Kovalenko: CSKA's Slow Start to 2026/27 No Cause for Alarm
Olympic champion Andrei Kovalenko says CSKA's uneven start with 3 wins in 6 games is by design, with the club building toward peak form in spring.
Andrei Kovalenko has no complaints about CSKA's start to the 2026/27 season, despite the club taking just 3 wins from 6 games.
The Olympic champion pointed to a different priority for CSKA than for clubs simply chasing a play-off place. A long season, in his view, is best built up gradually, with the peak form saved for spring rather than autumn.
He drew on his own playing days under Viktor Tikhonov, when CSKA ran long, heavy pre-seasons and eased into form rather than sprinting from matchday one. He also recalled the opposite scenario at Severstal two decades ago, when the side topped the Superliga table in the opening months only to collapse and miss the play-offs altogether — a slump he put down to complacency rather than a lack of fitness.
Kovalenko said the coaching staff have been working hard on line combinations, the power play, even-strength play and the penalty kill, and expects the campaign to build from here.
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