Anatol Shumchanka On ‘Bisons’ Play: Aliaksandr Ryhoravich, Don’t Worry For Your Heart

The fans feel extremely negative about the law-enforcers bossing around in the Dynama Minsk HC.

Lukashenka, Shunevich tackled the flagship of the Belarusian ice-hockey — Dynama Minsk HC — head-on. In the off-season, the coach was replaced, a number of leading players left, and there was many questionable initiatives. The Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who supervises the "Bisons", ordered the hockey players to make it to the playoffs of the KHL.

So far, the club has not been very successful. A defeat from Jokerit (Finland), another defeat from “Vityaz”, and just yesterday, the Minskers upset their fans, having lost to CSKA (Moscow). Lukashenka said he was afraid to go to see the “Bisons” play as his heart might stop. The website charter97.org asked a big fan of Dynama Minsk, leader of the entrepreneur organization “Perspective” Anatol Shumchanka just how the “decisions” of the supervisor from the Interior affected the team’s results, and what to expect from the “Bisons” in the upcoming season:

— Financing remains Dynama’s key problem. Why did they decide to change the squad and the coach, who achieved the set goal last season? Last season, Dynama’s budget was about $23 million, this year it was cut down to $ 12-13 million. Dynama’s play is constructed basing on the above. Pure desire is not enough in the current realms of ice-hockey. Top-level players are needed, who at a certain moment take over a game and thus determine the outcome of the confrontation. I was at yesterday’s game with the CSKA. I really liked the team actions of the players, but the lack of top-level players is obvious.

We simply cannot afford a team that would play the leading role in the KHL. He wants the result — it is necessary that Dynama’s budget should match the budgets of the top five clubs of the league. In the SKA (St. Petersburg) one link exceeds the entire budget of the "Bisons" by value.

As for positive moments, I can note that they brough Kanstantsin Kaltsou, who used to play overseas, to the coaching staff. But here the question arises to the sports functionaries: in the KHL, there are two successful Belarusian coaches — Aliaksandr Andryeuski and Andrei Skabelka. Why are they not in Belarus? Why are they not in Dynama Minsk?

— Dynama once was granted a carte blanche in all actions: the financing was good as the whole Belarusian ice-hockey was about the “Bisons”. And what do we see now? They cut the budget, disorganize the team, after so much money has been "piled up" there. Where is the logic?

— This was surely a mistake. When the club had all this “easy money”, it invested in buying legionaries, instead of the development of the infrastructure or young players. During this time, when the club was given such huge money, it was possible to grow a whole load of Belarusian talents. The fact that the initiatives, suggesting the reduction of foreign players, began to emerge, doesn’t happen out of good life. The club just ran out of money.

However, there’s no great loss without some small gain. Belarusian players now have more time to play. At time, we won in the aspect of spectacularity, but lost in the aspect of the development of the Belarusian hockey, and we should “thank” the club bosses for the fact that 16 legionaries played for our team at a time.How could decent Belarusian specialists possibly emerge when foreign lame coaches placed our players in the deep reserve, and combined the first two links of legionaries. Belarusians didn’t come out when playing in the majority and spent just few minutes on ice.

But the fact remains that if we leave the KHL it will be a huge step back for the Belarusian hockey. The level of the Kontinental Hockey League is very high. But the fact is that there is still no deferred scheme, as a player who shows himself in the Belarusian championship should make it to Dynama and not get lost there. For some reason, the"Youth" constantly tries to beat the "Bisons" and show their inconsistency, instead of completing the team. You do not need to invent anything, you could use the overseas experience, where there is a farm-league of the AHL, the players of which tend to get into NHL teams.

When financing comes to an end, a team only can count on own strength. Maybe it will work in case of Dynama. The Belarusian players now have a chance to express themselves and show they are worthy of something. Either they start showing result, or the fans will stop attending their games — there’s no other option.

As for the bosses, most fans feel extremely negative about he law-enfrocers bossing around in Dynama. It’s the professionals, whose lives are directly connected with hockey, who should run the club. The ones who know the whole process inside out. Take any NHL team: where can you find a former FBI or CIA officer heading an American club? Even in Russia, sport teams are run by professionals, and we have Lukashenka coming up with "appointees".

And I would also like to address to Mr.Lukashenka: do not worry for your heart, come to see a hockey game, only not in the VIP-box, but in the fan-sector. There you will hear so many proposals for the development of hockey, that you heard at no meeting ever.