Season review: Avangard. Disastrous 33 seconds leads to a third successive game seven loss to Lokomotiv

KHL.ru continues its club-by-club review of the 2025/2026 season. Avangard reached the Gagarin Cup semifinal and was just 33 seconds away from winning it, only to fall to its former head coach.

In the summer of 2025, Omsk’s management sought to rebuild the team ahead of Guy Boucher’s first full season as head coach. The departure of hugely creative forward Vladimir Tkachyov sent shockwaves around the league, and over the course of a year the team parted ways with six defensemen and 12 forwards. In their place, the Hawks hired imports Andrew Poturalski, Max Lajoie and Joseph Ceccone, with Vasily Ponomaryov returning from North America. On the domestic front, the club acquired Dmitry Rashevsky from Dynamo Moscow, and added Slava Voynov and Artyom Blazhievsky to the D-core. There was another boost during the season when Mike McLeod returned after leaving the club during the summer.

The season started well. After dropping a 1-2 verdict to Ak Bars in the opening game, Avangard went on a six-game winning streak. Boucher’s men were among the most consistent in the KHL, never losing more than three games in a row. Throughout the whole campaign, Omsk battled with Metallurg for top spot in the standings only to be let down by surprise losses to weaker opposition: Barys (twice), Amur (twice), Admiral, Sochi, Sibir and Neftekhimik. Those lost points robbed the Hawks of the chance to wrest the regular season championship away from Magnitogorsk.

In the end, Avangard finished second in the East and faced Neftekhimik in the first round. The teams traded wins in Omsk, but Avangard won both games in Nizhnekamsk to take control of the series. In game five, the Wolves were eight seconds from a victory that would have extended the contest, but Nikolai Prokhorkin had other ideas. He tied the game at the death, then potted the overtime winner.

Round two pitted Boucher against an old rival, Igor Nikitin. Last season, his Lokomotiv dumped the Hawks out of the playoffs. Now he’s in charge of CSKA and fell victim to Boucher’s revenge mission as Avangard won 4-1. Next came Lokomotiv and Bob Hartley, who led Omsk to the Gagarin Cup. There was drama in game six: with 33 seconds left, Avangard was up 2-0 on the night and 3-2 in the series, only for Lokomotiv to battle back, force overtime, and go on to win the game in overtime.

Thus, for the third year running these two foes went the full distance in a playoff series. The previous two encounters came in the second round; this time the stakes were even higher. Avangard got up 3-1 in the game but could not hold the lead. Loko took it to overtime and Maxim Beryozkin sent the champion-elect through in OT.

Best players

Damir Sharipzyanov
83 games, 77 (25+52) points

Over several seasons at Avangard, Sharipzyanov has grown into probably the best two-way defenseman in the KHL. At one end, he has shot-blocking smarts and solid defensive skills; at the other he is a genuine offensive threat. All that helped him set a new scoring record for a defenseman in the regular season on the way to a Golden Stick award for the regular season MVP.

Konstantin Okulov
85 games, 95 (34+61) points

After Tkachyov’s departure, Okulov became the architect of Avangard’s attack. As well as defense-splitting passes, Konstantin has a great shot and great scoring instincts – throughout the season he found chances in the unlikeliest of places. Moreover, Okulov had the best rating on the team (+32) and was the only forward entrusted with more than 20 minutes ice time each night.

Andrew Poturalski
84 games, 79 (31+48) points

The American forward had a great first season at Avangard, finishing second in points and goals behind Okulov. Poturalski quickly found his spot on the power play, scoring 10 goals on the PP. He also had the team’s best strike rate, scoring from 15.3% of his shots.

Mike McLeod
72 games, 59 (23+36) points

The Canadian center returned to the club during the season – and it was like he’d never been away. He did a vast amount of the dirty work, won an incredible 62.7% of his face-offs and finished fourth in team scoring.

Coaching

Guy Boucher continues to build a monster of a team in Omsk. During the season it was clear how Avangard wanted to dominate the opposition: incredible movement, hard hitting and high skill levels. That last element was especially important on special teams, with the Hawks leading the league on the power play (29.8% in the regular season) and ranking third on the PK (84.4%).

As for the playoffs, there was plenty of chat about how much responsibility the coach takes for blowing a 3-1 lead in the semifinal. More importantly, though, this is priceless experience for Boucher and his team which can only help going forward. Sometimes, the pain of losing is a greater motivation than the joy of winning, so it will be interesting to see how the team progresses next season.

Best game

In a season full of entertaining hockey, the 8-5 win at Traktor on Oct. 14 stands out. The Hawks got up early in the game and led 4-2 at the first intermission. Traktor tried to give chase and on three occasions got back to a one-goal game in the second period. But the final frame was a masterclass from Avangard: excellent defense, two goals on the counter and victory in a 13-goal barn burner.

Young players

Over the season, Boucher used three U23 players. Defenseman Mikhail Gulyayev, who was occasionally used as a forward, played 71 games for 8 (2+6) points. Two young forwards served as back-up: Kirill Dolzhenko had two assists through 21 games, Pavel Leuka  had one goal from his six games.

Offseason work

Avangard is usually a big player in the transfer market and this year has brought three more big moves. The major one was the signing of Josh Leivo: the skilled forward had productive seasons at Salavat Yulaev and Traktor before moving to Omsk. Two more experienced players came from Dynamo Moscow: defenseman Kirill Adamchuk and forward Artyom Ilyenko, who will likely play a bottom six role.

Meanwhile, there are no major departures. Voynov, Ivan Igumnov and Kirill Pilipenko left the club, and Mikhail Kotlyarevsky was traded to Shanghai Dragons.