Oleg Valerievich Znarok (, ; born 2 January 1963) is a Soviet-Latvian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. In 2022, he was the head coach of

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (, , ), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a professional ice hockey club based in Kazan, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the n ...

in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

(KHL) and consultant of the

Russia men's national ice hockey team The Russian men's national ice hockey team () is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they were rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has competed internationally fr ...

. Internationally, he guided

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

to gold, silver, two bronze performances in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2017 IIHF World Championship The 2017 IIHF World Championship, the 2017 edition of the annual Ice Hockey World Championships, was held from 5 to 21 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France. The official tournament mascots were Asterix (character), Asterix and Obelix, ...

s, respectively, and to a gold medal at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

. Znarok coached the Latvian national team at five IIHF World Championships, two IIHF World U-20 Championships and one IIHF World U-18 Championship. He had coached

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

to back to back

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup () is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was supposedly named after Gagarin because the last po ...

championships, in the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons, and a Continental Cup in 2013–14 season. As well taking

HC MVD HC MVD () was a professional ice hockey club based in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, Russia. They were members of the Tarasov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They are best known for winning the silver medal in the KHL backstopped by all star ...

to an appearance in the

final of the 2009–10 season, losing in seven games.

Early and personal life

Oleg Znarok was born 2 January 1963 in Ust-Katav, Russian SFSR, USSR, present-day

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. His father, Valeri Znarok, was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

(soccer) player at the time, who later had a long coaching career. A young Oleg was introduced to hockey, when his grandfather brought him and his younger brother to a local skating rink. Znarok had a successful and long career as a player before moving on to coaching. Playing for 23 years, across several leagues:

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, as well as several games in the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

and the AHL of North America. One of Znarok's youth teammates from

Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor, or HC Traktor Chelyabinsk, () is a professional ice hockey club based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). From 1967 to 2009, the te ...

was Vyachislav Bykov, who played for

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

and the Soviet National Team. Bykov, after a successful playing career, coached the Russian National Team to back to back gold medals in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

at the IIHF World Championships. He'd be replaced (after finishing 6th at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

and 4th at the 2011 IIHF WC) in favor of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, a former star player of rival

, who coached the Russian team to a gold medal in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, posting an undefeated record of 10–0. In turn, he too was replaced (after finishing 5th at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

): this time in favor of Znarok himself. Znarok coached Russia to a gold medal in

, also going 10–0, winning silver in 2015 and two bronze medals in 2016 and 2017. He also led Russia to a 4th-place finish at the

2016 World Cup of Hockey The 2016 World Cup of Hockey (abbreviated WCH2016) was an international ice hockey tournament. It was the third installment of the National Hockey League (NHL)-sanctioned competition, 12 years after the second World Cup of Hockey in 2004. It was ...

. Oleg is married. He and his wife Ilona, have two daughters, Valeria and Alisa. Valeria is in marketing and Alisa is a model. Alisa is currently married to hockey player

Artemi Panarin Artemi Sergeyevich Panarin (; born 30 October 1991), nicknamed the "Breadman", or simply "Bread", is a Russian professional ice hockey winger and alternate captain for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously ...

. Oleg first saw his wife in the stands at a hockey game. She was not a sports fan, but came out to support her friends. Seeing her again at a post match celebration, at a local restaurant, Oleg worked up the courage to approach her. They have been together ever since. In the attic of their house, Ilona has put together something of a museum of hockey memorabilia. Among other items, it holds Znarok's ever growing collection of medals, awards and jerseys. One such item is an

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

contract that Oleg was given to sign by the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

, untranslated. As Oleg did not speak English and had no one nearby to translate it for him, he turned it down when he thought the dollar amount was too low. It was only a decade later that he found out that the numbers written down, the only part he could understand, were for a monthly salary and not a yearly one.

Playing career

Znarok started his ice hockey career at

, making his debut in the 1979–80 season. Over the next few years he made intermittent appearances with the top team and played 18 games during the 1981–82 season. Although not productive at the senior level as a teenager, his first career goal came against the legendary Soviet

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

Vladislav Tretiak Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak State Duma, MP ( rus, links=no, Владислав Александрович Третьяк, p=trʲɪˈtʲjak; born 25 April 1952) is a Russian former goaltender for the Soviet Union national ice hockey team. ...

. From 1983 until 1991, he represented

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga () is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It most recently was a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LBTU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a D ...

, where he became a top level player and an all-time club legend. The 1984–85 season saw Znarok's breakout with 27 points in 52 games. He scored 14 goals and 13 assists, after putting up only 3 assists in 30 games, the previous season. In 1987–88 season, he led his team to a second-place finish in the

Soviet Championship League The Soviet Hockey Championship () was the highest level ice hockey league in the Soviet Union, running from 1946 to 1992. Before the 1940s the game of ice hockey was not cultivated in Russia, instead the more popular form of hockey was bandy. Foll ...

's playoffs, losing 3–1 to

in the final. The 1990–91 season was Znarok's best individual season, putting up 51 points in 44 games scoring 24 goals, 27 assists. In total, he amassed 221 points over 361 games in the Soviet league. Scoring 101 goals and 120 assists. In the 1991–92 season he played 6 games with the Maine Mariners of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL), scoring 3 goals and 1 assist. Znarok had a two-game (1 goal, 1 assist) outing in the

during the 1993–94 playoffs, for Vítkovice. Between the 1992–93 and 2001–02 seasons, he represented various clubs in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In the 1992–93 season, he helped EV Landsberg earn a promotion from the Oberliga to the 2nd Bundesliga, on the strength of his astonishing 220 points in just 66 games, scoring 77 goals and 143 assists. At the age of 30, he began his 9-year-long participation in the 2nd Bundesliga. He was a highly dominant player for the rest of his playing career, representing EV Landsberg, EHC Freiburg and Heilbronner EC. Scoring 1,069 points in 461 games in the regular season, on the strength of 388 goals and 681 assists. Also, adding 33 points (9 goals, 24 assists) over 22 playoff games. After the 2001–02 season, Znarok retired as a player. That season, he had put up 63 points (16 goals, 47 assists) over 45 games and added another 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) in 6 playoff games.

International play

Soviet Union

In 1981, Znarok was called up to the Soviet Union under-18 team, where he became a European champion, putting up 16 points (8 goals, 8 assists) in 5 games. The 1989 Super Series, in which Soviet clubs faced

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) clubs, Dinamo Riga was one of two Soviet representatives. Znarok played in 3 games scoring 1 goal. As he was a Dinamo Riga player, he was also a part of the larger Dynamo sports society. This allowed him in 1990 to be loaned to

's squad for their Super Series tour of North America. He scored 2 goals, including one against the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

and one against the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

, over 4 games. In 1990, he was called up to the Soviet Union national team for the Japan Cup, where he put up 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) over 4 games.

Latvia

Following the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Znarok represented

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

in international competition. He played in 5 IIHF World Championships and help promote Latvia to the top division of international competition in 1996. In 1997, he helped Latvia to its second best ever placing of seventh in the world. In total he put up 35 points in 34 games, scoring 18 goals. His first effort was in Division B. Latvia finished second to Slovakia after 6 wins and 1 loss in 7 games. Znarok put up 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) in 8 games and 18 PIM. In his second effort, now as captain in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, Latvia improved to first in Division B after 6 wins and 1 draw in 7 games. Znarok led the tournament with 6 goals in 6 games and added 2 assists with 18 PIM, making the All-Star team. In the last game of the tournament, Latvia needed a tie or a win against Switzerland, to gain promotion. A loss would have given Switzerland the promotion. Down 1–0, Znarok scored to tie the game, 1–1. Latvia earned a promotion to the elite division for next year's championship. In his third effort, Latvia faced some of the top national teams of the world, placed in a group with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Not expected to show much, having just been promoted, Latvia greatly surprised the hockey world. Znarok lead the team with 10 points in 8 games. He was tied for 5th in tournament points and tied for 2nd in assists, with 7. Znarok led his team to a seventh-place finish, the highest ever finish for Latvia. In his fourth effort and second as captain, Latvia finished ninth. In the consolation round establishing 9-12th place standings, there were some highlights. A 5–0 win over Germany and a 3–2 win against United States, avenging the previous year's loss. This sent the American and German teams to next year's qualification tournaments to fight against relegation. The American team was successful and remained in the elite division for 1999. The German team, however, was only back in the elite division in 2001. Znarok put up 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists) in 8 games. The

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

edition marked Znarok's fifth and final effort (third as captain). Latvia finished eleventh. As a result, next year they were forced to play a qualification tournament to remain in the elite group. At 36, Znarok only managed 1 assist and was limited to only 6 games.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Coaching career

After finishing his playing career, Znarok began coaching. In 2002–03, he was an assistant coach for the Latvian national team, while in 2003–04, Znarok was the head coach of the under-18 national team, as well as the head for Prizma Riga of the

Latvian Hockey Higher League The Latvian Hockey Higher League (), also known as the Optibet Hockey League () since 2017 due to sponsorship by Optibet, is the top tier league of ice hockey in Latvia. The league is competed by nine teams from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Pr ...

. From 2004 to 2006, he was the head coach of the under-20 national team and the head coach of

SK Riga 20 SK may refer to: People * SK (actor) or Sivakarthikeyan, Indian actor * Salman Khan or SK, Indian actor * Shahram Kashani (SK), an Iranian-American singer * Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, known by the initialism SK * Søren Kierkegaard, D ...

of the Latvian Hockey Higher League, and an assistant coach, with the Latvian national team at two

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, 2006 Olympic qualifiers and 2006 Olympics. From 2006 to 2011, Znarok coached the Latvian national team at five World Championships and at

2010 Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

as well as coaching SK Riga 20 through the 2007–08 season. From 2008 to 2014, Znarok was the head coach of MVD of

(KHL) for two seasons, before its merger with

and continued head coaching for the next four seasons. On 26 March 2014, Znarok joined the Russian national team, and coached them at 3

, various stages of EHT and the

. Znarok achieved a flawless record with Russia during his first year as coach at the

2014 IIHF World Championship The 2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Belarus in its capital, Minsk, held from 9 to 25 May 2014. Sixteen national teams were competing in two venues, the Minsk-Arena and Chizhovka-Arena. It was the first time Belarus hosted the tourname ...

, although he has yet to beat the 29 World Championship game winning streak established by Vyacheslav Bykov. On 1 June 2016, he was named head coach of

SKA Saint Petersburg Hockey Club SKA (), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a member of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey Le ...

, in the

(KHL) with whom he won the 2016–17

. From 2016 to 2018, he was the head coach of both SKA and the Russian national team.

Coaching record

International record

Awards and achievements

Playing awards

Soviet Union national under-18 team: *1981 – gold medal

: * 1987-88 – silver medal Latvian national team: *

Division B – gold medal *1996 Division B – All-Star Team

Coaching awards

Russian national team: *

– gold medal *

– silver medal *

– bronze medal * 2016 WCH – 4th place *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

– bronze medal *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

– gold medal

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

: *

– 2011–12, 2012–13, 2016–17 *KHL Coach of the year – 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13 * KHL Continental Cup – 2013–14 Latvian under-20 team: * 2005 Division-1 Promotion to

2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''2006 WJHC'') were held in Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The championships began on December 26, 2005, and finished on January 5, 2006. Games were played at GM Place and ...

State awards

*2012 –

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

*2014 – Order of Honour

References

External links

* *
Heilbronner Falken: Einbürgerung perfekt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Znarok, Oleg 1963 births Dinamo Riga players EHC Freiburg players EV Landsberg players HC Vítkovice players Heilbronner Falken players Soviet emigrants to Latvia Latvian emigrants to Germany Latvian ice hockey coaches Latvian ice hockey centres Latvia men's national ice hockey team coaches Living people Maine Mariners (AHL) players Naturalized citizens of Germany Ice hockey people from Chelyabinsk Oblast Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Soviet ice hockey centres Russia men's national ice hockey team coaches Ice hockey coaches at the 2018 Winter Olympics Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Latvian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Olympic gold medalists for Russia Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Olympic medalists in ice hockey