Malefic74
Registered User
Right up front I'll mention that I don't actively follow a lot of the Russian Super League stats, so if I'm off on this, don't bite my head off.
I happened to be glancing through all the players in the WCs this year and was very surprised, hell I was shocked, that Viktor Tikhonov of all people was the coach of the Russian team. Knowing how much players love to play for Tikhonov it was no real shock to see Russia fade to black pretty early in the tournament.
Which leads to my question. The NHLPA and the Russian players playing in the NHL view Tikhonov as the second-coming of Josef Stalin and would never, ever play for him again. As such there is no way he will be behind the Russian bench come World Cup time. It would be logical to give a younger coach a chance to see the styles of the various countries at the WCs before getting ready for the World Cup in the fall. So why didn't it happen?
The Russians continue to produce incredibly talented prospects so there have to be some good coaches in Russia so where are they? And why weren't they in Prague?
I happened to be glancing through all the players in the WCs this year and was very surprised, hell I was shocked, that Viktor Tikhonov of all people was the coach of the Russian team. Knowing how much players love to play for Tikhonov it was no real shock to see Russia fade to black pretty early in the tournament.
Which leads to my question. The NHLPA and the Russian players playing in the NHL view Tikhonov as the second-coming of Josef Stalin and would never, ever play for him again. As such there is no way he will be behind the Russian bench come World Cup time. It would be logical to give a younger coach a chance to see the styles of the various countries at the WCs before getting ready for the World Cup in the fall. So why didn't it happen?
The Russians continue to produce incredibly talented prospects so there have to be some good coaches in Russia so where are they? And why weren't they in Prague?