Sergei Gomolyako: Francouz is a great goalie

Traktor’s young and promising prospect Vitali Abramov has left to play in Canada. Was it possible to retain him?
We offered him a contract that was twice as big as the biggest contract that is possible plus dividends that were unheard of in the MHL. I talked to Vitali’s father, and he said that his son would stay on these conditions. However, sometime later his agent phoned me and said that Abramov decided to leave. I am not the type of guy who likes to persuade people. If a player wants to try himself in North America, it’s his decision. I just think that he would have more opportunities here since we have managed to establish a solid system that links KHL’s Traktor, VHL’s Chelmet and MHL’s Medvedi.

Do you think he might have been oblivious to the talks?
I think he might have. I did not talk to him, only to his agent and father. I told the agent that Vitali could come and say himself that he wanted to leave. Then, his father came and said Abramov was leaving, and nothing could stop him from staying here. We have the KHL rights on Abramov locked tight, he remains within the system of the team. Plus, we are not going to throw obstacles his way – if he wants to try his fare in the NHL, why not?

A hockey website published an article that said the main reason behind Abramov’s departure was the fact that he, a young yet promising prospect, was either put in the fourth line or left to ride the pine.
He is three years younger than the majority of Medvedi’s players who are around 20 years of age. We did not set out to bury his career or something of the kind. You have to understand something – as the proverb says, all in good time. We could have put him against 20 year-olds, and he might have gotten hit badly. What would the media say about the coaching staff? You know the answer – they would have accused us of putting a young player in harm’s way. Anvar Gatiyatulin was simply preparing him for the upcoming season where Vitali would have gotten his chance to shine.

There are other Traktor prospects currently playing in the CHL like Dmitri Sergeyev, Aleksandr Mikulovich, Yakov Trenin. Would you like to bring all of them back?
Of course we would love to, but it’s their choice. If they decide to return, we would welcome them back with open arms. However, there is no point doing so because they have been saying all along that they wanted to play in North America. Should they not become a fixture in the NHL, they might come back to Chelyabinsk and become big stars here. I don’t think we should chain them here if they want to leave. Then again, no one there guarantees them a spot in the big leagues – there are more than enough local players who are also very deserving of the opportunity.

Ilya Zinovyev is one of those who actually came back. You had already been appointed when it happened, right?
Yes, he returned when I already had been appointed. He showed all of us that he is a very good player. It’s the boys’ desire to come back. If they decide so, they are more than welcome here.

Is it even possible to stop this trend of young players leaving so early? Next year, another young prospect could travel over the pond.
For now, all Traktor’s young prospects are locked. If any one of them wants to leave, we can’t do anything to stop them. This is the issue that Ice Hockey Federation of Russia has to deal with. If they work out some kind of agreement with the NHL, then this trend might stop.

Vyacheslav Fetisov recently said that only those Russian players who reach 28 years of age could leave for the NHL. Do you agree?
No, I don’t. If the age was, say, 22, then I would have agreed. Some players hang their skates when they are 28.

A whole line of Traktor-1998 players is headed to the MHL to represent Russia’s junior team. Do you agree with them leaving?
Well, it’s not five, it’s actually three since Podkorytov was left out and Abramov is going to Canada. I have mixed emotions about this one. Obviously we would love if they played here, but on the other hand, they will get enough ice time in MHL while we will have three spots available on the roster. Since we signed all the players born in 1998, someone would ride the pine anyway. It’s the teams that don’t have enough young talent that criticize this project. It’s a two-side coin.

Traktor’s #1 draft pick this year was a Slovakian Samuel Fereta. What is the reason behind this decision?
He could be the next big thing. If he shows potential, we will bring him here.

Does KHL need this draft, or Talent Fare, as it’s recently been called?
Again, it is a two-way street. Some teams need it, others don’t. I for one question its efficiency, especially in the format it’s conducted now. Each team wants to sign the talent from their franchise anyway. We signed 20 Traktor alumni this year; do you think we needed this draft? What the league could have done is reduce players’ wages; if they did, we would have signed them, and no draft would be needed.

What exactly should be changed in draft’s structure?
You should ask current league’s president, Dmitri Chernyshenko. We don’t need this draft. All hockey schools are linked to certain teams, so we won’t be able to organize the draft a la NHL. If, say, Amur picked Vitali Abramov, then we would have something to be upset about.

At one of the draft lotteries held several years ago, Traktor picked Tyler Toffoli. Are you following his career?
If Toffoli or other players were free of contractual obligations, we would have contacted them.

Were you upset with Medvedi’s bronze finish in the MHL? The black-and-white were the favorites to win the whole thing.
Of course I was upset, but what can I do? Medvedi led the way for the entire regular season, and getting to the league finals would have been great, but…

Do you think the formula when the team ranked lower during the regular season played the first two games on home ice was the main reason behind the loss to SKA-1946?
It was an important factor, but not the most important one. Of course it is tough to begin a playoff series on the road, but there were coaching mistakes as well.

Do you think management should not have brought Anvar Gatiyatulin back and forth to Traktor and Medvedi?
No, I don’t. He got plenty of experience in the main team. Medvedi looked very good, they just lacked something along the way.

Please share your opinion on recent restructuring of MHL, namely decreasing the number of teams and stricter regulations regarding age of players.
Age regulations remain the same, actually. We were told that at the last meeting. The threshold year will be 1995. The fact that the number of teams has been cut down is nothing but positive – money saved is money earned.

So, the old age regulations are good then?
For those teams that do not have the team of players born in 1998 – yes. As far as we are concerned, it’s not much of a difference, because almost all of the players born in 1995 and 1996 will go to Chelmet. Those who do not fit VHL will be sent to MHL. As a result, half of Medvedi’s roster will be 17 and 18 years old.

It has been reported that Chelmet is set to undergo some kind of restructuring. What is it?
Most importantly, it’s bringing young guys into the fold. The only veteran who is left is Aleksei Zavarukhin. There will not be any ambitious goals like winning medals; the objective of Chelmet’s coaching staff will be to prepare young players to the main team and to KHL.

Why Chelmet has not become an exchange point, if you will, between MHL and KHL, but rather a ‘correctional facility’?
It was because there were only a handful of young players on the roster, while it should have been otherwise.

The attendance on Chelmet’s games was terrible this past season. Can the situation be improved in the upcoming one?
This is the question you should ask our marketing department; it is their job to attract fans to the arena. Maybe they should make the free entry or something. This year Chelmet will be represented by younger players who are hungry for wins; maybe this will prompt Chelyabinsk fans to attend Chelmet’s games.

The Chelyabinsk tradition of building the team based on its own alumni has a long life. Is it even real?
No. It is absolutely impossible for any team in the world. Traktor has a great hockey school, but it’s not that perfect. Now that I think about it…it’s possible, but not if you want your team to be on top.

Is it possible to stop this mass outflow of players from Chelyabinsk?
It would be, if we had a budget comparable to those the richest teams in the league have. If one of our player’s contract expires, and another team offers him twice or three times as much as we did when we signed him, we are unable to make a counter proposal that is better.

Does it upset you that Chelyabinsk-born players are instrumental in other teams’ victories? SKA has five players from Chelyabinsk on the roster.
On the one hand, I am glad for them – they become league champions, and this is a great honor. On the other hand, I am somewhat upset because I believe if they played here, Traktor could be a contender for the Cup.

Some fans and profile journalists criticized Andrei Nikolishin for his unwillingness to involve more young players. Will the situation be different in the next season?
What do you mean, unwillingness? Penkovsky, Osnovin, Demchenko, Yerofeyev – are you counting? These fans and journalists are strange fellows – they love to criticize every move and then say ‘So, where’s the Cup?’ It’s impossible to build a team of 20 year-olds and win the Cup on the spot. Young players should gradually become better. It is an open secret that players born in 1995, 1996 and even 1997 participated in Traktor’s training sessions. However, talents like Kuznetsov or Nichushkin are few and far between.

What about Semyon Afonasyevsky?
He is well-built, I’ll give him that, but he can’t just go out there and immediately start scoring, just like Nichushkin did two years ago. He will be in the training camp, but no one will be taken to the roster due to past merits. If Afonasyevsky proves he is ready for Traktor, he will play.

How many young players will participate in Traktor’s summer training camp?
We currently have five complete lines, and we would love to have another that is made up only of young players. The first few weeks will be in Chelyabinsk; it all actually depends on Nikolishin’s decision.

Do you see Vyacheslav Osnovin as one of Traktor’s future leaders?
Of course! His talent and potential…sky really is the limit for him.

Could you please explain the recent trades involving D-men, namely the return of Aleksandr Shinin, departure of fan favorite Yevgeni Katichev etc.?
The departure of Yevgeni Katichev brings us back to the point of the virtual impossibility of building the team on own alumni alone. I would love to have him here, but trades are a part of hockey. I think we did him good – when you play in one team for a long time and get injured a lot, you need to change the environment around you. Even fan favorites sometimes leave. I think Yevgeni will be fine; if he chooses to return, he is always welcome. Maybe he will be back in a year or two; then again, he might say he wants to play in Tatarstan because of the clean air there, who knows…
We brought Shinin back because he learned to play hockey here in Chelyabinsk and looked great in Severstal during this past season, posting a decent +8 index. He is a great stay-at-home type defenseman. Finally, we brought Klimontov back because we don’t see Kostromitin on the roster for the upcoming season.

Did you or did you not try to retain Oleg Piganovich?
We did not want to retain the defensemen with big contracts. We offered them lower wages, and none of the agreed. However, there are plenty of young D-men like the returning Khlystov, Martynov, Borodkin, Davydov, Klimontov, Kalashnikov, Smolin and so on.

Rumor mill sent Yegor Martynov to Sibir. How did you manage to retain him here?
Sibir made a better offer to him than Traktor, but when he came to Chelyabinsk, we talked it through and were able to find common ground.

Were you disappointed with Demchenko’s performance in the Kharlamov Cup playoffs?
I was, and I would say this was one of other reasons Medvedi failed to reach the Cup. Vasili should have been of bigger help to Medvedi, given his KHL experience. In the next season, there will be five goalies vying for the number one spot – Pavel Francouz, Vasili Demchenko, Aleksandr Danilishin, Yegor Nazarov and another goalie from VHL, a Traktor hockey school alum.

Is Francouz really that good?
He led his team to the championship. Then again, Litvinov is a great overall team. The goalie was 50% of the success; and yes, he is really, really good.

What do you expect from the returning Maksim Yakutsenya?
We want to him to be one of team’s leaders, and we believe he has everything it takes for that role.

You also said Traktor would sign two forwards from AHL. How are the negotiations going along?
The deal with Alexandre Bolduc is almost a lock.

Does it mean Francis Pare is leaving?
I can’t say anything definite regarding Pare.

What went wrong with Pare last season?
Nothing. He looked good, it’s just that due to lack of centers we had to move him from the wing, and he got lost there.

Are you expecting Ruzicka to continue to grow as a player?
Towards the end of the season, Martin played exactly the way we wanted him to.

Last year, Traktor president and Governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast Boris Dubrovski set out an ambitious goal – to win the Gagarin Cup medals. Does it apply for the next season as well?
It’s too early to set objectives, but we are smart enough to understand that Traktor should strive to win every game. How this is going to play out is an entirely different matter. The team should be younger and hungrier. We will fight for each victory, trust me on that.