Avangard unpleasantly surprises fans at the start of the regular season of the Continental Hockey League.
The team lost in all five matches, scoring only one point, and currently closes the Eastern Conference standings with Neftekhimik.
In the last meeting, the Omsk team lost to Sibir in shootouts - 2:3.
This is not at all the start of the season that fans expected from the winner of the Gagarin Cup in 2021.
Yes, the end of the playoffs in the spring turned out to be blurry, but there were objective reasons for that - the legionnaires left the team and holes appeared in the defense, which were never patched up during the tournament.
“Of course, somewhere there were not enough Finnish guys.
We were left with four defenders, and in some moments there was no strength on the back line.
Somewhere the attackers played incorrectly - they did not help the defense.
Many factors can be added up and understand why we lost,” striker Arseniy Gritsyuk recalled the last matches in an interview with RT.
And the main blow was the departure of mentor Bob Hartley, who for four years not only built the game of the first team, but also actively participated in the work of the entire club.
However, the Canadian left the door ajar to return to Russia.
“I'm not announcing I'm retiring, hockey is in my blood.
If the match in Magnitogorsk was the last, I will accept it.
If there are options, I will consider, but now I want to take a short break, ”Bob said at his farewell press conference.
However, even then it became clear: for Avangard, with the departure of the Canadian, a new era begins.
Instead of Hartley, his assistant Dmitry Ryabykin was appointed to the post of head coach.
At the same time, an additional burden of responsibility fell on an inexperienced specialist: in the starting championship, you simply cannot lose face.
Still, the team is finally returning home from Mytishchi to a brand new arena, where they will play the first match on October 1.
In the off-season, Omsk residents tried to solve personnel problems as much as possible.
Especially well managed to strengthen in the attack.
Important for the team was the return of forwards Reed Boucher and Vladimir Tkachev.
American Alex Broadhurst also signed an agreement with the club.
On the defensive side, Avangard signed Slovak defenseman Kristian Jarosh, who had a bad season in New Jersey, with Dynamo Moscow's Anton Belov and Admiral's Fedor Belyakov.
Only the goalkeeper's line looked problematic, where the first number was 34-year-old Stanislav Galimov, who replaced the Czech Shimon Grubets.
But they are also actively looking for a foreign goalkeeper for this position.
Given all of the above, it would seem that Avangard should traditionally be among the leaders of the Eastern Conference, and not at the very bottom with a ratio of goals scored and conceded goals of 10 to 20.
However, there are quite objective reasons for the unsuccessful start.
The home stadium of the Omsk team is just preparing to receive fans: the last cosmetic work is being carried out, test events should take place.
As a result, Avangard's first home game will take place only in October, and the team's away streak is 12 matches due to the density of the calendar.
Over the past 11 days, hockey players have visited Podolsk, Minsk, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.
The interval between meetings is one to two days.
This means that the coaching staff, which is not yet the most experienced, does not have much time to analyze mistakes and correct the actions of athletes.
Only in Kazakhstan will there be two paired matches with Barys, where Ryabykin's wards will finally be able to unpack their bags for at least a couple of days.
Another equally important factor is rivals.
The Avangard calendar is compiled in such a way that Omsk players took to the ice in the first five meetings against teams that are currently in the top 7 best KHL clubs.
And the hockey players simply did not have the opportunity to build up.
If we talk about the game of Ryabykin's wards, then, according to experts, the defense remains the weakest link, as in the end of the season.
The coaching staff does not yet seek to carry out a significant rotation in the squad, as a result, the defenders make mistakes that Galimov is not able to correct.
However, putting an end to the "Vanguard" is, of course, too early.
Yet in the regular season, hockey players must hold a record 68 meetings.
In addition, only one confident victory can affect the game and mood in a team that is not inferior to the leaders in terms of composition.
And it can be achieved already on Thursday, September 15, in Nur-Sultan.
However, even if this does not happen, the Omsk leadership has a trick up its sleeve.
The press service of the club has already announced the arrival of Bob Hartley in Russia.
It remains to be hoped that in a couple of months the Canadian has rested, gained strength and is ready to plunge into work again with his head.
At least as a team advisor.
The iron core of the Avangard coach is still very much lacking.