Neftekhimik is one of the most stylish teams in the country. From year to year there is going to the composition, which competitors chuckle. And the club not only does not fight for survival, but also steadily enters the playoff zone. And not in the one that determined the FHR, but in the real one - the eight. However, the best seasons of the team came at a time when Vladimir Krikunov worked there. They could not find a full replacement for him.
Nizhnekamsk is a small city. There’s even nowhere to really have fun. Players said that there was only one decent place. And they added that it was inconvenient. An hour later, that “our guys were walking”, all Nizhnekamsk people knew: from the gas station refueling station to the cleaning lady. Coaches, of course, too. But abstained from sanctions. Because otherwise, no one would have agreed to play for Nizhnekamsk.
Hockey is the only winter joy of the locals. This has been the case since the time when Neftekhimik played in a tin shed where it was colder than on the street. Now in the city there is a new arena with soft chairs for spectators, which are not even in the capital's palace on Khodynka. And you don’t even have to say how much they love the team.
It’s bad to play where you can be approached on the street and strictly ask for defeat, not with your hands. But there was never any money for stars of the first magnitude. As a result, at one time, Krikunov had to force the team to play in such a way that even in the event of setbacks, it would not occur to anyone to deal with “snickering masters”.
It turned out beautifully. It was believed that the famous “Soviet” hockey - smart, technical and assertive - always showed only Magnitogorsk “Metallurg”. But there was also Neftekhimik, where the performers were simply lower than the level. And still they could deal with anyone. They won gracefully when the opponent was spinning his head from the combinations and it was impossible to keep track of the puck. Unless with the face-offs, more often - in the central circle.
Krikunov discovered Sergey Zvyagin and Alexei Simakov for the country. It’s a pity that Maxim Kraev’s injuries were tortured. But they say that in the new season they will try it at CSKA. After all, the guy was attracted to the team by Viktor Tikhonov.
Then Vladimir Krikunov left for promotion - to Dynamo. Vsevolod Elfimov, who previously worked as an assistant, came in his stead. In club politics, nothing has changed. They paid on time, but real pennies were allocated for selection. Elfimov spent his first year brilliantly. At the same time, he did not break anything, he allowed hockey players everything so that they played in pleasure. Neftekhimik remained a force. True, he did not have enough for the decisive matches in the playoffs (the club always cost a minimum of players), but even getting there was surprising.
It is difficult to understand what happened to Elfimov later. But he began to change the face of the team. The link compositions were shuffled, and no one could explain for what reasons. In training, they stopped improvising, and began to act according to strict schemes. Sometimes weeks did not work out the game in the majority. Hockey players did not understand what was happening, but were silent.
When it became very bad, including with the results, Yelfimov was changed to Gennady Syrtsov, but left in the team. Castling has not changed anything. The new chief did not begin to return the Krikunov style and began to play the power version of hockey, in which he had to run and throw a lot. The 14th place of this season is an absolutely logical indicator.
Now, the new coach is Airat Kadeikin, who recently completed his playing career. He spent the last seasons under Krikunov. And now, perhaps, he will try to restore the old traditions. But in two years they have gone so far from them that it is hardly possible for a young specialist to restore everything.
Probably we have less than one interesting team.
Alexey Shevchenko
Neftekhimik in the 2007 season
Place - 14th
Victory (in overtime) - 16 (1)
Drawn - 6
Losses (in overtime) - 20 (1)
Abandoned washers - 101
Missed Washers - 105
Penalty - 945 minutes (10th place)
Winning streak - 4 matches
Series without defeat - 7 matches
Series of defeats - 4 matches
Series without victories - 8 matches
Best match - first round, “Chemist” - 4: 2 (at home)
Worst match - first round, CSKA Moscow - 1: 6 (at home)
The best player is goalkeeper Petri Vehanen - 7 matches to zero.
The most productive - Andrey Kuzmin - 24 points.