“AK bars” this season there were strong hockey players, but the Kazan team could not play as one team, there were similar examples in the past, the KHL president said in an interview with Alexei Morozov.
Bilyaletdinov, 69, has headed Ak Bars since 2004, with interruptions. Last season, the Kazan team reached the final of the Gagarin Cup, where they lost to CSKA with a score of 3-4. In the 2023/24 season, Ak Bars was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, losing the series to Avtomobilist (1-4). Earlier on Saturday it became known that Bilyaletdinov intends to leave the post of head coach of Ak Bars Kazan. was informed of this by a source close to the matter.
— As an Ak Bars legend, are you surprised by Kazan’s elimination in the first round?
— I understand how upset Tatarstan fans are. Everyone is asking the same question: “What happened to Ak Bars?”
But I don’t know it myself, I can only judge from the outside. There is the club management, the technical staff and the players themselves. They will explain everything to you more precisely. Of course, no one expected this before the season. Kazan was considered one of the favorites for the Gagarin Cup. But something went wrong.
The club management must draw conclusions. The team was very well endowed with strong hockey players. But we couldn’t play as a single team, which is what we need on the ice. And we remember such examples when many stars gathered in Kazan, but did not achieve results.
— Lockout season 2004/05.
“I think Ak Bars will draw conclusions and prepare differently for next season. Given that you remember 2005. But in 2006 Kazan became champion,” Morozov told .
Bilyaletdinov led Ak Bars to the Russian championship title (2006) and also won three Gagarin Cups with the club (2009, 2010, 2018).
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Source : MatchTV
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