It is necessary to elevate Russian coaches and give them a chance in the KHL teams, and not invite foreign specialists, the two-time Olympic champion told . Alexander Kozhevnikov .
Monday “Tractor” announced the appointment of Benoit Groux as head coach; the contract with the 56-year-old Canadian specialist is valid for two seasons. In his position, he replaced the Russian Alexei Zavarukhin.
— For Traktor fans, the end of the season with Zavarukhin is a success, but apparently not for the club management. I am not in favor of inviting foreign coaches. There are enough undervalued and unemployed Russian coaches at the moment. The important thing is not the Traktor coach, but the decisions of the club managers regarding the squad. Why didn’t they find a second normal goalkeeper? You have to understand that the playoffs and finals are not won with just one goalie. This is the problem. We must put an end to this nonsense when the coach is responsible for everything. Traktor has a team playing. If Fucale hadn’t broken down, they would have reached the final. So let’s not train our own coaches, but train foreigners.
We must give Russian specialists a chance. We have 3-4 good coaches who have been unemployed for a year. For example, in the NHL: the team did not have a coach, another team takes him immediately, and there are many suitors for him. You don’t need to look at someone else’s garden, you need to cultivate your own gardens,” Kozhevnikov told .
The Chelyabinsk club lost to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the semi-finals of the KHL playoffs with a score of 0-4.
Groux won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) three times as head coach of the Gatineau Olympics. From 2016 to 2023, he managed the Tampa Bay Lightning farm club in the American Hockey League (AHL) – the Syracuse Crunch. In 2015, he led the Canadian youth team to victory at the World Championship, defeating Russia 5:4 in the final match.
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