Review of the season: Severstal. From Razin to Kozyrev
It was the start of a new era for Severstal. The Steelmen said farewell to Andrei Razin and welcomed Andrei Kozyrev as the new head coach. As KHL.ru’s latest review of the 2023-2024 season shows, Kozyrev created one of the most attractive teams in the league and took the club to the playoffs for the fourth time in a row.
Severstal made a strong start to the season, enjoying victories against some of the big guns – Metallurg (5-4 SO), CSKA (2-1) and Ak Bars (4-1). There were some unexpected losses against the likes of Sochi (three times), Vityaz and Barys, but overall the regular season was a success. For the sixth time, the Steelmen finished in the top five in the Western Conference. They scored more than 200 goals for the first time ever and set a club record of 33 victories. A 10-1 victory over Sochi was only the second time the team had scored 10 in game.
The Steelmen booked their playoff spot with a month to spare and the 2024 post season was Severstal’s fourth in a row. The first-round match-up with Spartak promised a clash between two teams that play similar attacking hockey. Spartak won the first game, Severstal tied it up, but the younger team ultimately came up short. The key battle was game four. Severstal forced overtime in the last minute but lost in the extras. Instead of 2-2, the series was 3-1 and Spartak had a decisive advantage.
Best players
67 games, 69 (36+33) points
Severstal’s leader had a phenomenal season – he went at a point a game through the regular season to enjoy his most productive campaign to date. His goal and point tallies improved on two club records set by Vadim Shipachyov. Moreover, his +11 rating was second on the team and he had Severstal’s best shot conversion rate at 20.5%. It seems that under a new head coach, Pilipenko is emerging as a genuine KHL star.
68 games, 55 (20+35) points
While Pilipenko’s star was rising in recent seasons, Aimurzin was a little-known figure with just 26 games in three seasons at Salavat Yulaev. In Cherepovets, he was entrusted with a top-six role and relished the opportunity: aged 22, he turned out to be one of the revelations of the KHL season. He led the forwards in game time (17:55 a game) and his 35 helpers led the team. His success was noticed beyond his own club and he was selected for the Fonbet KHL All-Star Game but couldn’t play due to injury.
27 games, 14 wins, 90.9% saves, GAA 2.43
Severstal’s goalies ran into trouble during the season and the coaches called up Samoilov from the VHL. The netminder had to wait until he was 26 before making his KHL debut, and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. In his second start he had a shut-out and finished with five blanks in 27 games. Not surprisingly, by the time the playoffs began, Samoilov was the undisputed #1.
Coaching
This was Andrei Kozyrev’s first season as a head coach in the KHL, and he was an immediate success. First, he got Severstal playing attractive hockey which led to the team rewriting its scoring records. More importantly, that attacking play fired the team into the playoffs, although not past the first round. In addition, Kozyrev’s Severstal introduced several new faces to the KHL, such as Aimurzin and several of his team-mates.
Not only did Kozyrev’s work earn him praise from colleagues and pundits, it also got him on the coach of the year shortlist. If Andrei and his team continue the way they started, surely he will have more chances to secure that prize.
Best game
Severstal had several memorable victories but one of the best came early. On Sep. 23, Metallurg came to town. Severstal’s win was notable not only because few teams got the better of the champion-elect last season, but also because of the manner of the victory. Magnitka got up 3-0 with three goals in six minutes, but Kozyrev inspired his players to a successful fightback. Four unanswered tallies put the home team ahead for the first time, only for a late goal to see Metallurg force overtime. It went to a shoot-out and Pilipenko – who else? – potted the winning effort to seal a spectacular comeback.
Young players
In recent seasons youngsters have regularly been given a chance in Cherepovets. Andrei Razin was happy to trust his prospects, and Kozyrev continued that tradition. In 2023-2024, 17 u23 players featured and several of them had significant roles. On defense, 22-year-old Timofei Davydov was the leading scorer among the blue liners. Alongside him, Nikita Sedov and Vladimir Grudinin enjoyed breakout seasons, with Grudinin clearly thriving after he was traded by CSKA.
While Aimurzin led the way among the forwards, he was not alone. The likes of Ilya Ivantsov, Mikhail Ilyin, Ruslan Abrosimov and Timur Mukhanov all made an impression. Mukhanov made his debut aged 18 and went on to play in 60 games, collecting 14 (5+9) points.
Summer work
The Steelmen have already sealed some potentially interesting deals. Yanni Kaldis, a leader on Dinamo Minsk’s defense, should add to the D-core and the power play. Other acquisitions include players who know Kozyrev well from his time at Torpedo – defenseman Mark Marin and forward Alexei Kruchinin.
As a result of these trades, Vasily Shumilov and Nikita Rozhkov left the club, but neither of them were key players for Severstal last season.
