Zinetula Bilyaletdinov

Who is Zinetula Bilyaletdinov?

Zinetula "Bill" Khaidarovich Bilyaletdinov is a former Russian ice hockey player of Tatar roots, who competed for the USSR. In 1973-1988 he competed for HC Dynamo Moscow. Won the Russian Championship in season 2005-06 and consecutive European Champions Cup-2007, as well as the history's first KHL Gagarin Cup as a head coach for Ak Bars Kazan.

He has been the assistant coach of the Winnipeg Jets in the 1994 and 1995 seasons and served as the assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes during the 1996-1997 season.

In June 2011, he was appointed to head coach of the Russian national ice hockey team. As the head coach of the national team, Bilyaletdinov has emphasised defensive discipline.

In 2012, Russia won the 2012 IIHF World Championship in Helsinki. Russia won all its matches of the tournament in regulation time, the first time any team had done so since the Soviet Union in 1989. After the tournament, star player Alexander Semin praised Bilyaletdinov's disciplined approach and focus on retaining possession of the puck.