MINSK, 20 August (BelTA) – HC Yunost Minsk head coach Mikhail Zakharov has been appointed as head coach of the Belarusian national ice hockey team, BelTA has learned.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation on 20 August.
“It is a great responsibly, especially ahead of the 2021 IIHF World Championship in Minsk. At present we have no players of Kalyuzhny's level, but we will be working on the matter together with the coaches of all hockey clubs,” said the new head coach of the Belarusian national team.
He added that new naturalized foreign players would benefit the Belarusian team.
Mikhail Zakharov signed a two-year contract. The coaching staff of the national team under Mikhail Zakharov will be discussed later.
Mikhail Zakharov is the Honored Coach of the Republic of Belarus, the USSR international master of sports. As the coach of HC Yunost Minsk he won the Belarusian Ice Hockey Championship eight times. He also won Belarus Cup six times and Continental Cup three times. Mikhail Zakharov led the Belarusian youth and junior national teams. He also led the national team at the IIHF World Championships in 2004 and 2005, at the 2005 Olympic qualifiers and at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. He repeatedly assisted the head coach of the Belarusian national team. Mikhail Zakharov was named Best Coach of Belarus three times.
Photos by Andrei Pokumeiko
