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Kontinental Hockey Leagues powerhouse - SKA St.Petersburgh have announced coaching change that has also affected the Russian national team.
Although there is no official word on why former head coach Oleg Znarok had stepped down from both positions, a source close to the situation has indicated that Znarok is tired of hockey and wants to take some time off if not retire in general.
SKA and Russian Hockey Federation were quick to announce their backup plan for the situation - hiring of Ilya Vorobyov who led Team Russia at the 2018 IIHF World Hockey Championships in Denmark, where Russia failed to make it past quarter-final. The new coach has received a two-year deal with a chance to extend for another two while Znarok has an offer on the table to become an advisor.
It's very clear that this was planned months ahead ever since SKA got eliminated from KHL playoffs and Russia had already won the most important prize of the season - The Olympic gold.
''The performance of SKA and the national team's success made fans happy from all over Russia, but the success of both was only because of the high-class coaches and their hard work'' said the official release thanking Oleg Znarok and his long-time assistant Harijs Vitolins for their services. -
Meanwhile ''the other'' KHL powerhouse CSKA Moscow boosted their roster with two players - one Russian and one from Sweden.
The first announcement came on the signing of Nikita Korostelev who was signed to a try-out. Former Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick had struggled since turning pro and now has been forced to fight for a place on a KHL team.
The other was a slightly bigger fish - Former Carolina Hurricanes defensemen - Klas Dahlbeck who has signed a one-year deal with CSKA team. Last season Dahlbeck played with Hurricanes in 33 regular season games recording five points.
Meanwhile, Cherepovets Severstal team agreed on a one-year deal with Twitter.com's all-star player - Zach Boychuk who spent his previous season with the Slovan Bratislava in the KHL scoring 11 goals and 13 assists while participating in 35 games.