Avangard (Omsk) is a hockey club from a well-known Siberian town. Attention to hockey here is much closer than to other sports. After all, Siberian severe frosts make it so that most citizens love winter sport No. 1. This city just lives by hockey. Not a single away match is complete without a support group, no matter how far the fans have to get, and it does not matter if it is Vladivostok or Bratislava. But the team is supported not only in Omsk. Fans of “Vanguard” live in all corners of our vast Motherland, they are happy to see their beloved team in their cities.
Briefly about the story
Hockey club "Vanguard" - a team with history and traditions. It was founded 66 years ago, but during this time it was able to win many awards. Champions of Russia in 2004, repeated winners of the championships of Russia, winners and prize-winners of various international tournaments, and finally, the finalists of the Gagarin Cup in 2012, who almost became its owners (the series with Moscow Dynamo ended with a score of 3-4 not in favor of Omsk) .
The club brought up the stars of not only Russian, but also world hockey. Among them, a special place is occupied by Olympic champion Viktor Blinov, in whose honor the former Avangard home arena is named. Yuri Shatalov, Anton Kuryanov, Alexander Perezhogin, Nikita Nikitin, Alexander Svitov, Sergey Kalinin became world champions in the national teams of the USSR and Russia.
Avangard (Omsk) is a hockey club that always sets ambitious goals. This is due not only to the fact that the team longs for titles. Omsk hockey players play primarily for and for the fans. By the way, the club pays great attention to social responsibility. In the Continental Hockey League , business plays a big role in the results, and the financial side of the game is sometimes decisive. But Vanguard is one of those teams that harmoniously combine the commercial component and the social function, which consists primarily in the development of youth hockey, in popularizing this sport in the region, and in supporting fans. But a correctly selected composition is an essential element of the club.
Coaching staff
Many hockey players dream of playing for the Avangard hockey club, but to achieve the result, the correct selection of players and ensuring teamwork are required. Building a game is an essential component of the success of any hockey team. After all, hockey is a team sport. Individual craftsmanship goes by the wayside here.
The tactics followed by the team should be worked out to the smallest detail. It takes into account every situation, every possible turn of events. The coaching staff is responsible for all this. The head coach of Avangard is Evgeny Alexandrovich Kornoukhov. Together with him, the club is taught to win by Andrey Vasilievich Yakovenko and Yuri Alexandrovich Panov. For a perfect goalkeeper game, Sergey Borisovich Kravtsov is responsible. All these people are experienced specialists whose professionalism is beyond doubt.
Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers of “Vanguard” are not as many as, possibly, the head coach of the team would like. However, these 2 people do an excellent job of their task. The main goalkeeper of the team is Dominic Furch, a Czech hockey player whose career in the KHL began only this season. The player is young (he is only 25), but no longer green, since he managed to play at the highest level of the Czech Championship for 8 years for the Prague “Slavia”.
His goalkeeper partner, Denis Kostin, is even younger, he is only 20. However, he has already passed the school of the Avangard farm club, which plays in the Youth Hockey League under the name Omsk Hawks, as well as for the Russian youth team . The first matches in the playoffs, however, have so far been trusted only to the Czech goalkeeper.
Defenders
Defensive redoubts of “Vanguard” are quite good this season, however, 120 conceded goals per season is an average result, and the defenders could work better. However, in the playoffs the situation should become even better. In general, the line of defense is as follows: Yuri Alexandrov, Michal Kempni, Yunas Anelyov, Valery Vasilyev, Sergey Gusev, Denis Kulyash, Evgeny Kulik, Ilya Dervuk, Nikolai Glukhov, Ivan Lekomtsev, Andrey Pervyshin.
There are not so many legionnaires in defense: these are Yunas Anelev from Sweden, as well as Michal Kempni. The latter, by the way, has the highest utility rate in the regular season - +18. He is the leader among the defenders in points (5 + 16). But it is worth noting that the Avangard hockey club has never been fond of inviting foreign hockey players, always relying on the domestic “producer".
Forwards
With the success of the wards of Yevgeny Kornoukhov in the past regular season, everything turned out not in the best way. 11th place in terms of performance is an indicator that clearly does not correspond to the potential of the current Avangard squad. The club's list of forwards is as follows: Nikolai Lemtyugov, Maxim Kazakov, Vladimir Sobotka, Yuri Petrov, Anton Kuryanov, Alexander Chernikov, Alexey Glukhov, Alexander Popov, Peter Khokhryakov, Denis Parshin, Arthur Lauta, Alexander Perezhogin, Ilya Zubov, Valentin Pyanov, Ilya Mikheev, Anton Burdasov, Ivan Fischenko, Martin Erat.
The most productive and at the same time the most valuable player of the team is Alexander Perezhogin (15 + 21), whose utility score is +21. However, he played 12 matches more than Czech captain Vladimir Sobotka, who scored 34 points in the season (18 + 16) and has an asset score of +17. Among the attackers, Denis Parshin (10 + 21) and Ilya Zubov (8 + 22) are also highly successful. There are only two legionnaires in the attack, both of them are from the same country, the Czech Republic, but their role is extremely important, since Vladimir Sobotka is the team captain and one of the most productive players, and Martin Erat is the vice captain.
Potential
Avangard is a hockey club, the composition of which is mainly assembled from Russians. This largely explains the good teamwork of the links, which is extremely important for obtaining a result. Four representatives of the Czech Republic and one representative of Sweden clearly do not spoil the overall picture, and even, on the contrary, only strengthen the team. In addition, Avangard is a hockey club whose coaching staff is not afraid to attract young players, which indicates a well-developed youth hockey system in Omsk.
Hockey club "Vanguard" (whose full photo can be seen a little higher) - a team with a serious set of players. She can undoubtedly fight not only for prizes, but also for victory in the Gagarin Cup.