Shot Left Name Zinetula Bilyaletdinov Career start 1973 Role Ice hockey player Career end 1988 | Height 1.81 m Position Defenseman Playing career Weight 86 kg | |
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How to Pronounce Zinetula Bilyaletdinov HC Dynamo Moscow KHL Hockey Fight Shootout Goal Hit
Zinetula Khaidarovich "Bill" Bilyaletdinov (Russian: Зинэтула Хайдарович Билялетдинов, Tatar: Зиннәтулла Хәйдәр улы Билалетдинев, Zinnätulla Xäydär uğlı Bilaletdinov; born 13 March 1955) is a former Russian ice hockey player of Tatar descent, who competed for the USSR. In 1973–1988 he competed for HC Dynamo Moscow. He won the Russian Championship in season 2005–2006 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.
