Athletistic / Hockey Behind nearly a month since the start of the new season in the Kontinental Hockey League. During this time, a lot of interesting things happened in the championship. There are those who were pleasantly surprised, and there are those who completely missed the September segment. However, so far no coaching resignations have been registered in any team. However, as of today, there are at least four clubs where it can happen in the very near future. Under whom is the chair “shaky”? Who is most likely to be unemployed? About the main losers of the beginning of the season – in this article.

1. Oleg Leontiev (Neftekhimik)

The Nizhnekamsk team never had enough stars from the sky, but the start of this season turned out to be nothing short of disastrous for Neftekhimik. Oleg Leontiev’s side have lost all eight of their matches, seven of them in regular time. At present, Nizhnekamsk is the worst club in the KHL, having scored only one point.

The management of the Tatarstan team found the culprits – the contracts were terminated with goalkeeper Alexei Murygin and Slovak striker Samuel Buchek. And both were truly terrible – the former only played three games, posting a disastrous .809 shots-save percentage, and the latter didn’t score a single point in six games. But head coach Oleg Leontiev, according to club general director Igor Larionov (not to be confused with the “professor”), has enormous credibility.

Still, you don’t need to be a visionary to understand that if they lose in one or two matches in the future, Neftekhimik will most likely have to part ways with their head coach, if only to not look stupid in the eyes. eyes of his own fans. There is no doubt that today’s match against “Tractor” can be decisive for Oleg Leontiev.

2. Andrey Nazarov (Sochi)

The situation is exactly the same as in the “Neftekhimik”. The only difference is that the southerners only have one more point. One win and seven losses – this is the result of Andrey Nazarov’s team at this time. And, as a “bonus”, the penultimate place of the entire league in goals scored (13) is worse than for Kunlun (11). Absolutely natural last line in the West table.

Again, when it comes to the “Leopards”, no one ever has high hopes, but in any case, Sochi definitely did not plan such a start. Nazarov’s team is so bad that there are problems even with corny to impose at least some kind of struggle on opponents (except for the only victory over Barys) – all seven defeats were with a difference of two or more goals. And a very telling moment: Nazarov didn’t even order a fight in the last match against his favorite “sparring partner” “Vanguard” – no more time for fights now. True, on the eve of this match, KHL President Alexei Morozov expressed his displeasure with Nazarov’s boxing predilections, and the rejection of punches might be associated with it, but anyone who hasn’t criticized Nazarov for that lately, though…

As in Leontiev’s case, the league’s southernmost club’s next defeat could put Andrey Nazarov out of a job. And given, again, the KHL president’s criticism (but not for the hockey moments), it won’t be difficult for Sochi’s management to make that decision.

3. Anvar Gatiyatulin (tractor)

The most unfortunate departure of all the top teams in the KHL gave “Tractor”. Last season’s Eastern Conference runner-up picked up just three wins in its first nine games, and only one of those in regulation time, while all six losses were in regulation time. Right now, one of the traditional Gagarin Cup contenders (why not?) sits second to last in the Eastern Conference table.

Of course, Gatiyatulin’s authority in Chelyabinsk is quite high, but serious KHL clubs have never distinguished themselves with iron restraint, and if Traktor fails to rectify the situation in the very next matches, the club will at least give serious thought to Gatiyatulin’s resignation. Obviously, such a start to the season was not expected in the Urals team.

And the Chelyabinsk leadership, by the way, will have something to present to Gatiyatulin. The club retained Pulkkinen – given the Finns’ fundamental position in the KHL, this can be called a victory for “Tractor”. This also includes the signing of one of the leaders of the Minsk “Dynamo” defense last season – Sweden’s Adam Almqvist. One of the best strikers in the league, Anton Burdasov, has left SKA. We will not take into account the losses of legionnaires such as Ghika, Sedlak, Pilut, Will, Baylen, since absolutely all the clubs in the league have faced the exodus of foreigners this off-season. Especially because, I repeat, the management of “Tractor” has done a lot to compensate for these losses. And if the team continues to post unconvincing results, the Chelyabinsk bosses will have every reason to part ways with Gatiyatulin. And if the Urals lose in today’s game against Neftekhimik – the worst team in the KHL right now – then it can happen today.

4. Viktor Kozlov (“Salavat Yulaev”)

Perhaps the most unexpected number on this chart, but if you look closely, there are reasons for it. “Salavat Yulaev” – a club that annually sets itself the most serious tasks, and the start of the season turned out to be not at all impressive – only four wins in nine matches.

It is clear that a lot of things in Ufa’s game in recent seasons have been determined by the Finnish connection, but we have already discussed this point in the paragraph about Gatiyatulin – now there are practically no clubs left in the KHL who would not suffer from the mass exodus of legionnaires. Perhaps rookie Josh Ho-Sang’s injury is also affecting. However, there are doubts Salavat’s management will tolerate if the scrambled game continues.

Yes, we can say that the same Avangard is doing even worse, but in Omsk, after a series of defeats at the start, they made it clear that they trusted Ryabykin and were ready to endure, and in this moment the Hawks found their game and won three in a row, which greatly strengthened the position of their head coach. And whether Kozlov has such credibility is a big question. Especially because so far, unlike the “Vanguard”, no significant progress in the game “Salavat” is observed.

It is not excluded that the first resignation of coach this season in the KHL occurs where it is not expected at all. After all, resignations are not only sports results, but also relationships within the club, which are not always proportional to the number of points in the standings. The most recent example can be cited in football – the resignation of Sergei Yuran from Khimki. However, if we consider only sports performance, then it is the aforementioned specialists who should care more about their workplace than their colleagues at the moment.

Pavel Novikov, Athletistic