4-5 thousand tickets?!
- Can we say that the KHL is “blown away” further? 24 clubs will be declared the next season. The club from Croatia disappeared about the plans for the creation of the Italian team. There are several Russian clubs on the verge of bankruptcy, in particular, the Yekaterinburg “Motorist”, they say about the distress of “Amur” ...
- Yes, and I think about the reasons. Maybe this is some kind of inability to manage? When different currencies in relation to the ruble began to jump last fall, one Canadian journalist interviewed one Canadian from the "motorist". The conversation was about how he was living and whether he wants to return to his homeland. When recalculating, his contract was initially confident to care for 1 million dollars, and after the fall of the ruble, the ruble remained in the region of a million. And he said: guys, this is already awesome money! This hockey player was 9th in terms of effectiveness in a very middle team, which eventually did not get into the playoffs, and he spent the whole season at this average level. Moreover, this is a Canadian, whose surname is only known to his entrance and rink neighbors, he did not stand next to the NHL players. Well, where is he still such money for such a game?
NHL is a league of income, and the KHL is a cost of expenses. In the Yekaterinburg "motorist" there is not any more, but almost the best, according to many experts, League General Manager Leonid Weissel. This is a person who knows a lot about the ratio of price and quality. An example that I brought is far from isolated - this is not the problem of the "motorist", but the problem of the KHL. Well, how in Russia to repel such money without sponsors? How?
- In the late 70s, Super Series were popular, Soviet clubs - CSKA, “Wings of Soviets”, “Spartak” - went to the NHL and met there with local clubs. As a rule, Soviet teams lost these series out of eight matches, but fought as a whole worthy struggle. If we assume that now the leading Russian clubs - say, "Ak Bars", SKA, CSKA - will go to the NHL, how could their "super -series" could end?
- I believe that our club, unfortunately, does not shine there good, especially at a long distance. If you catch the moment when they are in the NHL in the worst form, and we are the best in the KHL, the chances will appear. But if you hold competitions as before - it was on the eve of the New Year and within winter - I am sure that our clubs have no serious chances. In the NHL, the players are individually stronger. The Croatian team "Medvezhchak", which spent two good seasons in the KHL, was remembered by the fact that it was formed by either Canadians who did not go to the NHL or Canadians who have long been played in the NHL. And they worthy of showing themselves in the KHL. This, I emphasize, is not the average level of the NHL, but the average level of those who did not come to the NHL-and such a team with us is able to fight for getting into the playoffs.
- The number of KHL clubs is reduced, financial injections are drying out. Does this mean that many foreign players will leave Russia?
It was argued: "It was Bykov who trampled our dream - stopped winning the world championships"
- If they are ready to pay comparable money or even slightly smaller (taking into account these crisis jumps of the ruble) in their Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, then - yes. But so far, it seems to me that such a trend is not observed. This once again confirms that there is especially no one to go from here in the NHL. For example, Czech Roman Chervenka, who now became a champion in SKA, he left, tried himself in the NHL, was not remembered by anything, he realized that it was better to play, fight more often, and the money smaller and taxes bite. He was happy to return to Russia.
-And yet: what do you like the commands-if you like something-which make up the pride of the KHL: CSKA, SKA, AK BARS?
- When Zinetula Bilyaletdinov failed at the Olympics with the national team, he, perhaps, could not want it, rehabilitated the former coach of the national team Vyacheslav Bykov, with respect to whom, after the defeat of his team at the world championships, an unspoken ban on the KHL actually acted. It was affirmed: "It was Bykov who trampled our dream - stopped winning the world championships." It turned out in Sochi: our national team coaches are earthly people and, perhaps, for everyday use are very suitable, so it was no coincidence that they converged in the final of the bulls from SKA and Bilyaletdin from Ak Bars. It is no accident, probably, the coach of CSKA Dmitry Kvartalnov grew up in the coaches of the top-level. I really liked, if we talk about the finale that the chipachev - Panarin - Dodonov created in extreme conditions in SKA, it turns out, can be a three for the national team. Perhaps this was the first playoffs, where the legionnaires are far from the first roles. Basically, Russian players turned out to be in sight, many of them were representatives of a rather young wave. I think this inspires some optimism - especially if we are now throwing the bridge to the World Cup, ”said sports observer Sergei Mikulik.
The World Hockey Championship this year takes place in the Czech Republic and starts after 10 days. The Russian team is trained by Russian-Latvian-German specialist Oleg Znarok. The team drawn up by him-without players who participated in the final phase of the playoffs, and without representatives of the NHL-in preparatory matches did not look too convincing, losing more often than winning.