2020-2021 Dinamo Minsk review: Back to playoffs after four years
KHL.ru continues reviewing the 2020-2021 campaign for the league’s 23 teams. Supported by its young players returning from North America, Dinamo Minsk returned to the playoffs after four seasons.
Minsk ended the 2019-2020 season on the bottom of the league’s standings and was one of the first teams to waive any playoff hope. It was necessary to undergo some changes, and the Bisons decided to sign eight players from North America in the offseason, including Brennan Menell, Yegor Sharangovich, and Maxim Sushko. The Belarus franchise signed back the Gagarin Cup champion Rob Klinkhammer, Brandon Kozun from Metallurg, other than inking the former Avangard and Severstal’s goalie Dominik Furch.
The team’s roster looked solid on paper, and Craig Woodcroft led Dinamo Minsk to the playoffs after a four-year hiatus. The Bisons were the seventh seed of the Western Conference and faced SKA in the first round. Unfortunately for the Belarusian fans, Minsk couldn’t give St. Petersburg a severe threat, winning only one home match and losing the series in five games.
Best players
52 games, 49 (25+24) games
In the regular season, the American forward was among Dinamo Minsk’s leaders, recording the most points, goals, and plus/minus rating (+14). He posted two five-game streaks, reaching his peak in December and January, with 11 (7+4) points in five games, with four Dinamo victories. Moreover, Prince was second-best in the league with nine game-winning goals. In the playoffs, Prince led the Bisons once again with 6 (1+5) points in four games, but it wasn’t enough to get past SKA.
47 games, 38 (5+33) points
The D-man came to Minsk after scoring 47 (5+42) points in 57 games for the Minnesota Wild’s farm team in the AHL. Menell adapted quite fast to his new reality and posted a hat-trick of assists in his debut game in the KHL against Barys. He also had two seven-game points streak and ended the season as the league’s highest average time on ice among blueliners with more than 24 minutes a night.
He played very well against SKA, with 7 (1+6) points in five games. After the season, several top KHL team expressed their interest in signing the productive D-man, but he declared that he is pursuing a return to the North American leagues.
63 games, 22 (11+11) points
The 20-years-old forward was probably the most improved Dinamo Minsk player throughout the season. This year, he had his debut at the KHL level and played so well that he was assigned a spot in the Bisons’ powerplay units, even surpassing high-quality international players. He was just as efficient in the playoffs, with 4 (1+3) points in the five-game series against SKA — an excellent result for a rookie. The KHL awarded Protas Best Rookie honors for the postseason’s first round.
Best game
Dinamo Minsk played its first game in 2021 at home against Avangard, and before the start of the third period, the guests were up 2:1. However, a pair of goals from Shane Prince and Roman Gorbunov turned things around. The Hawks didn’t surrender and tied things up again with Alexander Khokhlachyov, just to allow another goal to the Bisons, this time scored by Artyom Demkov. Is it over? Not for Reid Boucher, who sent the game to OT with a last-gasp tally. However, in OT, Dinamo took advantage of the game’s first and only powerplay, taking the game home with Prince.
Head coach
Craig Woodcroft had his first stint with Dinamo Minsk in 2016-2017, and he was successful right away: with 105 points, the Belarusian franchise was the fifth seed in the West — its best result in history. The Canadian coach returned to Minsk in 2019, and he has just renewed his contract with Dinamo for a further season.
“When I returned to Minsk two years ago, I knew that the franchise wasn’t in the best position as they lost so many games and failed yet another postseason qualification. I understood that I needed to change something within the team. In my first year, we realized what type of players we needed to make the necessary changes. We had to achieve full agreement with the players, coaches, and management,” Woodcroft said after the season.
Offseason moves
So far, Dinamo Minsk hasn’t been too active on the transfer market. Shane Prince and Ryan Spooner moved to Avtomobilist, Francis Paré signed with Avangard, and during the season, Yegor Sharangovich returned to North America. Vladislav Kolyachonok, Ilya Solovyov, and Alexei Protas equally crossed the Atlantic back. Moreover, also goalies Dominik Furch and Danny Taylor, D-men Dmitry Znakharenko and Ilya Shinkevich, and forwards Rob Klinkhammer, Brandon Kozun, and Alexander Pavlovich left the team.
Dinamo Minsk signed only a few players: Patrik Rybar moved to Minsk from the Finnish Liiga, Sergei Shapego returned to Belarus from the AHL, and Taylor Beck joined the Bisons after spending the 2020-2021 campaign in Magnitogorsk.
