Coach Cadenas left but Brest finished on top again
Coach Cadenas left but Brest finished on top again
There was hardly any room for surprises in the Belarusian league as HC Meshkov Brest won the title for the sixth straight year.
This season, Brest’s dominance was particularly strong, as they won 31 of 32 matches and finished as many as 17 points clear of runners-up SKA Minsk.
While SKA presented a tough opposition to Brest in the previous years, it was not the case this time. Minsk were delighted to win the Belarusian Cup but in the league they had no chance against Meshkov.
Manolo Cadenas was Brest’s coach during most of the season, but it was not him who guided the team to the championship. Following the SEHA League Final4 in early April, where hosts Brest lost the semi-final against HC Vardar before beating Nexe in the third-place game, the Spaniard resigned, and his assistant Raul Alonso took over as a caretaker.
Alonso, who has worked many years as an assistant coach at THW Kiel, finished the job in the Belarusian league and got his first title with Brest. And in late May, he was confirmed as the team’s head coach for next season, signing a new two-year contract.
