Salavat back on track with Zakharkin
19 Oct 2015 | Stanislav Pisklakov
After a disappointing start of the season the management of Salavat Yulaev (winner of Gagarin Cup 2010/2011) decided to invite Igor Zakharkin to the post as acting head coach. The last head coach, Anatoliy Emelin, will now be senior coach at the club.
Remember that Igor
Zakharkin was winner of Gagarin Cup with Salavat Yulaev as assistant coach to Vyacheslav
Bykov in 2010/2011 and also won Gagarin Cup last year with SKA Sankt-Peterburg also
as an assistant coach to Vyacheslav Bykov. Now, he returned to Salavat Yulaev
without Vyacheslav Bykov.
After two games - won away 4-3
during the overtime against Slovan and won away 3-2 against Medvescak Zagreb the
management of the club changed Zakharkin’s status to the head coach, signing a
full contract with Anatoly Zakharkin.
In the first game as head
coach Zakharkin loses 2-5 at home against Medvescak Zagreb and then he wins
three consecutive games on the road against Jokerit Helsinki 5-1, 5-3 against
Dinamo Riga and 6-4 against Metallurg Magnitogorsk in a stunning game. Salavat
Ulaev in these games started to play a very aggressive, offensive, combinative
hockey thanks to Igor Zakharkin and the players of the first line Salavat Ulaev
returned back to the playoff spot in East Conference of KHL (7th place now) and
most important -returned to the list of favorites of the season.