As a player, Dmitry Kvartalnov was no stranger to conflict with his coaches. There were various reasons for this. At Boston, the forward had a successful debut season in 1992-1993, playing on the top line alongside talented playmaker Adam Oates in place of the injured Cam Neely. However, as soon as one of the Bruins’ leaders returned to the fray, the Russian found himself shunted down the pecking order. Ultimately, head coach Brian Sutter decided that Kvartalnov wasn’t a good fit for the team’s style and sent him to the farm club.
“I never formed a relationship with the coach,” Kvartalnov said years later.
Then, in 1994, he was sent to Switzerland to join Alexander Yakushev at Ambri Piotta.
In 1999, Kvartalnov went to play for Adler Mannheim. But he managed just 15 games. After that he headed to Finland, complaining that he didn’t feel the coach trusted him in Germany. In a 2003 interview, Kvartalnov talked about a “clear clash of personalities” with Vladimir Krikunov. And only the most unobservant failed to recognize his conflict with Vladimir Plushchev in the 2002-2003 season.
“Any coach can make a clown out of any player, even a great one – competently, accurately, in my time there were many such options,” said Kvartalnov.
It's not our place to judge the rights and wrongs of these stories. Suffice it to say that before he stepped behind the bench, Kvartalnov had ample experience of varied relations with a wide range of coaches – and there were plenty of bad times, which arguably taught him more than the good times. A player who encounters what he perceives as unfair treatment from his coach is unlikely to treat his own men in the same manner. And that’s a big plus for any rookie coach.
01.11.2009 First KHL game Severstal vs Avangard
12.04.2012 Signed a two-year contract with Sibir. Under his guidance the team reached the second round of the playoffs for the first time
17.04.2014 Signed a three-year contract with CSKA
“What else could I do? I’d already spent so long in hockey that I didn’t really have much choice,” Kvartalnov reflected at the start of his coaching career.
He started as an assistant at Severstal. In 2009 he joined Andrei Pyatanov’s staff. The team lost 13 of 20 games, the head coach was fired and Kvartalnov found himself as interim boss. His first game as a KHL head coach was on Nov. 1, when Severstal edged a shoot-out victory at home to Avangard. The visitor was coached by Igor Nikitin, who later served as Kvartalnov’s assistant at Sibir and CSKA. Under the new mentor, Severstal remained inconsistent. Nonetheless, Kvartalnov was confirmed as head coach on Dec. 7. After that, the team won five games straight but still failed to make the playoffs.
24.02.2015 CSKA won the KHL regular season championship for the first time and became national champion for the first time in 26 years
28.03.2016 CSKA reached its first Gagarin Cup final
2016 Coach of the Year
04.10.2017 Took over at Lokomotiv, the club that ended his tenure at CSKA
After that, Severstal’s progress was obvious. The following season saw the team finish fifth in the regular season before taking Atlant to six games in the playoffs. Atlant went on to reach the final, while Severstal continued to develop. In 2011-2012, despite having a relatively small budget, the Steelmen repeated that fifth-place finish in the West. On the opening day of the playoffs, there was a bombshell and Kvartalnov was fired. The change brought little benefit to the team: just as one year earlier, Atlant won the first-round series 4-2.
But Kvartalnov’s impact in Cherepovets is not measured solely in results. During his time in charge, both Maxim Chudinov and Vadim Shipachyov reached new levels, while Vasily Koshechkin finally delivered on his long-held potential. From Kvartalnov’s staff, Peteris Skudra and Vladimir Vorobyov went on to launch their own coaching careers. In 2013, Severstal finally got past the first round of the playoffs, defeating Lokomotiv. Without diminishing Andrei Nazarov’s work, it’s fair to say that part of that success was down to Kvartaknov.
In spring 2012 it was clear that Kvartalnov would not be out of the game for long. By April 10 he was appointed head coach of Sibir. Before Kvartalnov’s arrival, the team had only once reached the KHL playoffs and was swept in the first round by Salavat Yulaev in 2010. Kvartalnov worked two seasons in Novosibirsk and went to the playoffs both times. In 2013, Sibir pushed Avangard to seven games before falling in the first round. A year later the Siberians knocked out Ak Bars before falling to eventual champion Metallurg. Kvartalnov’s team was the surprise package of the season.
After proving his worth by turning mid-table teams into contenders, the coach was ready for greater things. His next role was at CSKA, taking over at a club that had yet to build a team capable of achieving its big ambitions. The Muscovites won the championship in Kvartalnov’s first season – but there’s a big asterisk next to that. In 2015, for the only time in KHL history, the prize for ‘champion of Russia’ went not to the Gagarin Cup winner, but the regular season leader. CSKA topped that standings, but SKA won the playoffs after ousting CSKA in game seven of the semi-final. Thus Kvartalnov won a gold medal for the national championship, but didn’t lift the cup.
He almost put that right the following year. This time CSKA reached the final but fell to Metallurg in game seven. Now, pundits began to discuss why the coach couldn’t win in decisive games. The 2016-2017 season was Kvartalnov’s worst in Moscow. For the third season in a row his team topped the regular season standings, but crashed out of the playoffs in the second round, losing to Lokomotiv. The coach left the club.
The following fall, Lokomotiv suffered a five-game losing streak and Alexei Kudashov was dismissed. Kvartalnov replaced him and reached two playoffs, losing to SKA in the second round on both occasions. Then he took Ak Bars to a game seven in 2021 against Avangard. Once again, the curse struck and Kvartalnov’s team lost out 3-4 in overtime in the semi-final series.
In total, Kvartalnov lost all four game sevens that his teams played – one each with Sibir and Ak Bars, plus two with CSKA. Other may look for parallels and draw conclusions, we merely state a fact which hardly undermines the coach’s abilities. To win three successive regular seasons, and by big margins, is hardly possible without significant talent. Nor is reaching playoff finals and semi-finals. On top of that, Kvartalnov has Russian Championship gold, silver (x2) and bronze while setting league records for games coached (819) and won (515).
01.05.2019 Took over at Ak Bars
16.11.2021 First coach to win 500 KHL games
03.01.2022 First coach to take charge of 800 KHL games
515 KHL wins – record among coaches
809 KHL games – record among coaches
4x KHL All-Star 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020
In Spring 2022, Ak Bars again lost to Avangard, this time 2-4 in the first round. The club decided not to extend Kvartalnov’s contract. He sat out the following season. But that’s not the end of the story. On April 11, 2023, Kvartalnov signed with Dinamo Minsk. In the upcoming season he will add to his record tally of games and wins. There is little doubt that he won’t be satisfied with achieving modest goals. Thankfully, as the KHL becomes more competitive, not only a handful of top clubs can dream of glory – now many more have a chance.
Dmitry Vyacheslavovich Kvartalnov
Born 25 March 1966 in Voskresensk
Playing career: Khimik (1982-84, 1986-91, 1992, 2005, 2007); SKA Kalinin (1984-86); San Diego (1991/2); Boston, Providence (1992-94); Ambri Piotta (SUI, 1994-97); Klagenfurt (AUT 1997-99); Adler Mannheim (GER, 1999); Jokerit (FIN, 1999/2000); Ak Bars (2000-2004); Severstal (2004, 2006/07); Krylya Sovietov (2005/06).
Honors: World Championship gold (1989) and bronze (1991); European Championship gold (1989, 1991); Soviet Championship silver (1989) and bronze (1990); Russian Championship silver (2002) and bronze (2004); Finnish Championship silver (2000); Swiss Championship bronze (1996).
Coaching career: Severstal (2009-2012); Sibir (2012-2014); CSKA (2014-2017); Lokomotiv (2017-2019); Ak Bars (2019-2022); Dinamo Minsk (2023-present)
Honors: Russian Championship gold (2015), silver (2016, 2020) and bronze (2021).