SKA appoints Andrei Razin to replace Igor Larionov as head coach

St Petersburg’s SKA named Andrei Razin as its new head coach after Igor Larionov left the role on October 18, Russian outlets reported. Interfax cited the hockey club’s press service in reporting the appointment. TASS said Razin had left Metallurg before taking charge of SKA, while RBC reported that he signed a contract for two seasons. [ 5 , 7 , 8 , 11 ]

SKA and the 65-year-old Larionov reached a joint decision to end their cooperation, according to the club statement reported by RIA Novosti. The club thanked him for his work and contribution to player development. SKA had lost its last five games, most recently a 1–0 defeat by Lada, and had 17 points from 15 games to sit eighth in the KHL’s Western Conference. [ 2 ]

Kommersant reported that Razin’s first game in charge would be on October 20 against Yekaterinburg’s Avtomobilist. Larionov had led SKA since June 2025, when he replaced Roman Rotenberg. In the 2025/26 season, the team finished fifth in the Western Conference before losing 4–1 in its first-round playoff series against Moscow’s CSKA, RIA Novosti reported. [ 2 , 6 ]

Before joining SKA, Larionov had coached Nizhny Novgorod’s Torpedo from 2022. RIA Novosti said the team reached the Gagarin Cup quarterfinals in 2022/23 and exited in the first round in the following two playoff campaigns. As a player, Larionov won two Olympic titles, four world championships and three Stanley Cups, the agency reported. [ 2 ]