Pyotr Vorobyov is one of the most powerful coaches in the country, but he is a specialist in the completely Soviet mentality, and not in the worst sense. Yes, he has absolutely Eastern methods of work that he would be proud of during the CPSU. But at the same time he gave the result, and not deceived (like many). Vorobyov could put a game to any team, even if instead of hockey players sandbags came out on the ice. But not right away, but in a season or two.
Another important quality of Pyotr Ilyich was the ability to disclose a young hockey player in such a way that he became at least a desirable figure in all Russian teams, and at a maximum he got to the NHL draft and left for America. But for this, Pyotr Vorobyov should virtually single-handedly lead the second team (at least the like-minded person should have headed the farm) and form the squad himself.
Knowing these conditions for fruitful work, the invitation of the coach in Mytishchi to the ambitious “Chemist” was perceived as a rather anarchistic step. “Chemist” immediately posed serious tasks (note, out of the blue), and Vorobyov never achieved success with lightning speed. He is a hockey player, it takes him time to figure out the hockey players and get them to do what is required.
The club began to be equipped with high-level players (by Russian standards). They would certainly have been welcomed by any other specialist, but not Vorobyov’s. For him, for example, Sergey Mozyakin is a reclaimed material that cannot be retrained. Even the negotiations between them were rather difficult. After all, Sergei first went to Omsk, although initially he had a great offer from the Moscow region. And only the failure of the contract with the "Vanguard" returned Mozyakin to Mytishchi.
It should be noted that in “Chemist” the situation was rather unhealthy, unfortunately, typical for Russia. When money appears, many have a blown away roof. This manifested itself in selection. The club sometimes acquired people by the criterion: "it is very expensive." Before the season, many one-sided players gathered in Mytishchi, who most often competed with each other, and did not complement each other. Vorobyov was actually suspended from breeding (in America, this is accepted practice, but in Russia, no). A couple of times he hinted that he needed a specific player, but either they didn’t buy it, or they bought better (but better, Vorobyov did not need it - he has his own ideas).
Yes, at first there was a result. Largely on the class, on skill. But the game could make a lot of complaints. And even against the background of less ambitious rivals, failures were visible. After the victories, Peter Vorobyov did not rejoice, but looked perplexed. An experienced master understood that today's Chemist is a house of cards that could collapse at any moment.
The collapse came in the third round. Nine defeats in the last ten matches (here we can also attribute the fact that the Krylya Sovetov nursery opened an account in a full-time meeting) were explained by the fact that the team unsuccessfully went to the Spengler Cup. But everyone perfectly understood that this was not entirely true. It’s just that Vorobyov wasn’t provided with convenient working conditions, and, of course, he was unable to rebuild.
The real leaders of Chemist (and we are talking about people in the regional administration) need to draw the right conclusions from this situation. When there is money, good. But do not throw them right and left, considering that modern Russian hockey can be defeated only due to this. Smart people learn from mistakes, but they didn’t draw the right conclusions from the example of Ak Bars, which failed in the lockout year just because the club had too much cash.
Now anyone can be appointed coach of the current “Chemist”. It is not necessary to change the specialist, but the concept of work.
Alexey Shevchenko