“Thank you, the car driver, who took me with him”: SKA lost the debut match under the leadership of Razin

At the post-match press conference, Andrei Vladimirovich looked surprisingly calm, collected and even ready for good humor, which is a rarity for the coach of the losing team. For one training session with the team and one rollout, I am pleased with the quality of the game. More time spent in the attack, more threw, the middle zone went well, there were positional attacks good. And in positional defense played well, the only thing was the loss in the middle zone and the loss of a neutral puck. But those are moments that can be worked on, the 52-year-old mentor said.

When asked about the six-game series of defeats of SKA, Razin philosophically replied: “Let there be a record series of defeats now, but then a record series of victories in the playoffs.” We're not looking at it now, the team has a little shake-up. At the coaching staff Larionov played one thing, now we are trying to play quite another. It’s a simple word, but today I liked the overall picture of the game.”.

As for the transition to the SKA, Andrei Vladimirovich told about it with his characteristic charisma and candor: “So I want to joke, but jokes aside.” Then they will write it as if it were true. As I received the invitation literally two days passed. The agent called late at night and said, “Will you go to SKA?” I said, "Of course I will." The next day the contract came and I signed it. The next day he was ready to leave, but everything rested on the termination of the contract with Metallurg. As soon as they gave the go-ahead, thank you to "Car Driver" for taking me here with you. I came with Yekaterinburg, and they won for it. Yes, still joking, the coach said with a smile, which caused a revival in the hall.

Speaking about the physical condition of the team, Razin was extremely honest: Today we both played in four fives and finished. I wish I had. I'm not saying that the team is in a deep hole - there is no such thing. But I would still like my legs to run better.” When asked about his methods of work: “they do not want to do it in the old way, they cannot do it in a new way,” he joked: “These are some revolutionary slogans.” It's a calm atmosphere, I haven't yelled or cursed for a long time. You think I've been throwing cans since the first defeat? Everything is calm, said about good things, about things that need to be worked on. One of them is that we did not get a single opponent’s removal when we had so much possession of the puck, but did not sharpen, did not climb on the heel. This component should be added.”.

If we talk about the game itself, then SKA did own the initiative for most of the match, but could not convert territorial advantage into goals. The only puck of the hosts was scored by Vladislav Semin in the middle of the second period, picking up a rebound from the side and a powerful throw equalizing the score - 1: 1. After that, the army continued to push the opponent, locking the opponent in his zone for a long time, but the quality of the final actions left much to be desired. In the 55th minute, Danil Glotov had a great chance to lead the team forward, but his throw fell into the bar, which was a fateful moment of the meeting.

But the decisive goal of “Automobilist” deserves special attention, because it turned out to be a real masterpiece. A minute and thirteen seconds before the final siren, 20-year-old forward of guests Maxim Tarasov, who spends only his second season in the KHL, beat Sergey Sapego with one hand at the side, fell to his knees and, shifting the puck under a comfortable hand, elegantly sent it under the crossbar of the goal. This miracle goal not only brought victory to the Yekaterinburgers, but also got infected on social networks, reaching even the editors of ESPN and caused delight of Mark Messier and P.K. Subban during the broadcast of the NHL match.

Razin commented on the episode with restraint: “The whole game worked well, there were moments, it was necessary to implement.” Ricochet is accidental — it happens.” Soon the army missed the third puck - Gorbunov struck an empty goal and set the final score in the game - 1: 3. Despite the defeat, the new helmsman from the Neva retained a positive attitude and faith in the team. “Tomorrow my assistants, Mikhalkevich and Vorobyov, will arrive. It's hard for the two of us on the bench, but it's lucky there wasn't a majority, just one minority, that made it easier. Of course, it’s hard to lead a team together. We managed, but my two assistants will arrive tomorrow, he said, confirming that work on the mistakes has already begun.

The first pancake for Andrei Razin in SKA turned out to be a lump, but judging by the mood of the new mentor of the army club, this is only a temporary difficulty on the way to big victories!

** *

Subscribe to the author's channel of sports columnist "MK-Sport" in MAX about the coldest game on earth!