Has an era passed? How Andrey Razin built a team in Cherepovets ready to fight the giants

We say Severstal, we mean Andrey Razin. We say Andrey Razin, we mean Severstal.

It’s a little strange that it doesn’t happen again. Razin left the Cherepovets club and did it just in time. Leaving on time is also an art. He spent nearly five years at the helm of the Vologda team and decided it was time to leave. You can talk a lot about the fact that the family factor played a decisive role, that someone there does not want to live in Cherepovets. But don’t forget that Razin is an athlete and a leader. People with this trait always want more, even if they disguise it well.

SEASON-2018/2019

Andrey Razin joined Severstal in November 2018. Then the team led by Alexander Gulyavtsev convulsively dangled to the bottom of the table, falling into the pit. Defeats, indistinct play, squandered points – all this literally erased last season’s peak results with access to the playoffs and an extensive marketing program aimed at strengthening the club’s recognition and attracting fans to the stands. Once again they whispered that the yellow and blacks have no place in the KHL.

And then Razin replaces Gulyavtsev as head coach. Did the conversation die down? Where the! Who simply did not vote that Severstal is preparing for the VHL. And the wave of “cleansing” carried out by Andrey Vladimirovich, who left mostly young people in the team, only intensified the widespread lamentations. What happened next? And then the Lynxes had 15 wins before the end of the season, they fell in love with their offensive hockey, but they didn’t have enough points to get into the coveted eight. Razin did what Gulyavtsev was afraid to do: he bet on youth, burning eyes and a great desire. In a club where they expect results from you here and now, that’s a risk. But those who don’t take risks don’t drink champagne.

SEASON-2019/2020

Razin’s first full season at Severstal is the season of building a new team. It was then that the title of a bold and uncompromising team began to be awarded to lynxes. They defeated Avangard in Balashikha, beat Dynamo Moscow three times, took 4 points from Oleg Znark and “flashed” in extra time, then again a member of the army team, Ilya Sorokin. They dropped terribly in matches with equal opponents, but got back up and moved on. The Cherepovites were 5 points away from the playoff zone with a three-point system. It was worthy.

There were no undercover games then. Immediately after the end of the season, a letter allegedly from Severstal hockey players, who claimed that they could no longer play under the leadership of Razin and demanded respect, became public. The story of Lapenkov resurfaced immediately, and he left the club, showering the coach with curses. However, it all turned out to be a fiction, a real game of leadership, management and other stakeholders. But not the players. During the five years that Razin was at Severstal, hockey players left the club and were sold. Many mysteriously smiled or nodded when asked about the difficult nature of their former mentor, but no one denied that it was under the leadership of Andrei Vladimirovich that he spent worthy seasons.

SEASON-2020/2021

Razin’s team did very well the following season. The Cherepovites entered the playoffs from sixth place with their heads held high. There they met with Dynamo Moscow. At that time, the main stars of the blue and white were Cherepovets’ pupils Vadim Shipachev and Dmitry Kagarlitsky. And these lynx masters were not allowed to breathe freely. The matches were, as they say, “from the knife.” The teams fought once with a score of 5:2, otherwise the lead was one puck. In Cherepovets they even worked overtime. The Lynx lost, extending their streak to five games. And that’s according to the board, but the game could have been all seven. After the end of the season, Razin noted that his team had every chance, but he lacked self-confidence.

SEASON 2021/2022

Razin also promised to return. And in the 2021/22 season Severstal was again in the playoffs, again against Dynamo. The teams played seven games. The Lynxes lost their last meeting with a score of 2:1.

The club from a small industrial town has gained respect and admirers even among the fans of other teams.

SEASON-2022/2023

This year, lynxes have only strengthened their positions. Having gone through a difficult calendar not without recessions (and who hasn’t had them?), but still without deep holes, the gialloneri have not had a long series of defeats. Entry to the playoffs from seventh place, and immediately battle with the reigning champion. Well, who believed that Severstal would play 7 games in this series? Maybe Razin. Therefore, he tried to save the match to the last, even with an impressive advantage in the opponent’s score. Yes, CSKA advanced to the second round. But the fact that the champion barely got to his feet was written by everyone.

Someone will say that three times Razin failed to reach the second round. But fighting on equal terms with the top clubs in the playoffs, setting such a beating, having a limited budget available, this is certainly a goal. A head coach-general manager rolled into one, he’s put together a tough team that is capable of fighting even when they lose one hockey player per game.

Today Andrei Razin officially announced his retirement: “I think I burned out at this stage at Severstal. Five seasons is a long time. I want to thank the hockey club very much, especially Vadim Evgenievich Germanov. This is the person who guarded me, he protected me, so to speak. All the results that the club has, for me, for the coaching staff, for the guys who have progressed, are a great credit to him.

I’m leaving. Where? I don’t know yet. I haven’t negotiated yet. Today is only the second day after our departure. Until we finish the season, I will not communicate with anyone – that’s what I told the agents.

During. Neither early nor late. As. Among the applause of the journalists, with the gratitude of the fans.

Surely there are clubs ready to offer a job to one of the most charismatic coaches in the KHL. Colleagues “court” Razin in Minsk “Dynamo”. In principle, it would be interesting to see how Andrei Vladimirovich would look in a top club… Although there is one “but” here – they do not forgive failures, they will not widely untie their hands. In general, time will tell which gang Razin will be able to assemble this time. Change is necessary, change is the engine of progress.