Each club in the league has its own plan for the season. The top teams are slowly swinging and trying to reach the peak of their form towards the end of the regular season in order to show their maximum in the playoffs. The middle peasants are trying to tear from the start and score points to the maximum in order to get into the coveted eight.

Not surprisingly, in the early stages of the season, the favorites are often inferior to outsiders. There are more such exceptions, but they do not constitute a system: top clubs can go through the starting segment in a class and still score their points. But in the case of Avangard, this rule unexpectedly failed.

The Omsk club completely failed the start of the season, gaining only one point in the first matches. Who is to blame for team failures?

New coach lacks experience and charisma

Even before the start of the season, many experts predicted that Dmitry Ryabykin would be the first coach in the KHL to be shown the door. This is all due to the specialist’s lack of proper experience: he has never been a head coach, but here he immediately got a team with championship ambitions.

However, Ryabykin has been working in the Avangard coaching staff since 2016. During this time, it is quite possible to gain experience for the status of chief. Moreover, Dmitry worked for four years under the guidance of a great professional, Bob Hartley. He proved his professional suitability already during the pre-season: the team played good hockey. Omsk spent 10 friendly matches over the summer and won seven victories, including twice beating SKA.

Dmitry Ryabykin / Photo: © KHL / Yury Kuzmin

Ryabykin’s coaching role at the end of the preseason, however, was not yet completely obvious. Will Dmitry continue to work according to the training manuals of the cruel tyrant Hartley, or will he choose his own style? The first option was obviously a failure. The consistency of the Canadian specialist worked only due to his rigor and authority, so Ryabykin chose a softer path.

Many players begin to open up after the departure of a strict coach. However, this played a cruel joke with Avangard: Omsk began to play with their chin held high and scatter chances. Well, this manifested itself already in the first match against Vityaz. It was clear that the players of the Omsk club took to the ice, underestimating the opponent. This attitude resulted in a disastrous third period and a defeat from an outsider.

A bad start to the season can easily be attributed to bad luck. However, Avangard continued to play in the same vein: the team gave an even stretch, and then lost the match in one period.

Here, the coach just lacks the harshness of Hartley, which forced the team to play all 60 minutes and tune in to any opponent. Ryabykin loosened his grip, while still not deciding on the game style – and after all, five official matches have already passed!

The club is let down by goalkeepers and legionnaires

But one cannot blame Ryabykin for the failures of the team. Even in the preseason, everyone said that Avangard had almost the best attack in the league. The presence of Reed Boucher, Corban Knight, Vladimir Tkachev and Arseniy Gritsyuk can scare any opponent. And in the summer it was clear that in the attack at the Omsk club everything is in order. Especially in the majority, when the Avangard forwards mocked their opponents.

However, by the beginning of the season, something broke in the team. Omsk began to grind every goal. It was so noticeable that before the game with Sibir, Ryabykin decided to forget about adventurism and creativity in attack. Instead of combinations – struggle and viscous game at the gate. But even this was not enough to defeat a pragmatic opponent. At a distance of 65 matches, of course, you can try everything, but this step seemed to betray the desperation of the coach.

Summing up “Vanguard” and legionnaires. Most of all, the Swede with a Kazakhstani passport Viktor Svedberg got it from the club’s fans. The overall defender is lost on the ice and shows the level of not the KHL, but the VHL. Because of Svedberg, Avangard lost to Avtomobilist: the defender brought a goal and retired, after which Omsk conceded. Another legionnaire who does not live up to expectations is Alex Broadhurst. The American striker drops out of the game: he is almost invisible on the ice and still has not found chemistry with his partners.

Victor Svedberg / Photo: © KHL / Yury Kuzmin

A separate headache for Avangard is the keepers. Even before the start of the season, experts unanimously said that the goalkeeper line would be the most problematic place in the club. The leadership of the Omsk team hoped to the last to bring a strong legionnaire to this position, but it did not work out to sign the cup goalkeeper.

The season began with the tandem Stanislav Galimov – Vasily Demchenko. Both keepers are now more suitable for the role of reservists, and not the first numbers. In almost every match, Avangard conceded an optional goal, for which the goalkeepers were fully responsible.

The team did not take care of the locker room either. If the players do not listen to the coach, then a veteran with great authority should help the specialist. But after the departure of Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexei Emelin, there is no one to try on the role of “bati”.

About 12 away games in a row is not even worth talking about. It is clear that it is very difficult to play so many matches away from home, but this Avangard must take points in the class.

However, rushing to dismiss Ryabykin, perhaps, is not worth it yet. A young coach needs credit and time to correct his own mistakes. In five matches, even the most stellar specialist could not convey his ideas to the players! But the patience of the club bosses is still not infinite: sooner or later, Dmitry will stop receiving advances, and by this time the team will have to be in full combat readiness.