| Traktor Chelyabinsk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Chelyabinsk,Russia |
| League | KHL 2008–present
|
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | Kharlamov |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Home arena | Traktor Ice Arena (capacity: 7,500) |
| Colours | |
| General manager | Ivan Savin |
| Head coach | Benoit Groulx |
| Affiliates | Chelmet Chelyabinsk (VHL) Belye Medvedi (MHL) |
| Website | hctraktor |
| Franchise history | |
| 1948–1953 | Dzerzhinets |
| 1954–1958 | Avangard |
| 1958–present | Traktor Chelyabinsk |
 Current season | |
Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known asTraktor, orHC Traktor Chelyabinsk, (Russian:ХК Трактор Челябинск; Трактор) is a professionalice hockey club based inChelyabinsk, Russia. It is a member of theKharlamov Division in theKontinental Hockey League (KHL). From 1967 to 2009, the team played its home games at theYunost Sport Palace. Since 2009, the club has played inTraktor Ice Arena named after Valery Belousov.
Founded in 1947 as a team of theChelyabinsk Tractor Plant, Traktor have played for the Soviet and Russian championships since 1948. In 1948-1953 the team was calledDzerzhinets andAvangard in 1954 - 1958. The current name was adopted starting with the1958–59 season.[1]
Traktor played its first game in the top league on December 12, 1948 againstCDKA Moscow.Viktor Shuvalov, a future star of Moscow clubsVVS andCSKA, led the team in scores during its first season in the championship. In1955 Chelyabinsk reached the fourth place for the first time (back then a medal table still was dominated by the Moscow teams).[citation needed]
In 1965 - 1968, Traktor played in the second division of the Soviet hockey championships. The team returned to the first division in 1968.[citation needed] In 1973, Traktor played in theUSSR Cup finals against the CSKA. Although Traktor led 2-0, they lost the game with a score of 2-5.[citation needed] In the 1976-77 season Traktor won bronze in the Soviet hockey championships, the team's highest achievement during the Soviet period of its history.[citation needed]
At that time, Traktor produced several players who achieved international prominence. One of the best Soviet forwards of all times,Sergei Makarov, was born in Chelyabinsk and began his career in Traktor. Along his teammate, defensemanSergei Starikov, he regularly played on the Soviet national team from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. Starikov and Makarov each won over 10 international tournaments with Team USSR.[citation needed]
In the early 1990s, Traktor twice finished third in theInternational Hockey League under head coachValery Belousov. A group of Traktor players, includingSergei Gomolyako,Valeri Karpov,Igor Varitsky,Ravil Gusmanov and others, appeared on Team Russia at several world championships.
During the late 1990s ice hockey in Chelyabinsk entered a period of decline. In 1998 Traktor was relegated to theVysshaya Liga and was replaced in its role as the major hockey team ofChelyabinsk byMechel. The team found its way back to the elite only in 2006. Coached byGennady Tsygurov they won the second division championship earning promotion to the Russian Superleague.
After the 2006-07 season, Tsygurov resigned. He was replaced byAndrei Nazarov, a native of Chelyabinsk who had spent 13 seasons in the NHL as an enforcer. Although he succeeded at securing Traktor's place in the top league, Nazarov's coaching style led Traktor to a new world record in overall penalty minutes in a single game that was set after the mass brawl versusAk Bars Kazan in January 2008.
During2008–09 KHL season Traktor was reinforced by its alumniRavil Gusmanov and NHL starOleg Kvasha. Despite a good start Chelyabinsk finished the regular season with disappointing results and eventually failed to advance in the playoffs further than the first round losing the series toAtlant Moscow Oblast with an overall score 13-2. Kvasha was named the team's MVP of the season. 2009 was also notable for the club's move to theArena Traktor. The first game in the new arena, played againstMetallurg Magnitogorsk, was won by 3-2. The first player to score a goal was defencemanAndre Lakos.
Before the2009–10 season the team had to face budget cuts and lose its biggest stars includingOleg Kvasha andEvgenii Dadonov. After an unstable performance in the regular season the team advanced to the playoffs with the lowest seed ultimately losing to its natural rivalMetallurg Magnitogorsk in the first round.
During the 2010 off-seasonNazarov left to coach infamousVityaz Chekhov and was replaced by Andrei Sidorenko who was fired off his job right after the disastrous start of the season. In October 2010Valery Belousov returned as Traktor's head coach, but, nonetheless, during the2010–11 the team failed to make the playoffs.
After the lackluster season the team finally fixing its financial issues seriously rearranged the roster with future stars such asVladimir Antipov,Stanislav Chistov,Jan Bulis,Petri Kontiola and goaltenderMichael Garnett. The results were immediate, Traktor became the best team of the2011–12 regular season winningContinental Cup and taking bronze medals after losing to Avangard Omsk in Eastern Conference Finals. The biggest breakthrough of the season was a young wingerEvgeny Kuznetsov who led the team in points. Another homegrown Chelyabinsk player,Konstantin Panov, who returned to Traktor after five seasons of absence, became the team's goal scoring leader.
Traktor kept all of its leaders for the2012–13 season. Unlike many other clubs in the league Chelyabinsk did not sign any NHL players who were returning to Europe during theNHL lockout. Facing much stronger competition this time Traktor finished the regular season in the third place of the Eastern Conference. Kuznetsov continued his successful career leading the team in points, goals and assists. 17 years old forwardValeri Nichushkin became that season's major breakthrough for Chelyabinsk, later in 2013 he won the Cherepanov Trophy as the KHL's Rookie of the Year and was picked in the top 10 of theNHL Entry Draft by theDallas Stars.
On its way to theGagarin Cup Finals Traktor had to endure three seven game series againstBarys Astana,Avangard Omsk andAk Bars Kazan, all three of those rounds were won back by the team from the position of 3-1 down in the series. One of the main components of the success was goaltender Michael Garnett who had 5 shutouts during the post-season andGAA of 1.86. However, the team was less fortunate in the final games played versus the defending championsDynamo Moscow. Failing to take the lead in the series Traktor ultimately lost it 4-2.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTW = Overtime/shootout wins, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Season | GP | W | OTW | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Top Scorer | Playoffs |
| 2008–09 | 56 | 24 | 2 | 22 | 8 | 84 | 142 | 166 | 4th, Tarasov | Andrei Nikolishin(39 points: 10 G, 29 A; 48 GP) | Lost in preliminary round, 0–3 (Atlant Moscow Oblast) |
| 2009–10 | 56 | 18 | 3 | 31 | 5 | 64 | 137 | 192 | 4th, Kharlamov | Evgeny Skachkov(36 points: 22 G, 11 A; 51 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1–3 (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) |
| 2010–11 | 54 | 14 | 8 | 26 | 6 | 64 | 142 | 166 | 5th, Kharlamov | Deron Quint(32 points: 21 G, 11 A; 53 GP) | Did not qualify |
| 2011–12 | 54 | 32 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 114 | 163 | 116 | 1st, Kharlamov | Evgeny Kuznetsov(41 points: 19 G, 22 A; 49 GP) | Lost in Conference Finals, 1–4 (Avangard Omsk) |
| 2012–13 | 52 | 28 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 98 | 152 | 120 | 2nd, Kharlamov | Evgeny Kuznetsov(44 points: 19 G, 25 A; 51 GP) | Lost inGagarin Cup Finals, 2–4 (Dynamo Moscow) |
| 2013–14 | 54 | 18 | 7 | 22 | 7 | 75 | 126 | 148 | 5th, Kharlamov | Petri Kontiola(37 points: 15 G, 22 A; 53 GP) | Did not qualify |
| 2014–15 | 60 | 21 | 8 | 24 | 7 | 86 | 144 | 154 | 3rd, Kharlamov | Anton Glinkin(38 points: 13 G, 25 A; 54 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Sibir Novosibirsk) |
| 2015–16 | 60 | 17 | 12 | 23 | 8 | 83 | 132 | 151 | 5th, Kharlamov | Alexander Rybakov(27 points: 9 G, 18 A; 55 GP) | Did not qualify |
| 2016–17 | 60 | 27 | 3 | 20 | 10 | 97 | 130 | 120 | 3rd, Kharlamov | Paul Szczechura(41 points: 14 G, 27 A; 60 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Barys Astana) |
| 2017–18 | 56 | 26 | 7 | 19 | 4 | 96 | 129 | 121 | 2nd, Kharlamov | Paul Szczechura(42 points: 20 G, 22 A; 55 GP) | Lost in Conference Finals, 0–4 (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| 2018–19 | 62 | 18 | 9 | 31 | 4 | 58 | 102 | 151 | 5th, Kharlamov | Ryan Stoa(27 points: 11 G, 16 A; 59 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0–4 (Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg) |
| 2019–20 | 62 | 20 | 5 | 31 | 6 | 56 | 132 | 161 | 6th, Kharlamov | Lukáš Sedlák(40 points: 23 G, 17 A; 57 GP) | Did not qualify |
| 2020–21 | 60 | 27 | 7 | 20 | 6 | 74 | 157 | 143 | 3rd, Kharlamov | Tomáš Hyka(49 points: 14 G, 35 A; 59 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1–4 (Salavat Yulaev Ufa) |
| 2021–22 | 49 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 71 | 152 | 119 | 2nd, Kharlamov | Lukáš Sedlák(43 points: 18 G, 25 A; 49 GP) | Lost in Conference Finals, 1–4 (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) |
| 2022–23 | 68 | 23 | 8 | 27 | 10 | 72 | 169 | 190 | 5th, Kharlamov | Anton Burdasov(46 points: 19 G, 27 A; 48 GP) | Did not qualify |
| 2023–24 | 68 | 27 | 10 | 25 | 6 | 80 | 163 | 157 | 4th, Kharlamov | Maxim Shabanov(50 points: 25 G, 25 A; 64 GP) | Lost in Semifinals, 0–4 (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl) |
| 2024–25 | 68 | 38 | 7 | 17 | 6 | 96 | 223 | 159 | 1st, Kharlamov | Maxim Shabanov(67 points: 23 G, 44 A; 65 GP) | Lost inGagarin Cup Finals, 1–4 (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl) |
Viktor Vasiliev, 1948–52 Vasily Karelin, 1952–54 Sergei Zakhvatov, 1954–62 Nikolai Sidorenko, 1962–64 Aleksandr Novokreshchenov, 1964 Viktor Stolyarov, 1964–65 Vladislav Smirnov, 1965 Albert Danilov, 1965–66 Viktor Stolyarov, 1968–73 Albert Danilov, 1973–74 Anatoly Kostryukov, 1974–78 Gennadi Tsygurov, 1978–84 Anatoly Shustov, 1984–87 Gennadi Tsygurov, 1987–90
Valery Belousov, 1990–95 Anatoly Kartaev, 1995 Sergei Grigorkin, 1995–99 Anatoly Timofeev, 2000–01 Sergei Paramonov, 2001 Aleksandr Glazkov, 2001–02 Nikolai Makarov, 2002–03 Anatoly Timofeev, 2003–05
Anatoly Bogdanov, 2005 Gennadi Tsygurov, 2005–07Andrei Nazarov, 2007–10
Andrei Sidorenko, April 2010 - October 2010 Valery Belousov, 2010–2014
Karri Kivi, May 2014 - October 2014 Andrei Nikolishin, October 2014 – November 2015 Anvar Gatiyatulin, November 2015 – April 2018German Titov, June 2018 – October 2018 Alexei Tertyshny, October 2018 – April 2019
Pēteris Skudra, April 2019 – November 2019Vladimir Yurzinov, November 2019 – April 2020Anvar Gatiyatulin, April 2020 – October 2023Alexey Zavarukhin, October 2023 – May 2024
Benoit Groulx, May 2024 –Traktor Chelyabinsk hangs on the rafters of the Traktor Arena jerseys of all the Traktor players who have ever won the World Championship title, including the players who are currently active.
| Traktor Chelyabinsk honored members | ||||
| No | Player | Position | Career | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sergei Mylnikov | G | 1976–89 | |
| 4 | Sergei Babinov | D | 1972–75 | |
| 7 | Dmitri Kalinin | D | 1995–98 | |
| 8 | Viktor Shuvalov | LW | 1947–49 | |
| 9 | Igor Varitsky | F | 1988–95, 2004–05 | |
| 11 | Evgeny Davydov | RW | 1984–86 | |
| 12 | Sergei Starikov | D | 1976–79 | |
| 24 | Sergei Makarov | RW | 1976–78 | |
| 24 | Valeri Karpov | RW | 1988–95, 2005–06 | |
| 25 | Konstantin Astrakhantsev | RW | 1988–94 | |
| 25 | Andrei Sapozhnikov | D | 1990–95, 1997–98 | |
| 27 | Vyacheslav Bykov | C | 1980–82 | |
| 28 | Alexander Semin | RW | 2001–02 | |
| 30 | Andrei Zuyev | G | 1991–99, 2002–04 | |
| 92 | Evgeny Kuznetsov | RW | 2009– | |
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed KHL regular season.[3]
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game = current Traktor player
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KHL Continental Cup(1): 2012Vysshaya Liga Championship(1): 2006
Gagarin Cup(1): 2013
Gagarin Cup(4): 2012, 2018, 2022, 2024USSR Cup(1): 1973Soviet League Championship: 1977IHL Championship(2): 1993, 1994Spengler Cup(1): 1973
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