Ivan Senichev: I want to see more from Traktor, just like everybody else

The first month of the KHL regular season has passed. Are you satisfied with Traktor’s performance and results?

Of course not.

What exactly went wrong?
Well, first of all, Traktor is the worst team in the league when it comes to power play. I looked up the stats and found out that we had had a total of 73 power plays. More than two games in PP – and only a handful of goals! Of course, Michael Garnett’s injury one week prior to the regular season was a big shock for us. He is our most valuable and the highest-paid player that the team relies on. Definitely there is a goalie problem, and it is reflected in the psychology of the skaters because they play a different game when they know there is someone behind their back that they can count on. Dominik Hasek was the wall in Buffalo, and so is Garnett in Traktor. Of course, there is a positive side to anything, and in this case, it is the performance by Vasili Demchenko. I have no doubt that he will eventually become a great goaltender – all we have to do is trust him and put him in the nets. But that is the future – for now skaters should double as much attention to their defensive efforts. Bad luck is also involved – just think about how many times our forwards and D-men found the iron instead of the net!
Regular season’s schedule is also questionable. Everyone loves comparing Traktor to our geographical neighbor, Metallurg Magnitogorsk. But look at the teams they played against! Medvescak, Lada, Atlant, HC Sochi... We, on the other hand, had to face Dynamo Moscow, SKA, CSKA, Jokerit, Salavat etc. Quite frankly, they all kicked our rear end. Right now we rank 9^th in Eastern Conference standings – exactly the spot we finished the last season at. We don’t have to sound the alarm just yet – new coaching staff, new players, a tough schedule etc. Nonetheless, I am sure we could be doing much better.

Let's go back to the spring of 2014. How would rate this offseason’s selection process?
Let me ask you something. When do you think the selection process for the next season starts?

I think it is a year-round process.
Of course. Right now, a selection process for the next season should already begin. When we try to do something in April and May, we just cut loose ends, so to speak. What we have done though is not too shabby either.
Remember when Kontiola announced his decision to leave the team? He did this in July. One of our best players, best centers that the coaching staff counted on decided to leave in July. However, we quickly managed to find a substitute for him. And by the way, if Kontiola ever returns to KHL, he can only play for Traktor.

Have you contacted him and offered to return to Traktor?
Not yet. Maple Leafs sent him to the AHL. You should remember that he left us when his contract was still valid, having paid 20 million rubles for the termination of this contract. Maple Leafs does not pay him as much as Traktor did, but he still said he wanted to go over the pond. Maybe, there is a moment in every man’s life when he wants to settle down somewhere. Money is not the most important thing for him. Anyways, we are always open to bringing him back because he is still loved by Chelyabinsk fans and team players.

Will bringing Petri back mean that some foreign players are going to have to leave the club?
Yes, since all foreign-born players slots are occupied. If the opportunity comes about, we are going to have to think about it. Kontiola is quality player.

Kyle Wilson, who replaced Kontiola, doesn’t show his best game…
I would even go so far as to say that none of the foreign-born players has been showing their A-game. Garnett is sidelined, Ruzicka and Wilson are capable of doing much more that they currently do. Bulis and Quint are on par, but even they can do better.

One more thing – despite the declared intention of relying on young players, half of the team is in their 30s, and the other is on the brink of hitting 30. How did that happen?
I would not say we don’t have young players. Osnovin, Gubarev, Penkovski, Demchenko, Khlystov – they are in their early 20s. Khlystov, by the way, has gone a long way in the last few months. During the offseason I asked Karri Kivi to rank all defensemen we had back then. Do you know where Kivi ranked Khlystov? Tenth. Right now Khlystov is a staple in the second or third defensive pair, even despite the fact that he is still 21. We have already talked about Demchenko. Osnovin has a lot of untapped potential too.

Why did Traktor resign Chistov and Kostitsyn? Is it because of the inability to bring Yakutsenya and Dadonov back into the fold?
We offered Yakutsenya as lucrative a contract as did Magnitka. All I can say is he could not do it in Chelyabinsk. As far as Dadonov is concerned – yes, we were not able to get him. As soon as it became clear that Donbass was leaving KHL, we started to look at the leading players of the team. Now, to Chistov – there are different opinions about him, but I personally believe in him. He is a quality player in Of course, we can treat him in different ways. I believe in his potential. He is a good player, and his age still allows him to play on a high level. Look at the stats – he’s the best goalscorer right now. There is something wrong with the team, yet individually the level of players is above average. Tell you what – some teams in the league already contacted us and made offers on many of them.

Who are ‘them’?
(smiles) Many of ‘them’. In fact, three entire lines. However, each team asks for one particular player, in retail, if you will. This means our players are valued. We believe in them too, but, of course, they must take it to the next level. We hope that September was a stroke of bad luck and October is going to be a start of a new era.

Are you satisfied with the players’ attitude towards what they do?
No, I am not.

Why?
Because I, like everyone else, want more from Traktor. It is possible from time to time to lose in away games, but you cannot lose home games under any circumstances, yet we have lost three games in a row at Traktor Arena. I have already told the team about it; people come to see them, they spent their money, big money for some of them… These people really care about Traktor. I understand that hockey is just a game and anything can happen, but we need to win home games and do whatever it takes to do it, against any opponent, in regulation time, overtime, shootouts – we just have to! But if we lose home games, this means everyone, especially the players, did not do everything what it took to win it.

Do you mean they need to put extra efforts into the game?
Yes, sort of. Physical, emotional – any kind will do. If your skill does not allow you to outplay your opponent, then the extra effort is what you need to resort to. Here (turns to the wall) I have a quote: ‘Will is something that makes you getup and win even when your mind says you are done'.

But you just can’t make extra efforts appear out of nowhere…
A home team should be extra motivated. Don’t know how, just should be! Eat raw meat, bite a stick, punch each other’s cheeks or a punching bag – do anything to win! If you don’t, this means you did not give it their all out there. Big things are made of the little ones that can’t be ignored.

Are you satisfied with the work of the coaching staff? Not the head coach, but his assistants?
(thinking) Not quite, because the results are just not there. It's hard to explain for me, because it is difficult from a professional point of view to evaluate their job. But coaching staff should be even closer than the team itself. They need to give the results, but so far they don’t. Hopefully they will.

How do you personally evaluate the work of Karri Kivi?
I can’t say for sure. It’s only been one month. Let's just say we believe in him, his professionalism and attitude.

He was not in an enviable position though – the guy comes to a team, does not invite a single player or an assistant…
We told him he could invite any assistant he wanted, but he refused, saying that he was satisfied with everybody around him. Later he only asked to bring a goalies coach to Chelyabinsk, which we did. We don’t limit the resources to help Kivi. We brought him, and he suits the coach. We don’t shorten any resources to Kivi. It’s actually quite the opposite – Boris Dubrovski and other members of Supervisory Board often ask Karri whether he needs something. Same goes with the, by the way.

Are you sure that Kivi is respected by the players, many of whom are very experienced? He is well respected in Finland, but he is yet to prove himself in Russia.
So far, as we can see, the team has a positive attitude. Let's be honest here – yes, there is something missing in team’s performance on the ice, but they have normal working relationship with the coach, they trust him and certainly do not lose games intentionally to get rid of him.

Just a hypothetical question: if there were a conflict between Kivi and the players, who would be removed from the team?
You better ask Sergei Gomolyako. And what players do you mean? There was a situation that took place in Omsk when coach Raimo Summanen and Jaromir Jagr had an altercation. Jagr, being the captain, said that he was going to keep the team in check, and the coach was fired later. But tell me, whom of our experienced players can tear through the opposition, like Jagr does, to get the result the team needs? We do not have such players. I also doubt the whole team will boycott Kivi as there has to be a solid reason for this. I am impressed by the fact that there is a mutual understanding between the players and the coach. But the result is required from Kivi as well as from players, and the month of October is going to be a definitive one in this regard.

So can Kivi just keep on working?
Does he not right now? He is not called to the office every day. We meet only at work. Management constantly asks whether he needs anything, but so far he says it’s all good. We are now out of the playoff zone, although there were three home games, but we could be much higher in the rankings. This is not good, but then again, October should bring some result.

Team management was replaced during the offseason. Many people understand why you brought along the people whom you worked with in Magnitogorsk.
Vladimir Antipin is the last person in this string of appointments. Himself and other members of new management have done it all. Yes, many of them change teams, including Magnitka, but we needed someone who means a lot for Traktor, and for whom Traktor is also something very near and dear. Sergey Gomolyako is a symbolic figure for Chelyabinsk hockey. I think he is a good great choice for the team

Were there other candidates except Gomolyako?
(smiles) Yes there were, and a lot. I can’t tell you the names because it is unethical. We decided to choose Gomolyako, and that’s it.

Not only the management directly responsible for team’s performance on the ice has been changed in the club, but the executive have too. Denis Telikh, the new executive director, is now responsible for all the organizational, financial and technical issues. Are you satisfied his work?
Yes, as a whole I am. It seems to me that he has grown enormously in professional aspect during these few months. And I think that in a year he will become a very good executive. Teilkh was able to optimize the expenses of the team. Here is a small example – last season Traktor and Magnitka flew around the country and abroad using the same airlines and the same routes, yet for whatever reason Traktor paid twice as much money as did Magnitka. Denis managed to optimize these costs.

What is the current financial situation of the team?
... (After some hesitation) As any other sane person would answer – of course we would love to have more funds, any day of the year (knocking knuckles on the table).

It is clear to everyone that this season is transitional for Traktor, isn’t it?
Of course.

Does the team have a temptation to lose games intentionally in this season and focus all efforts on the next season?
No, absolutely – it’s not how Traktor rolls! As far as the second part of the question goes – we are focusing our efforts on the next seasons too.

But why don’t you clean the roster and payroll?
You can’t do everything at once, simply because it’s hard to find really good and, most importantly, free players at the market. There are no such players at all! The club has a strategy for the next two seasons. There are objectives set by Traktor’s President Boris Dubrovski, roles are split between team’s executives. This season the team has to get into the playoffs and advance as far as possible. Missing the playoffs is out of question. Next season’s objectives are to get into conference finals. By the way, no one would even remember that one and a half years ago Magnitka was blown away by Salavat in the first round of playoffs because the very next season they won the Cup.

And will there be any resources to fulfill these objectives?
The team has enough resources. Another example, this time from the last season’s playoffs – Lokomotiv. They have the budget almost equal to Traktor, and their roster was not much better than ours. And somehow they jumped to the 8^th place in the playoffs when no one believed they could... They defeated SKA and Dynamo to advance to the Western Conference finals. What about Traktor? We had all the chances to get into the playoffs, but one point was what divided us and Admiral.

Do you think someone on the roster is not hungry for wins anymore?
... (Pause) Maybe. Gomolyako once said about it.

Some fans feel that the fate of the team in many ways depends on head of the region’s attitude towards it. Mikhail Yurevich was an avid hockey fan, but apparently, same cannot be said about Boris Dubrovski.
This is not so. Over the past six months he has visited so many meetings with players and coaches, they said they had not seen so much attention. When he is not away for a business trip, he visits hockey games.

When was the last time you and him talked about hockey?
Actually, just this morning. We discussed the results, and I use that term loosely, of last three home games.

Was it a serious conversation?
You could certainly say that (smiles). I also received some objectives which I communicated to the team.