Dynamo Minsk vs Ak Bars. Dmitry Kvartalnov against his former team
On Tuesday, September 26, Dynamo Minsk will play at home against one of the championship favorites, Ak Bars Kazan. The game will take place on the ice of the Minsk Arena.
The main transfer of Minsk residents in the summer off-season was not to strengthen the squad, but to the coaching bench. Dmitry Kvartalnov, who is the League record holder among coaches for the number of victories won, returns to big hockey after a year-long break. Adding additional intrigue to the upcoming match is the fact that Kvartalnov’s last club was Ak Bars, where the current coach of the Minsk team worked for three full seasons.
It would be too naive to expect an instant miracle performed by Minsk residents with the arrival of a titled mentor, so it will be possible to evaluate Kvartalnov’s work from a distance. The Minsk team started the championship with two away victories, most notably the defeat of Vityaz with a score of 7-0. But then a black streak followed of four defeats in a row, including from Ak Bars in Kazan. To some extent, the Minsk residents became a victim of the calendar, which forced Dynamo to play the opening six games of the championship on the road. Returning home, the Minsk team lost to Yaroslavl Lokomotiv 1-4, and then took two points, beating Vityaz 3-2. Thus, now Dynamo is only tenth in the West, with 8 points scored.
Ak Bars
The Kazan club, albeit without much brilliance, is confidently collecting its points at the start of the season. The home misfire in the game against HC Sochi can easily be attributed to a banal underestimation; another defeat came in the away match in Ufa against Salavat Yulaev. In the remaining matches, the Kazan team took two points, although twice they had to do this outside of regular time. In overtime they beat the Minsk team, the winning goal was scored by Semenov, and also in overtime they beat Vityaz near Moscow, thanks to an accurate shot by Vadim Shipachev.
Ak Bars is currently in second place in the Eastern Conference standings, with 14 points out of a possible 18. The gap from Magnitogorsk Metallurg, the leader in the East, is minimal - two points, while Leopards played one less match, so the teams are on par in terms of lost points. It is worth noting that Ak Bars is not going to the upcoming trip with the optimal squad. Kazan's injured list includes Voynov, Galimov and Svechnikov.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Dynamo Minsk vs Ak Bars
Dynamo MinskThe main transfer of Minsk residents in the summer off-season was not to strengthen the squad, but to the coaching bench. Dmitry Kvartalnov, who is the League record holder among coaches for the number of victories won, returns to big hockey after a year-long break. Adding additional intrigue to the upcoming match is the fact that Kvartalnov’s last club was Ak Bars, where the current coach of the Minsk team worked for three full seasons.
It would be too naive to expect an instant miracle performed by Minsk residents with the arrival of a titled mentor, so it will be possible to evaluate Kvartalnov’s work from a distance. The Minsk team started the championship with two away victories, most notably the defeat of Vityaz with a score of 7-0. But then a black streak followed of four defeats in a row, including from Ak Bars in Kazan. To some extent, the Minsk residents became a victim of the calendar, which forced Dynamo to play the opening six games of the championship on the road. Returning home, the Minsk team lost to Yaroslavl Lokomotiv 1-4, and then took two points, beating Vityaz 3-2. Thus, now Dynamo is only tenth in the West, with 8 points scored.
Ak Bars
The Kazan club, albeit without much brilliance, is confidently collecting its points at the start of the season. The home misfire in the game against HC Sochi can easily be attributed to a banal underestimation; another defeat came in the away match in Ufa against Salavat Yulaev. In the remaining matches, the Kazan team took two points, although twice they had to do this outside of regular time. In overtime they beat the Minsk team, the winning goal was scored by Semenov, and also in overtime they beat Vityaz near Moscow, thanks to an accurate shot by Vadim Shipachev.
Ak Bars is currently in second place in the Eastern Conference standings, with 14 points out of a possible 18. The gap from Magnitogorsk Metallurg, the leader in the East, is minimal - two points, while Leopards played one less match, so the teams are on par in terms of lost points. It is worth noting that Ak Bars is not going to the upcoming trip with the optimal squad. Kazan's injured list includes Voynov, Galimov and Svechnikov.
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