Evgeny Kuznetzov Fires a Shot at His Former Head Coach

There were many moments there (in the meeting),» Kuznetsov said during the interview and as translated by Google Translate. «I say, ‘You brought a coach who almost didn't fit the style, we had to rebuild.' Such moments as it were. ‘You paid me this money for something, right?' I say, ‘For what I did well.' And now [he] arrived, they tell me: ‘Listen, you don't need to do this – throw the puck into the zone, run, and [screen] the goalie.'

«This is where everything went wrong in general, because we should each have our own role, everyone should fulfill their role, and everyone will be in demand from this role,» he said. «And when you carry a piano, and then they say to you: ‘No, no, let's play the piano today.' And the person has never played the piano, and they say to him: ‘Come on, play!'»

«It's my personal opinion,» Kuznetsov said. «It's clear that maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's wrongI don't know We had such central players: Backy, me, Strome, and Dowd. Lars Eller also. I think that with such central players it was possible, in principle, to come up with something: somehow more in the middle, try to hold the puck. But with us, everything is simple: to the red zone – and off we go (to forecheck).»

«He called (twice) on the phone,» Kuznetsov said. «He himself played in the East Coast (ECHL). Then [Carbery] coached there, then farm [Hershey] – and won the AHL (regular season championship) with them. He went through our entire system. Here he is just the person who probably has the same thinking as all the central [leaders].»

«You go 2-on-1 – well, how can it be,» Kuznetsov said. «Well, you have to at least look at the pass, right? And they tell you: ‘Throw it at the blade and your partner will finish it off.' I can go to the [championship] region here, shoot, and live without any stress.»