Marc Dumont
Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov enjoyed a fair amount of success playing for SKA Saint Petersburg, despite a series of confusing decisions by the former head coach, Roman Rotenberg.
SKA opted to fire Rotenberg on Monday, replacing him with Hall of Famer and three-time Stanley Cup champion Igor Larionov.
Demidov finished his first full season with SKA as their top producer, scoring 19 goals and 30 assists in 65 games, though it should be noted the ice time given to the 19-year-old prospect was inconsistent to say the least. At first, his ice time was reduced to less than 5 minutes per game, with Demidov playing most of his shifts from the third or fourth lines.
The same scenario repeated throughout the season, leading to a very frustrating situation for Demidov. For the most part, he acted very mature given the circumstances, however, there was a point when it was clear Demidov had enough of Rotenberg’s irrational and illogical decisions.
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A SKA Board of Directors meeting took place today.
As a consequence of having not achieved the desired results, the contract with Roman Rotenberg has been terminated.
The Board of Directors noted Rotenberg’s productive efforts with the SKA system across the years. pic.twitter.com/iy4GdfCE78
— SKA Ice Hockey Club (@hcSKA_News) June 2, 2025
Rotenberg was clearly a nepotism hire in the first place, having absolutely no hockey experience prior to taking over the head coach position in Saint Petersburg. SKA is funded by a state-controlled energy company called Gazprom, run by oligarch Boris Rotenberg, Roman’s father, and a childhood friend of Vladimir Putin. The United States recently lifted sanctions on Rotenburg’s wife, but not Boris himself.
For the record, we’re not talking about a Martin St-Louis situation, where a highly-decorated former hockey player is given his first coaching job. Rotenberg did not even have experience playing hockey, and it was painfully obvious he had no idea how to run a team. When questioned about Demidov’s confusing usage, Rotenberg would often fall into incoherent rants that were closer to Cold War fever dreams than anything else.
Rotenberg’s replacement, Igor Larionov, was also fired recently, though his time with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod did lead to an abundance of ice time for young players, including Canadiens prospect Bogdan Konysuhkov.
All things considered, the timing of the decision doesn’t help Demidov whatsoever, but at the very least, it will lead to a much healthier situation for the players who remain in Saint-Petersburg, and we can point to Demidov’s handling of the situation as a clear sign that he’s mature beyond his years.
