Looks like a deeply troubled alcoholic. I would not want my son to be coached by a guy who has such empty look in his eyes. He was a great player though.
also, wtf with playing Vasya yesterday, who's gonna play tonight? him again? that's just plain stupid, the game last night was screaming for Ustinskiy to play.
looks like he had no game plan for game two at all. I hope it's just for lack of experience with the juniors.
The part that bothered me a lot was when our Defenders would continously jump in on the rush and get caught going back. 2 on 0 should never happened. And how many 2v1 in the 1st period alone? What does that say about disciplinne? And where is that defending mentality that Bilyaletdinov's system is preaching?
I liked Bragin's discipline- if you 'fall out' of the game - you won't play.
also, wtf with playing Vasya yesterday, who's gonna play tonight? him again? that's just plain stupid, the game last night was screaming for Ustinskiy to play.
well if Ustinskiy plays tonight, it'll be a REAL test for him. I guess why not give him a REAL test in a friendly?
But I agree, it's as stupid as not calling Kucherov. Where is the logic??
oh, boy, we will miss Bragin, he's the perfect youth coach, with iron discipline, not sure he will succeed with that for a long time in CSKA with spoiled prima donnas like Radulov.
oh, boy, we will miss Bragin, he's the perfect youth coach, with iron discipline, not sure he will succeed with that for a long time in CSKA with spoiled prima donnas like Radulov.
There's still time for Varnakov to reassert himself as a solid Junior coach. But so far, I'm not overly impressed.
Still better than Nemchinov, but that is not saying much at all.
Ye, I don't think Bragin is a good club coach. He's probably the best Junior and tournament coach from Russia. He might come back after his stint with CSKA, I certainly hope so.
The part that bothered me a lot was when our Defenders would continously jump in on the rush and get caught going back. 2 on 0 should never happened. And how many 2v1 in the 1st period alone?
If you watch the replays Nesterov was responsible for all of those plays. I counted 3x that he pinched and got caught, and one other bad giveaway where the puck ust fell off his stick. The 2 on 0 goal by far the worst, I don't know what he was thinking, Huberdeau made him look like a school child...
If you watch the replays Nesterov was responsible for all of those plays. I counted 3x that he pinched and got caught, and one other bad giveaway where the puck ust fell off his stick. The 2 on 0 goal by far the worst, I don't know what he was thinking, Huberdeau made him look like a school child...
If you watch the replays Nesterov was responsible for all of those plays. I counted 3x that he pinched and got caught, and one other bad giveaway where the puck ust fell off his stick. The 2 on 0 goal by far the worst, I don't know what he was thinking, Huberdeau made him look like a school child...
He does that a lot, and will continue too for a while I hope.
As much as I hate Russians during hockey tournaments, I have a lot of respect for a coach like Bragin, that man could coach.
I can't remember, but didn't Bragin struggle at first ?
I can't believe how much BS I had to read about Varnakov here...
Varnakov has very big shoes to fill. We also believe that this team has enough talent to win the WJC, so there are no excuses. If this team doesn't do well (top 3 finish) it'll be hard not to blame him.
Varnakov has very big shoes to fill. We also believe that this team has enough talent to win the WJC, so there are no excuses. If this team doesn't do well (top 3 finish) it'll be hard not to blame him.
My opinion about Varnakov was low at first, but after all is said and done, I thought I detected a huge improvement in the defense in the SSS. I really liked Bragin as well - his team in 2011 made these huge, almost miraculous comebacks, because they never quit. The Gold Medal game against Canada in Buffalo was insane! However, if he had a weakness, it might have been the defensive side of the game. In Calgary, the team had a huge problem getting pinned inside the defensive zone. They gave up an average of 52 shots on goal from the Czechs, Canadians and Swedes. It caused them to have to go to OT to beat a less than great Czech team, and they squandered a 6-1 lead to 6-5 in less than 5 minutes against the Canadians. It was the only reason, IMO, that such an offensively talented team didn't win Gold. If they play really good defense in Ufa, I think there is enough offensive talent to win.
My opinion about Varnakov was low at first, but after all is said and done, I thought I detected a huge improvement in the defense in the SSS. I really liked Bragin as well - his team in 2011 made these huge, almost miraculous comebacks, because they never quit. The Gold Medal game against Canada in Buffalo was insane! However, if he had a weakness, it might have been the defensive side of the game. In Calgary, the team had a huge problem getting pinned inside the defensive zone. They gave up an average of 52 shots on goal from the Czechs, Canadians and Swedes. It caused them to have to go to OT to beat a less than great Czech team, and they squandered a 6-1 lead to 6-5 in less than 5 minutes against the Canadians. It was the only reason, IMO, that such an offensively talented team didn't win Gold. If they play really good defense in Ufa, I think there is enough offensive talent to win.
I agree with you, tactically speaking Bragin's hockey was poorer defensively, but looked very good offensively at times with rather evolved combination hockey.
And yes, towards the end of SSS, you could see the picture of Varnakov's team. However, I'm not prepared to say that Varnakov's strategy is proven until we see it work consistently. This has not happened yet.
When his strategy works - it's great.
When it fails, it ugly hockey to watch. Trap, no creativity and losing looks pretty bad.
I agree with you, tactically speaking Bragin's hockey was poorer defensively, but looked very good offensively at times with rather evolved combination hockey.
And yes, towards the end of SSS, you could see the picture of Varnakov's team. However, I'm not prepared to say that Varnakov's strategy is proven until we see it work consistently. This has not happened yet.
When his strategy works - it's great.
When it fails, it ugly hockey to watch. Trap, no creativity and losing looks pretty bad.
True. In some games, the offense was almost nonexistent. To be successful, they will have to have the kind of balance between defense and offense that they showed the final game.
