MOSCOW, September 1 (R-Sport) – Dynamo Moscow coach Oleg Znarok said Sunday that he was unhappy with his team's shape on the verge of the new season.
The KHL champions lost all three games at the annual offseason Moscow Mayor’s Cup, suffering a 5-2 defeat to last year’s outsider Spartak Moscow on Sunday.
“If I told you that everything’s going according to plan, it would be a lie,” Znarok said. “There is some nervousness. We hoped that we would reach the optimal shape by the game against Spartak. We failed at the tournament.”
Over the last four years, the Latvian coach known for his snappy character and extremely tough preseason training camps has reached Gagarin Cup finals twice with Dynamo and once with the now-defunct HC MVD.
Dynamo will start the defense of its title on Wednesday with a home clash against last season's runner-up Traktor Chelyabinsk.