Coaching changes and an unusual leader

KHL Week 12 began with two sudden coaching departures. It ended with an unfancied team on top of the Western Conference. Along the way we saw the end of a club record skid and memorable landmark for the league’s scoring leader.

Two coaches gone

The week began with two KHL teams parting company with their head coaches. Benoit Groulx left Traktor citing personal reasons, while Dynamo Moscow dismissed Alexei Kudashov.

Groulx arrived in Chelyabinsk last season and was an instant hit, leading his team to the Gagarin Cup final for only the second time in its history. However, over the summer Traktor had to rebuild its roster and the current campaign was less impressive. Traktor is currently sixth in the Eastern Conference, 17 points behind leader Metallurg. Rafael Richer is now interim head coach.

Kudashov was at Dynamo since 2020/2021 and reached last season’s semi-final. This season, Dynamo is fifth in the West, eight points behind first-placed Severstal. Vyacheslav Kozlov has taken interim charge of the Blue-and-Whites.

Severstal hits the top

The Western Conference has a new leader – albeit by a tight margin. Severstal’s 2-0 victory over Lada on Sunday put Andrei Kozyrev’s team on top of the pile with 42 points. The Lynx won seven of the last eight games to move one clear of Lokomotiv, Torpedo and Dinamo Minsk, all tied on 41.

Another goalie leaves

Chris Driedger’s contract with Traktor was terminated at the weekend. The 31-year-old Canadian arrived in the summer from the AHL but suffered mixed results. In 23 games he won right, stopping 89.7% of shots for a GAA of 3.05. Driedger follows Spencer Martin (CSKA), Louis Domingue (Sibir) and Olivier Rodrigue (Barys) in arriving from the AHL this summer but failing to settle.

Artamonov seeks reboot back home

Last season, Nikita Artamonov was on fire. His 22 goals for Torpedo outstripped any U20 player in the league, including Ivan Demidov, and he led his team in scoring. But this season has not gone well. In 16 KHL appearances, Artamonov could not find the net and he dropped down to the VHL. Now he’s heading back to his hometown club Neftekhimik on loan, with a view to reviving his season under the coaching of Igor Grishin.

Kagarlitsky finds club

Dmitry Kagarlitsky, 36, signed for Sochi last week and made his debut on Saturday in a 1-2 loss at home to Sibir. The experienced forward has featured for several top KHL clubs and has five 40+ point campaigns on his resume. Last season he had 36 (9+27) points for Torpedo after joining the club largely to work with Igor Larionov. After the head coach departed in the summer, Kagarlitsky did likewise but took his time to find a new employer. He’s now with Sochi until the end of his 17th KHL season.

Kalynuk’s tour continues

Wyatt Kalynuk’s first season in the KHL has seen him put the miles in. The Canadian defenseman, who played last season in Finland, was initially due to play for Vityaz. When the club folded, he joined Ak Bars but after just two games was traded to Salavat Yulaev with Alexander Chmelevski going the other way. Now he’s on the move yet again, as a replacement for Joey Duszak at Shanghai Dragons. That move reunites him with Igor Varitsky, the GM who initially invited him to Vityaz and then moved to the reborn Dragons.

Radulov’s record

Ageless forward Alexander Radulov scored his 13th goal of yet another productive season, helping Lokomotiv to a comeback win at home to Salavat Yulaev. He also wrote his name into the record books: no player has scored more aged 39+. The previous record of 12 goals was held by Pavel Datsyuk.

Sibir snaps skid

While Radulov was celebrating 13 goals, Sibir fell to a club record 13th successive loss in the KHL when it failed to score at Shanghai Dragons on Monday. But better times were coming: on Thursday, Sibir went to Dynamo Moscow and snatched a shoot-out win despite blowing a 3-1 lead in the third period. Then, on Saturday, a 2-1 success at Sochi secured a first win in regulation for more than two months. Acting head coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov may be in contention to inherent Vadim Yepanchintsev’s position on a permanent basis.

Tkachyov keeps scoring

Metallurg’s Vladimir Tkachyov continues to lead this year’s scoring race. He brought up 40 points this week, extending his hot streak to nine games with a goal and an assist in Saturday’s shoot-out verdict over Admiral. That was also his 500th KHL game – a memorable way to celebrate a career landmark.

Shipachyov closes on 1,000 points

No player has yet managed 1,000 KHL points. Sergei Mozyakin was close, but of his national record 1,212 points, 284 came in the Superleague era. Vadim Shipachyov, though, is closing in. His goal for Dinamo Minsk in Saturday’s 6-0 thrashing of Spartak moves him to 993 (310+683) career points, just seven shy of an unprecedented achievement.