2021-2022 review: Avangard. A strong playoff showing and Hartley’s departur
KHL.ru reviews the 2021-2022 season for each of the 24 league’s teams. Today it’s Avangard’s turn. The team reached its peak form for the playoffs and, despite the departure of leading defensemen and injuries, performed more than decently in the Gagarin Cup stage.
The Hawks began the post-championship season with a victory over CSKA, which earned them the opening Cup. In the offseason, the club staked on stronger and more physically capable players, and it paid off. First of all, Avangard didn’t suffer from losing streaks, even in the regular season, as its longest winless series was three games long (twice). Secondly, Bob Hartley’s team played well against the top clubs: two wins over Salavat Yulaev, and one win against each of CSKA, Metallurg, and Avtomobilist.
On the other hand, there were some unnecessary losses to Neftekhimik, Sibir and Admiral. In addition, Avangard failed to achieve victories against two teams in the regular season: Dynamo Moscow, and Ak Bars Kazan. As a result, Avangard finished fourth in the East and faced Kazan in the first round. Given the teams’ performance in their regular-season games, the majority of experts were betting on Ak Bars. But that wasn’t the case: Avangard took down Kazan in the first three games of the series, gave up two more, but finished the opponents off in game six. That was despite the departures of leading defensemen Ville Pokka and Oliwer Kaski, who decided to leave the team in the middle of the series.
In the second round, Avangard took on Magnitka and the teams had the most productive series in the history of the KHL playoffs (51 goals between them). After two games in Magnitogorsk, the Hawks led 2-0, but Ilya Vorobyov’s men took two games in Balashikha. The teams then traded victories, and in the seventh meeting, Magnitka snatched a ticket to the conference finals.
Best players
60 games, 55 (21+34) points, +4
The Canadian is widely considered the best center in the KHL, and deservedly so — in the 2021-2022 campaign he was the third-leading scorer in the regular season and won the 60% of his faceoff attempts, which is phenomenal! The goals and assists are also on par, with 50+ points for the second season in a row. In addition to faceoffs, Knight’s strengths are his puck skills, his understanding of the game, and his work on the slot.
52 games, 38 (22+16) points, +4
The Canadian is widely considered the best center in the KHL, and deservedly so — in the 2021-2022 campaign he was the third-leading scorer in the regular season and won the 60% of his faceoff attempts, which is phenomenal! The goals and assists are also on par, with 50+ points for the second season in a row. In addition to faceoffs, Knight’s strengths are his puck skills, his understanding of the game, and his work on the slot.
52 games, 16 (5+11) points, +12
Sharipzyanov became the player with the second-most blocked shots (116 in 39 games), only behind teammate Alexei Emelin. Damir had the same production as last season (16 points) and scored in the playoffs for the first time in his career. The key indicator for the defenseman is his utility, and Sharipzyanov is doing very well with it, as his plus-12 differential was the best result of the team.
Head coach
Hartley confirmed his level in the 2021-2022 campaign by leading his team to the playoffs in good form and making the most of it in the elimination stage. Even after the departure of the Finnish defensemen, Avangard defeated Ak Bars and battled on equal terms with Magnitka, losing only in the seventh game. After the end of the season, the Canadian announced at a special press conference that he was leaving the club to spend more time with his family.
Best game
Avangard had a lot of bright games, but an 8-1 win in the playoffs on the opponent’s ice — that’s something special! Yes, in the first minute, Magnitka was already in the penalty killing after a five-minute penalty and lost their first center, but a team still need to take advantage of that. The Hawks did brilliantly: doubles potted by Sharipzyanov and Prokhorin, four assists by Peter Cehlarik, and Timofei Davydov’s first goal in the KHL.
Young guns
Seven players under the age of 23 played for Avangard in the 2021-2022 season. Five of them (including Davydov) played fewer than ten games, but both Davydov and Bogdan Denisevich had to be involved because of problems with the defensive line in the playoffs. Semyon Chistyakov was the only other stable core player besides Gritsyuk, with 41 games in the season and two assists.
Offseason moves
Among the new additions are Vladimir Tkachev, who returned from overseas, Slovakian defenseman Christian Jaros, Anton Belov, and Reid Boucher, who have already played for Avangard, and former Amur and Vityaz leaders Alexander Gorshkov and Fyodor Malykhin.
In addition to the Finnish blueliners, Simon Hrubec, Kirill Gotovets, Nikita Komarov, Ilya Kablukov, Nikolai Prokhorkin, Kirill Semyonov, Cehlarik, and Nikita Soshnikov left the club.
