Ak Bars became the first finalist of the Gagarin Cup- 2023. In the main battle of the Eastern Conference, Kazan ate Avangard Omsk with the same appetite as echpochmak with elesh. won the title of the main confrontation of the entire playoff draw. In addition to the fact that the relationship between Kazan and Omsk already has a rich history, their current battle has become a kind of paradox.
On the one hand, Avangard looked more promising, more varied, fresher and more active on paper. Omsk had all the prerequisites to dictate to the opponent their terms of play. And the most interesting thing is that the “hawks” did just that, albeit only from time to time.
On the other hand, “Ak Bars” seemed to be glad to get involved in the opponent’s undertakings and showed that he owns everything for this the necessary resources. Omsk in this game of a transfer fool did not have enough suitable cards to again act from a position of strength. The four suits of this deck are character, realization of experience, composure and coaching thought.
Formally, Avangard himself gave Ak Bars a ticket to the Gagarin Cup final. The team with one of the most powerful (if not the most powerful) and creative attacks of the current playoffs, which tore opponents in the previous stages of the tournament, for some reason began to act cautiously and patiently in the most important series of the conference. When the leaders of Omsk Vladimir Tkachev, Sergey Tolchinsky, Korban Knight and Reed Bush turned on the usual speed, “Ak Bars” frankly could not keep up with them. But for some reason, the attackers of the “hawks” used their strengths only sporadically, after which they abruptly went into the shadows, giving the opponent a chance to show themselves. Instead of strangling the opponent to victory, “Vanguard” over and over again allowed Kazan to make a powerful and deep breath. With the exception of the first match of the series, all four other meetings took place in this form. Even the second game of the confrontation, in which the Omsk team won (3:2), the team of Mikhail Kravets could have missed a comfortable advantage in the score 3:0.
If you look at the situation from this perspective, then the coaches come to the fore. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov showed his colleague from Avangard a master class on how to get the most out of the product at your disposal. Like Kravets, Zinetula Khaidyarovich received his team disassembled. Moreover, Bilyaletdinov's situation was more complicated: if the backbone of Avangard of the model of recent years has been preserved, then significant personnel changes have taken place in Ak Bars. This did not prevent the 68-year-old specialist from creating a team in a short time, leading it to the leaders of the East and reaching the final of the Gagarin Cup.
“I keep telling you and repeating: only all together! , and think with your head… If you do what you are told… Consciously, with understanding, with crazy dedication, then everything will be fine. Bilyaletdinov addressed the players in the locker room after defeating Avangard in the fourth match of the series.
Indeed, in “Ak Bars” each player pulled everything out of himself, each showed himself at his best. Therefore, we saw the heroic goals of Dmitry Yudin and Kirill Adamchuk, as well as the most important, decisive goals of Vadim Shipachyov, who seemed to be hiding in the shadows for the entire series. Even if he was hiding, he came out of it at the most necessary moment and did his job.
By words and deeds, Bilyaletdinov, among other things, dispelled the myth about the advantage of teams that approach the new series, having more in reserve days off. In modern hockey, talking about fatigue after long streaks and long flights from city to city is meaningless. For this, «physics» is laid at the pre-season training camp, for this, all the necessary specialists work at the club headquarters.
Remember, «Ak Bars» was called the favorites in absentia even before the start of the season? The entry into the final of the Gagarin Cup is a confirmation of those forecasts, albeit not quite in the form as originally intended.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.