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Review of the season: Amur. Back to the playoffs after Martemyanov’s return
Amur invited back a former head coach and returned to the playoffs after a six-year gap. Once there, the Tigers gave the champion-elect a fright. Find out more as KHL.ru continues its review of the 2023-2024 season.
The regular championship didn’t start so well in Khabarovsk: for every couple of wins, there were three or four losses. Even so, there were a few impressive results: a 5-1 win on the road at Avangard, wins over Traktor (3-2) and Avtomobilist (3-1) in October, and high-scoring triumphs in November against Severstal (6-2) and Avto again (5-1). The toughest run came in January, when Amur suffered nine straight losses. Nonetheless, there is a widespread view that how you finish matters most, and the Tigers flexed their claws in the closing stages to reel off seven wins in a row and secure a playoff spot.
In the first round, Amur faced Metallurg, the top team in the East and the future champion. However, the Steelmen did not have an easy time against a brave outsider. Twice, the Tigers tied the series before eventually succumbing after an overtime loss in game six.
Best players
73 games, 47 (17+30) points
Korshkov’s summer move to Amur looked like a good opportunity to reboot the talented forward’s career. And that’s how it turned out: he had his second most productive KHL season (in 2020-2021, he had 53 points with Lokomotiv). This time, 47 points made him Amur’s scoring leading. Moreover, Korshkov led his team with 142 hits, showing that he was never shy of playing a physical game.
73 games, 40 (14+26) points
This creative forward was traded to Amur during the previous season and for him, too, the move was a boost. As well as enjoying his most productive KHL season, his +14 rating was the best result on the team. And that was despite placing only sixth for game time (15:34 per game).
68 games, 34 (18+16) points
This was a season of good progress for the 27-year-old forward. His 18 goals led the team alongside Dmitry Shevchenko. His production rocketed compared with last season, from 13 points to 34. Four of his goals were game-winners, sharing top spot with Bocharov for that stat. In December, Barulin potted his first KHL hat-trick against Neftekhimik.
Coaching
Last summer, the club management brought Andrei Martemyanov back to the club to replace Vadim Yepanchintsev. Back in 2018, Martemyanov was the last man to take the Tigers to the playoffs.
Throughout the season, the coach’s influence on Amur was visible. Martemyanov said that it would take time to bring the players and the coaching staff together, but once everything was in place his team would get results. As soon as the season ended, he made it clear that the coaching staff wanted to keep hold of 85% of the players. His contract was extended for another season, and that decision makes perfect sense based on last year’s progress.
Best game
On Jan. 29, Metallurg came to Khabarovsk and the teams produced a festival of goals. The visitor opened the scoring, but Amur replied with two goals in three-and-a-half minutes only for Magnitka to tie it up before the break. In the second period, Amur potted three goals in seven minutes, securing a lead despite Metallurg finding two in response. The final frame saw the teams trade four more goals to give an incredible final score of 7-6. Amur’s spectacular win was all the more important as it snapped a nine-game skid.
Young players
The nature of a team battling for a playoff spot means that young players rarely get to play a big role. Amur was no exception: the leaders in 2023-2024 were experienced players. There were only four youngsters who featured during the season: Sergei Ryzhikov, Ignat Korotkikh, Roman Makarov and Alexander Lazarev. Korotkikh had more appearances – 18 games, including five in the playoffs. He was also the only one of that quartet to collect any points, finishing with two assists.
Summer work
Thus far, Amur has been one of the pre-season headline-grabber. The signing of Alexander Galchenyuk from SKA was the first deal of the summer to justify top billing. Ilya Talaluyev also arrived in Khabarovsk from Spartak, no doubt hoping for rather more game time under Martemyanov. A further interesting arrival is Devin Brosseau, fresh from topping the scoring for Kunlun Red Star last season.
As for departures, so far Korshkov is the only leading player to move on.
