Biography
Oleg Znarok is a professional Russian and Latvian hockey player, Master of Sports of the USSR. Modern hockey fans know Znarok for its coaching work. The former hockey player received the honorary title “Honored Coach of Russia” and served as head coach of the country’s men’s ice hockey team.
Master of Sports of the USSR, hockey player and coach Oleg Znarok
It is interesting that with such a contribution to the development of Russian sports and responsibility to represent the team at international competitions, Oleg Znarok does not have Russian citizenship. After the collapse of the USSR, the Soviet hockey player remained stateless, subsequently received a Latvian passport for services to the country, and then changed his Latvian citizenship to German.
GERMAN CITIZEN
Oleg Znarok is a man of peace. Born on January 2, 1963 in Ust-Katav, Chelyabinsk region. From there he has a cool Ural character. In the 80s, he played for Dynamo Riga, with whom he won silver in the USSR Championship. When the Union collapsed, Znarok remained to live in Riga. He played for the Latvian national team and was captain for many years. And he even scored a goal in 1996, which brought Latvians into the elite of world hockey.
Znarok received Latvian citizenship for special services to the state. But in 2001 he changed it to German, because he played in the German championship for 10 years and lived in this country. He became one of his own to avoid the local limit on foreign players.
The coach of the Russian national team does not have Russian citizenship. Vyacheslav Bykov, who previously headed the country's main team, has a Swiss passport. His colleague, Igor Zakharkin, is a Swedish citizen. Coach Ilya Vorobyov, with whom Metallurg Magnitogorsk won the Gagarin Cup in April, is also German.
It’s just that in the 90s, when our hockey collapsed, all the players went to different countries. Russia could not win gold at the World Championship for 15 years. But in the last eight years she has won four titles. One of them in 2014 with Znarok in Minsk.
Childhood and youth
Oleg Valerievich Znarok was born in the city of Ust-Kataev, Chelyabinsk region, in the family of an athlete. This happened on January 2, 1963.
Oleg Znarok in his youth
From a young age, the life of the future hockey player was connected with sports, because the boy’s father Valery was a famous football coach in the city. Nevertheless, Znarok Sr. also taught hockey classes. Thanks to this, Oleg learned to skate at the age of 3. From this age it is already possible to count the beginning of the sports career of the future coach of the Russian national hockey team.
Career of coach Oleg Znark
Oleg Znarok began his coaching career in the Latvian youth team. Since 2006, he has led the Latvian national ice hockey team. By updating the team with new faces, he made it quite strong.
Coach Znarok Oleg Valerievich
In 2008, Oleg Valerievich was invited to Russia. Until 2010, he coached the hockey club of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia “Balashikha”, for which he was awarded the title “Best Coach of 2010” of the Continental Hockey League.
In the new season of 2010, he was invited to coach Dynamo Moscow. Under the leadership of Znarok, the team became a two-time winner of the Gagarin Cup (in 2012 and 2013).
In March 2014, Oleg Znark was appointed head coach of the Russian national ice hockey team. Within two months the team became the world champion.
In the semi-finals, Znarok made a threatening gesture to Swedish coach Rikard Grönborg, for which he was disqualified for one game. Therefore, he watched the World Cup final from the stands of the Minsk Arena, but this did not prevent Russian hockey players from becoming world champions 5 times.
In 2020, the team led by Oleg Valerievich became the silver medalist of the World Hockey Championship, losing to the Canadian team.
Hockey
Oleg started playing for the Traktor team. It was a city hockey club with good intra-Union prospects. Soon Znarok received an invitation to play for CSKA, which seemed a tempting prospect, but his father dissuaded the young hockey player from taking the easy path. He listened to him and was right. Soon Oleg Valerievich began playing for the USSR youth hockey team. His rapid career rise is associated with this team. In its ranks, he acquired the title of European Hockey Champion in 1981.
Hockey player Oleg Znarok
That same year, an event occurred that slowed down the sports biography of a young and promising hockey player for a long time. In the locker room, Oleg got into a fight with the old Traktor players. Probably, the conflict was the result of clashes of character between a successful but still young athlete and club veterans who could not boast of such achievements, but enjoyed great authority in the team.
The result of the fight was a one-year disqualification for Znark. However, even if the suspension had not followed, Oleg Valerievich would still not have been able to use this time for good: the guy fell ill with jaundice and took a long time to recover from this illness.
Oleg Znarok (second from left) as part of Dynamo Riga
Even before his recovery, Oleg moved to Riga at the invitation of Vladimir Yurzinov, who invited him to play for the local Dynamo. After his illness, Znark needed a lot of time and effort to regain his shape. With the end of his period of disqualification, the hockey player became one of the brightest players of Dynamo Riga; he played for them until 1992.
After 1992, Znarok played for German clubs for some time, and then began to play for the Latvian national team. He played 50 hockey matches with it. His playing career ended in 2002 due to health problems (meniscus failure), although otherwise Oleg remained in excellent shape.
Head coach of the Latvian national team Oleg Znarok
After finishing his playing career, Znarok began working as a coach almost without a break. At first he trained the Latvian youth team, and already in 2006 he became the head coach of the national team. During his coaching, a large number of old players left the national team, retiring for health reasons, so the team's composition was radically updated, but this did not lead to a drop in the level of play. It is this fact that is given credit to the head coach.
Oleg Znarok held this position until 2011, after which he left a good legacy: the Latvian national team is still a fairly strong team in Europe.
Oleg Znarok with the Gagarin Cup
Since 2008, Znarok began coaching Russian clubs. The first of these was the hockey team of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Since 2010, Oleg Valerievich began training for the Moscow club Dynamo. His achievements in this position include Dynamo winning the Gagarin Cup twice in 2012 and 2013. In addition, Znarok was recognized as the best continental hockey coach for the period 2009-2010.
Head coach of Dynamo Moscow Oleg Znarok
Following a long and successful playing and coaching career, Oleg took the place of head coach of the Russian national hockey team. He took up this post in 2014, replacing Zinetula Bilyaletdinov. Two months later, Znarka’s team won all 10 matches at the World Championships in Minsk, and the Russian national team became a five-time world hockey champion. Let us note that at the final match the coach was present in the stands, as he was disqualified for making a threatening gesture towards the coach of the Swedish national team. Upon the return of the Russian team from the 2014 World Cup, Vladimir Putin presented Oleg Znark with the Order of Honor.
2015 brought less impressive results to the Russian national team, but Oleg Valerievich managed to lead his players to the World Cup finals, where the Russians competed with the tournament favorites, the Canadian team. The Russian team was not up to the mark, losing the match with a score of 1:6.
Oleg Znarok as head coach of the Russian national team
On June 1, 2020, Oleg received an offer to become the head coach of the St. Petersburg hockey club SKA. The contract with the club was concluded for 2 years. Znarok replaced Sergei Zubov in this post. According to Oleg Valerievich, the coach planned to combine the training of athletes from the club and the Russian national hockey team.
The coach's first season of working with the club brought him a triumphant victory. In the 2016-2017 sports season, Znarok won the Gagarin Cup for the 3rd time, leading the SKA club to the title of champion of the Western Conference. Thus, Oleg Znarok became the first coach to receive this award three times. Under the leadership of the new coach, the SKA club became the champion of Russia in hockey for the first time.
Head coach of SKA St. Petersburg Oleg Znarok
Working with the national team in the 2016-2017 season did not go so smoothly. At the World Hockey Championship, the Russian team lost to Canada with a score of 4:2. At a press conference, Znarok said that he had nothing to reproach the players for. Subsequently, the Russian team won the match with Finland and won bronze in the tournament. After the championship, Znarok gave an interview in which he said that he had never worked with such a good team as at the 2017 World Cup.
Career of hockey player Oleg Znarok
Oleg Znarok played his first matches on the ice as a forward for Chelyabinsk Traktor, playing shoulder to shoulder with Vyacheslav Bykov, a five-time world hockey champion. Coach Gennady Tsygurov immediately noted the new player’s determination, calling him “a bundle of energy.” He was echoed by the legendary Anatoly Tarasov, calling the young athlete a “hockey bandit.”
In the team, Oleg got the nickname “Icon”. And when young Znarok came from the European Junior Championships not only with the cup, but also with the title of top scorer, they came up with a more serious and meaningful nickname “Znara”.
Oleg Znarok played for Dynamo (Riga)
The promising athlete was invited to play for CSKA, but his father’s sports authority (Valery Petrovich then coached the Chelyabinsk football club Lokomotiv) helped Oleg stay in his homeland.
Titles and recognition could not prevent the talented hockey player from receiving a one-year disqualification with the official wording “for soldering the team.” Before this, they tried to transfer Znarka “for education” to another Chelyabinsk club “Metallurg”, which played in the second league. But the athlete was categorical in his refusal, for which he was removed from the “tractor drivers”.
In 1982, the talented Chelyabinsk resident was invited to play for Dynamo Riga. Oleg came to Latvia sick with jaundice, so at first he trained according to an individual program. And when he recovered, he joined the team and became the leader of Dynamo. Coach Vladimir Yurzinov nicknamed the new player “a tank who was a god in the backfield.”
Znarok played for Dynamo for 9 seasons, while simultaneously playing for the national teams of Latvia and the USSR. In 1992, he was invited to the American Hockey League for one season, where he played as part of the Maine Mariners farm club.
Due to his lack of knowledge of English, Oleg felt out of place overseas and was unable to find friends on the team. This prevented Znark from becoming a member of the legendary Boston Bruins team: he was offered a contract in English, but there was no one nearby who could translate it. Seeing the amount of the fee, Oleg refused, suggesting that it was a salary for the year. And only ten years later, one of his friends transferred the contract to him, and it turned out that the Bostonians offered him this money for a month. Now this contract is kept in Znark’s personal hockey museum in his home in Riga.
Returning from America, Oleg Znarok did not stay in Latvia for long. He started the new season as a player for the German Landsberg. The hockey player spent 8 seasons in Germany, also playing for Freiburg and Heilbronner. Due to injury and meniscus problems, he ended his playing career in 2002.
Personal life
Oleg Znarok has been happily married for many years. The hockey player’s wife Ilona is far from sports. The famous coach met his future wife in a restaurant, although he had previously noticed Ilona on the podium, where the girl came for company. In his youth, the athlete was assertive and hot-tempered, but he decided to act through acquaintances.
Oleg Znarok with his wife Ilona
The romance between the young people developed rapidly and violently. The relationship was complicated by the fact that Oleg lived and trained at the base all the time, and Ilona had just moved with her parents to a new apartment where there was no telephone. Znarok found a way out: he called his chosen one through her friend according to the schedule.
Soon Oleg came to the girl’s home to propose. The athlete quickly found a common language with Ilona’s father, and her mother, having gotten to know her future son-in-law better, gave her consent. Since then, the hockey player’s personal life has not changed.
Oleg Znarok with his family
Oleg and Ilona raised 2 daughters - the eldest Valeria and the youngest Alisa. The coach's children did not go to sports. Valeria works in marketing, and Alisa Znarok is pursuing a modeling career. But the daughters of the hereditary athlete still have a love for hockey. In an interview, fashion model Alisa admitted to reporters that she is even ashamed of her own violent reaction when she is rooting for her father’s team, as soon as the girl sees the match on TV.
Interestingly, Alice’s boyfriend was super forward Artemy Panarin, who has been playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets since 2020. From 2013 to 2020, the hockey player was a player of the SKA club. He met Alice in 2016, after the athlete signed a contract with the NHL team Chicago Blackhawks. Together with her boyfriend, Znarka’s daughter now lives in the USA.
Oleg Znarok and his daughter Alisa
Oleg Znarok maintains an account on Instagram. Most often, photos and videos from matches in which the coach’s players performed, photographs of Oleg Valerievich on the field or award ceremonies appear on the page.
What is the cause of the conflict?
At the moment there are a million versions being built. One of them is quite ridiculous - supposedly after the victory in Pyeongchang, Oleg Znarok was offended that the coaching board was not given a BMW crossover. The rumor has a very weak basis - one of the publications published information that Oleg Valerievich expressed dissatisfaction with the distribution of awards after the Olympics.
However, the salary of the coach of the Russian national hockey team is 4 million rubles per month. It is unlikely that Znarok would break off relations out of greed, given that he could buy a BMW X5 with every paycheck.
Most likely, the reason for the conflict between Znarka and Rotenberg lies in personal misunderstanding. Both are extremely tough leaders with a lot of ambition. This can be understood not only from interviews, but also from the emotional attitude towards the referees during matches. Rotenberg belongs to Putin’s elite caste, Znarok has a heightened sense of justice, and, according to many, is conflict-oriented.
There are audio recordings on the Internet where he simply speaks obscenities to his athletes. It is possible that he threw one (or maybe more than one) such phrase in the face of Roman Rotenberg, explaining to the businessman everything that he thinks about him at the level of the Ural punks.
Be that as it may, Znark’s harsh, obscene methods yielded results - the Russian team began to win. The new coach Ilya Vorobyov is unlikely to “pump up” the hockey players in the locker room as harshly.
Oleg Znarok now
At the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, the Russian team became the champion of the Games. Nikita Gusev became the real hero of the final of the Russia-Germany match. When 55 seconds remained before the end of the game, and the Germans entered with a score of 2:3, Nikita saved the team from defeat with one throw and took it into overtime. Already in extra time, the Russians took advantage of the majority and scored the decisive goal, scored by Kirill Kaprizov. The Russian team won the Olympic title for the first time in the last 26 years. And Oleg Znarok led the hockey players to this title.
Oleg Znarok at the Olympics in Pyeongchang 2020
In May, the contract between Oleg Znark and the Russian Hockey Federation expired, and Ilya Vorobyov replaced the coach in this position. He began preparing the Russian team to compete at the World Championships, which took place in Denmark. Znarok was engaged in advisory work. Russia managed to reach the playoffs of the tournament, but lost to Canada in the quarterfinals with a score of 4:5 and was eliminated from the tournament.
When he was the coach of the SKA team, Oleg Valerievich won victories in the Continental Cup and the Opening Cup in the 2017/2018 season. In addition, in the same year the team became the KHL record holder for the number of victories in one series of the regular season, winning 20 matches in a row. But at the Russian Championship, the athletes won only bronze, losing to Ak Bars Kazan and CSKA Moscow. After the end of the contract, Znarok did not continue cooperation with the St. Petersburg club.
Coach Oleg Znarok in 2020
Now Oleg Znarok is not involved in coaching. His forced leave gave rise to many rumors in the media space, especially since the athlete himself refrains from interviews. According to hockey fans, Znarok remains out of business due to the fact that all strong clubs are staffed with talented coaches, and the offer to coach from an average team will not suit the coach.
Speculation also appeared in the media that Oleg Valerievich allegedly received an offer from Spartak, but refused it due to the low fee. This news was denied on her personal Instagram by Alisa Znarok, the coach’s daughter.
Oleg Znarok held a training session at the Latvian league club Zemgale
After a six-month rest, Oleg visited the Latvian city of Jelgava, where he conducted a 2-hour training session with the local club Zemgale. Znarok noted the high professionalism of the team players.
Where did Oleg Znarok go?
Oleg Valerievich began his career in sports by playing in the Chelyabinsk Traktor as a central striker. Then he played in Riga, then in Dynamo Moscow. Znarok played for the youth and main team of the USSR national team, and later for the Latvian national team, where he was the constant captain for several years.
He finished playing in 2002, after which he coached the Latvian youth team for several years and achieved excellent results in this path - his players reached the elite group for the first time in all the years.
Oleg Valerievich also did a lot for the capital’s Dynamo, whose coach he was from 2010 to 2014 - Dynamo twice won the Gagarin Cup, and Znarok was named “Best Coach of the Year”.
In the photo: Oleg Znarok in his youth
During his coaching, the team won the Olympics for the first time in twenty-six years.
Oleg Valerievich came to St. Petersburg SKA in 2020, having signed a contract for two years, and after this period he left the team, as well as the Russian national team, where he combined work with work at SKA.
FHR President Vladislav Tretyak announced that Znarok was leaving the coaching position of the national team:
“Znarok did a lot for us, became an Olympic champion, a world champion. Now he is tired psychologically, he was under a lot of pressure both in SKA and in the national team. At this tournament, Ilya Vorobiev will be the interim head coach, and Znarok will be a consultant. Harijs Vitolins is also not going to the World Championships.”
After this, hockey fans wondered where Oleg Znarok had gone, since he temporarily disappeared from their field of vision.
The head coach of the national team left his post a month and a half before the formal end of the contract, at the same time, in mid-April, Oleg Valerievich also left the St. Petersburg club.
Nobody knows for sure what the former coach of the Russian hockey team will do in the near future.
At first, after leaving his post, Znarok continued to advise the national team, and after the expiration of the contract, he was faced with the problem of choosing a club where he would continue his coaching activities. Experts say that his person may be of interest to Avangard, as well as Traktor, but only if the management of the Chelyabinsk club changes.
In any case, Znarok did a lot for the team he coached - not counting the Olympic gold, under his leadership they became medalists at the world championships four times in a row.
Oleg Valerievich spent the first time after his dismissal resting in Latvia, where his family lives - his wife Ilona and two daughters - Valeria and Alisa.
In the photo: Oleg Valerievich with his family
Oleg Znarok received Latvian citizenship in 1996 after the collapse of the USSR, but in 2001 it was changed to German. Oleg Valerievich met his wife when he played for Dynamo Riga. Ilona, who was not at all interested in hockey, but was friends with some of the team’s players, sometimes came to cheer for them and after one of the matches went to a restaurant to celebrate their victory.
There Znarok, who really liked the girl, decided to get to know her better. Since then, his personal life has been inextricably linked with Ilona.
The wife witnessed her husband’s ups and downs, and was always by his side, supporting him in difficult times and rejoicing with him in his victories.
Znarok with his wife
The eldest daughter of the former head coach of the Russian hockey team works in the hotel business, and the youngest Alisa is building a career in the fashion world. Alice was first a photographer, and now she is a sought-after fashion model. Oleg Znarok always feels the support of his family, and for his daughters, who once declared that they would like to have husbands like him, this is generally an ideal.
Last news
Winter 2020. Oleg Znarok is intensively training his team.
Spartak is slowly but surely growing in the ratings.
Autumn 2020. Znarok continues to remain as head coach of Spartak
. After the victory over Dynamo Riga, he was pleased with the team's performance. This is the coach's 370th victory.
Summer 2020. Oleg Valerievich Znarok began his work as head coach of the KHL Spartak
. He signed a contract until the end of the season with the possibility of a one-year extension.
Spring 2020. Oleg Znarok will take part in the Universiade in Krasnoyarsk.
As a Consultant for the Russian national hockey team. In May, many fans regretted the departure of Znark, since under him the team showed a more impressive and powerful game.
February 12, 2020. Oleg Znarok spoke at the game dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Captain club.
The former coach works more and more with young people, and does not interfere with Vorobyov’s work.
December 6. Oleg Znarok returned to work with the Russian national team!
True, for the time being as a consultant. He will be a mentor not only for the hockey players, but also for the coaching staff.
November 9. Champion Alexander Kozhevnikov admitted that Vorobiev is weaker than Oleg Znarok.
A large number of lost matches after the coach left had a detrimental effect on the performance of the Russian team.
The 4th of October. Dynamo captain Dmitry Kagarlitsky met with Oleg Znarok in Riga.
Unfortunately, Oleg Znarok did not lead Dynamo Moscow, although such negotiations were held. Now the famous coach works as a hockey consultant, and job offers continue to come to him.
September 3. Putin awarded Oleg Znark.
The legendary coach was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. Despite the fact that Vorobiev remains the main coach of the national team, Znark’s return is expected in the KHL.
August 30. Oleg Znarok lost his father.
Valery Petrovich also devoted his life to sports, but only to football. We express our condolences to the family and loved ones of V.P.
3 July. Oleg Znarok can become the head coach of the Belarusian national hockey team.
The head of the Hockey Federation of the Republic of Belarus hinted at this in an interview. The only question is the amount of the salary, since Belarus is not able to “pay 100 million dollars a year.”
August 4th. Oleg Znarok can return to the Russian national team and become its coach again.
A banquet was held at which Rotenberg awarded gold medals to the coaching staff, including Znark. So the first step towards reconciliation has already been taken.
