Ex-coach Bratash takes over struggling VHL team Buran.
In a move that has sent ripples through the Russian hockey world, the VHL's struggling Buran has turned to a familiar face in a bid to reverse their fortunes, appointing former coach Oleg Bratash to take the helm of a ship that is currently taking on water. The Voronezh-based club finds itself in a dire position, languishing in 28th place out of 32 teams in the VHL regular season, a stark statistic underscored by a paltry haul of just 9 points from their opening 11 matches—a points-per-game ratio that screams systemic failure and places them firmly in the league's basement, a territory no professional outfit ever wants to inhabit.Bratash, whose coaching passport was last stamped at Lada, a tenure that spanned from the summer of 2023 through to November 2024, now steps into a pressure cooker situation, tasked with a rescue mission that would test the mettle of any tactician. The club's press service officially welcomed him aboard with a statement confirming, 'Oleg Vladimirovich will begin work at Buran on October 15.Welcome to Buran!'—a simple announcement that belies the immense challenge ahead. For Bratash, this isn't just another job; it's a return to the grind he openly admits he missed, having recently confessed, 'My hands are itching, I've managed to miss the work, I'm waiting for the opportunity.I've been in hockey my whole life—50 years—you can't abstract yourself from it, even if you want to. ' This isn't merely a coach coming back; it's a hockey lifer answering the siren call of the rink, a narrative reminiscent of a seasoned quarterback being pulled off the bench in the fourth quarter to salvage a seemingly lost game.The parallels to football are striking; this is the hockey equivalent of a club in the relegation zone bringing in a veteran manager known for his disciplined, structured approach, much like a Diego Simeone being brought in to instil defensive solidity and a fighting spirit in a squad devoid of confidence. The VHL, often overshadowed by the glitz of the KHL, is a brutal proving ground where margins are thin and every point is fought for with tooth and nail, and Buran's current trajectory points towards a long, painful season of disappointment.Bratash's record at Lada will be scrutinized with a fine-tooth comb; what were the underlying metrics of his team's performance? Did they overperform expected goals? Was his system defensively sound but offensively stagnant? These are the analytical questions that will define his early days in Voronezh. His immediate task will be to shore up a defence that has likely been leaking high-danger chances and to find a way to unlock an offence that has probably been firing blanks, a challenge akin to rebuilding an engine mid-flight.The players, many of whom are young prospects dreaming of a KHL call-up or seasoned veterans seeing out their careers, now face a pivotal moment; they must buy into Bratash's philosophy completely, or face being cast aside. In the grand chessboard of hockey, this coaching change is a bold, perhaps desperate, move by Buran's management, a gamble that the experience and hunger of a coach like Bratash—a man with five decades in the game—can provide the necessary shock therapy to jolt this team back to life.The coming weeks will be a fascinating case study in coaching impact, a test of whether a new voice in the locker room and a new system on the ice can transform a collection of underperforming individuals into a cohesive, competitive unit. For the fans in Voronezh, the appointment brings a flicker of hope, a belief that their team's story this season is not yet written, and that with a coach whose 'hands are itching' to get back to work, the second chapter might just be one of redemption.
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Dmitri Volkov123k2 days ago
major move for buran but idk if bringing back an old coach is the answer tbh feels like a desperate play smh
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