Among the Russian hockey community, it is fashionable to single out Torpedo and Severstal from the KHL clubs — teams that are not in the top category and do not have a large budget to invite superstars on rich contracts, but break all the molds of domestic hockey and attract even a neutral viewer with their bright and a daring game. And absolutely deserved. The third on this honorable list should be Spartak. If you just want to enjoy hockey, just turn on the “red-white” matches. Any hockey observer will give you this advice.
Since the new season, the team has been coached by Alexey Zhamnov. He is helped by Alexey Kovalev, Igor Ulanov, Evgeny Perov and Andrey Kuteikin, as well as Sergey Klimkovich, Leonid Dmitrichenko, Alexander Solovyov and Roman Barinov. In fact, Zhamnov made his debut as the head coach of a KHL club, but with a caveat — in the 2018/19 season he was the acting coach of the “red-whites” when he replaced Vadim Epanchintsev. To fully understand the picture, let's turn the dial hands back many turns.
Since the mid-2000s, Alexey Zhamnov has been completely immersed in managerial activities. In 2018, Oleg Znarok, who headed the Russian national team, attracted a specialist to coaching, and subsequently Alexey Yuryevich was repeatedly involved as an assistant helmsman of the country’s main hockey team — not only for Znarok, but also for Ilya Vorobyov. At the end of 2021, Zhamnov reached the rank of head coach of the Russian national team and took it to the Olympics in Beijing, where he won silver medals. The specialist officially worked in this position until the end of spring 2023, until his contract with the FHR expired. By that time, Alexey Yuryevich had already hinted that he was considering the opportunity to head the KHL club (and rumors — and rightly so, as it turned out — he was sent to Spartak). Although on the sidelines of journalists there was often talk that Zhamnov was not particularly drawn to such work: they say, managerial work is much closer to him.
Perhaps the specialist has been accumulating the necessary experience all this time and delving into the intricacies of coaching. Or maybe he was looking within himself for a sincere desire to pass the test in this role, watching Spartak’s home games from the VIP stand. Before the start of the season, I asked the coach about this, but did not receive a straight answer. In any case, it doesn’t matter now, because Alexey Yuryevich looks confident and even successful as the coach of the “red-whites”. Zhamnovsky’s “Spartak” impressed during the pre-season training camp and at the very start of the championship, but at that time I didn’t want to draw any conclusions — it seemed too early. After the first month of the KHL season, it is possible to form some opinion about the team’s performance. Moreover, at the end of September, Spartak became the most productive team in the league: in 13 matches, the Muscovites scored 45 goals. In close proximity are only the capital's Dynamo (43 goals in 12 matches) and Nizhny Novgorod's Torpedo (41 goals in 12 matches).
The main discovery was the amazing link of the “red-whites” Pavel Poryadin — Ivan Morozov — Nikolai Goldobin. By most accounts, this trio is one of the best in the entire league, if not the best. Simple numbers: Poryadin and Goldobin scored 13 (5+8) and 17 (9+8) points, respectively, in 13 matches played, Morozov — 12 points (3+9) in 11 games. Goldobin single-handedly leads the sniper race of the KHL season. But these players only recently joined Spartak, but from the very first matches for the new club they so successfully integrated into the team and adapted. It is impossible not to notice the progress of the “red-white” student Maxim Tsyplakov, who brings a lot of benefits both with his play and performance (4+6), and with him Shane Prince and Andrei Loktionov.
The factor of the new team is, in principle, applicable to the entire Spartak. Quite a lot of players joined the team, and coupled with the updated coaching staff, one can only marvel at how quickly Zhamnov and his staff built such an impressive gang and instilled in it bright, attacking and, most importantly, intelligent hockey. Firstly, this can be seen from the way the “red-whites” deal with their opponents. Although Alexey Zhamnov claims at press conferences that the team is trying to play, as they say, on its own, it is clearly visible how Spartak presses on the opponents’ pain points. Secondly, if hockey doesn’t go well in one period or specific episode, then, albeit not always, but quite often Muscovites find a way to readjust, listen to the coaches’ instructions and quickly correct their own mistakes. This is an indicator of mutual understanding between the players and their mentors.
In addition, it is worth noting the atmosphere within the team. Many players (including Spartak newcomers) with whom I had the opportunity to communicate note that they managed to become, if not friends, then good friends. You can feel it in the team's locker room after matches — even after lost matches. There was some tension earlier. Whether it’s a coincidence or not is not so important.
And again let us remember the period of Alexey Zhamnov’s work in the Russian national team. It turned out to be quite short: this was influenced by both the coronavirus pandemic and the current geopolitical situation. Therefore, we have to judge only by the 2022 Olympics — with all due respect to the Channel One Cup, but the national team spent those two Moscow stages in training mode in order to test certain players. The Russians' game in Beijing left behind a dismal impression. Many expressed dissatisfaction with her, and against the backdrop of unjustified expectations of winning Olympic gold, those feelings only intensified.
But it seems to me that the public is wrong to turn a blind eye to the conditions in which Russian athletes lived in China. And it was many times more difficult for them than for journalists. Problems with food, endless tests for coronavirus 2-3 times a day, fear and nervousness from the possibility of getting a positive result for covid — all this could not but affect the athletes’ performances. How can you concentrate on training and games when there are many factors beyond your control that distract you from this? No, this is not an excuse, but this fact also cannot be ignored. Even CSKA coach Sergei Fedorov, who helped Zhamnov in the national team, recalled in an interview with Sport in May 2022:
«»For this reason, our team was never able to hold the required number of friendly matches to spin the flywheel, to use the sledgehammer that was characteristic of us during the Channel One Cup. Then the guys felt great, adopted the tactics, had a great Eurotour stage. Unfortunately, in Due to Covid restrictions, we were not able to achieve this 100% during the Olympic Games. This is one of the difficulties that we faced, but it was very significant. Real madness, what can I say. Nothing to do with either the Olympics or hockey, nor with human health in Beijing.»
At Spartak, Zhamnov and his current staff do not have any such problems, and time shows that he is capable of building a bright and interesting game. Although it cannot be called ideal, which the head coach of the “red-whites” regularly notes in his statements. First of all, this concerns defense. Muscovites score a lot, but also concede a lot (40). Barys had the same number; only Neftekhimik (45) and Vityaz and Severstal (41) conceded even more. In this component, “Spartak” has not been successful before, and now, when the team seriously intends not only to break into the playoffs, but also to make some noise in the Gagarin Cup, this problem needs to be solved as soon as possible. The saying “We will score as much as we want, and they will score as much as they can” does not find relevance here.