MEDVEDEV: HATS OFF TO KAZAN!

KHL president Alexandr Medvedev shared his feelings after Gagarin Cup final match between Ak Bars and HC MVD.


"Gagarin Cup final has fully justified supporters’ hopes", Medvedev said after the game. "We are proud of Balashikha, which has so wonderful team like HC MVD".

"But we are even more proud of Ak Bars, which managed to defend their title and become the KHL best club for the second consecutive season without their leading players".

"I think that KHL second season was more interesting than the first one, hockey was more entertaining and matches were more unpredictable. Even number of matches in play-offs increased that means that rivalry became fiercer".

"Decision on integration of Dynamo Moscow and HC MVD hasn’t been made yet, and the club’s managers will discuss it. I think that decision will be suitable for Dynamo, HC MVD and the League".

AK BARS WIN GAGARIN CUP

Ak Bars Kazan outplayed HC MVD in the seventh match of the final series to win Gagarin Cup for the second consecutive year.


HC MVD – Ak Bars 0:2 (0:0, 0:2, 0:0)

Scorers: Alexeev, 21:18 (0:1); Kapanen, 35:16 (0:2)

Best players: Vehanen (A); Stepanov (A); Garnett (M)

Score in the series 3-4 (2:3, 1:4, 3:2, 2:1, 3:2, 1:7)

Defending champions scored twice to take the trophy again. "It was the most difficult series", said the team head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov after the match. "I have a feeling as if it was he most dramatic finals in my life. I am so thankful to our players!"

SHALAEV: WE WILL SEE DIFFERENT HOCKEY IN BALASHIKHA

KHL vice-president Vladimir Shalaev gave a short interview to sport press after the sixth match of Gagarin Cup finals.


"Seven-match final series is a big luck for supporters, because they have an opportunity to get pleasure from hockey even more", he said. "I don’t support any club, and they know that I wish good luck to all of them".

"I agree that we will see an absolutely different game in Balashikha. It will be very tough and people won’t see entertaining hockey".

"HC MVD is perfectly physically prepared and they play in the finals not accidentally. Their success is result of their hard work".

"The winner of the series will be the team, which will cope with pressure better than their competitors".

EMELIN: WE WERE READY FOR DIFFICULT GAME

Ak Bars and HC MVD players Alexey Emelin and Denis Kokarev comment on Kazan club’s win in the sixth match.


"Of course we didn’t expect so effective play from us", said Ak Bars defenceman Alexey Emelin. "We prepared for a tough match, as we were 2-3 behind in the series and must have won the clash".

"We were supposed to accurately play in defence trying not to make mistakes".

"We fully lost the match to Kazan in movement beginning from the first period", said HC MVD forward Denis Kokarev. "When the score grew 3:0 it was very hard to fight back against this strong club.

"We were not ready for the first period, though we knew that Ak Bars had nowhere to step back, but it was unlucky day for us".

"I wouldn’t say that we were calm, because we had no right for mistake. Our team wanted to finish the series in Kazan, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to do it".

"We created a couple of dangerous episodes in the first period, but we lacked concentration".

SALAVAT YULAEV WIN AT HOME

Yesterday Salavat Yulaev grabbed 2:1 victory over Ak Bars at the end of the third period to make the score in the KHL semi-final series to 2-3.


Salavat Yulaev – Ak Bars 2:1 (0:1, 0:0, 2:0)

Best players: Radulov (S); Toresen (S); Morozov (A)

Score in the series 2-3 (3:4, 1:2 OT, 2:3 OT, 4:2)

"We had an ideal moment, when we were playing five minutes on powerplay", said Ak Bars head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov. "But we didn’t use it. It was one of key episodes of this match.

"We have no other way out, because we must win", said head coach of Salavat Yulaev Vyacheslav Bykov. "We try to win each game, so let’s see what will happen in Kazan".

KHL: LOKOMOTIV IS ONE STEP FROM THE FINALS

Lokomotiv crushed HC MVD again to take 3-2 lead in Gagarin Cup semifinal series.


HC MVD – Lokomotiv 0:4 (0:1, 0:1, 0:2)

Best players: Galimov (L); Gelashvili (L); Mikhnov (L)

Score in the series 2-3 (3:2 OT, 1:2 OT, 6:4, 1:6)

"We were perfectly prepared for the match", said Lokomotiv head coach Petr Vorobyev. "We picked two suspensions in the second period and we lost this period completely. We are lucky that everything got back to its places".

"The final step is the most difficult, so winner of our series is not clear yet".

BYKOV: 0-2 IN THE SERIES IS NOT A PROBLEM

Salavat Yulaev head coach Vyacheslav Bykov assesses his team’s chances to beat Ak Bars in Eastern Conference finals after two home defeats.


"I wouldn’t dramatize our situation", Bykov said to sport press. "Actually we lack only one thing now – chances conversion, as attacking and holding initiative doesn’t give any positive result".

"Our critics believe that Salavat loses the series in tactics. Ak Bars was ready that Ufa side would rush to attack, and now they score on counterattacks. Opinions on this question can be different and we listen to them all".

"At the same time we think that there is no sense in changing our attacking and entertaining hockey, which guaranteed us the top place in regular season. Finally hockey is created not only for specialists and journalists, but for our supporters too".

"First of all fans like not traps, but goals and combinations. We are not going to play defensive hockey".

"When I played in Switzerland, I fought back from 0-2 behind not once. By the way, many our players also topsy-turned this score and won, so our situation is normal".

"Episode when Toresen challenged Ak Bars captain Alexey Morozov in the opening clash of the series and was suspended for the next match, was much discussed, but I don’t know what we can say about it. Everybody saw his stroke and referees understood the situation correctly".

"Several people believe that matches in Kazan will be played according to different scenario. Ak Bars won’t play the second violin at home in front of their fans and Salavat Yulaev will get enough space for attacks".

"I am not sure that it will be really so. To my mind Ak Bars will let well alone. They have system, which brings result, and they are likely to use this system at home too".

"Speaking about national team matters, Russia’s coach for the North America Andrey Nazarov has completed his overseas journey last week. Of course we are concentrated on the KHL series now, but our coaching staff kept contact with Nazarov and got all necessary information from the North America".

"I am satisfied with results of this trip, because Nazarov has done great deal of work in short period of time. Now many Russian players are aware that we remember about them and count on their services. Andrey collected interesting information for us".

"Nazarov will likely to come to Ufa on 7 April and we will summarize his overseas trip".

PETROV: SEMIFINALS ARE UNPREDICTABLE

Famous former forward of HC CSKA and Soviet national team Vladimir Petrov commented on the coming Gagarin Cup semifinal series.


"Taking into consideration teams’ skills, Lokomotiv is supposed to have advantage over HC MVD", he said. "But I wouldn’t make any conclusions, because both teams are famous for their self-organization and players’ self-commitment".

"I think that result of the series will depend on teams’ functional readiness. Goalkeepers are also important factors in this rivalry and to my mind HC MVD has some advantage, because Lokomotiv goalie Gelashvili is not very reliable".

"Many people consider the second semifinal series between Salavat Yulaev and Ak Bars as early final ,since these are two strongest clubs of Russia, however I don’t share this point of view. It will be just final of the Eastern Conference and that’s all".

"I want to remind that it’s very difficult to predict the final result in the ongoing play-offs, so we will see two unpredictable series where any team can celebrate victory".

RIHA: CHANCES ARE EQUAL

Head coaches of HC Spartak and Dynamo Riga Milos Riha and Julius Supler commented on the final series of KHL Western Conference between HC MVD and Lokomotiv.


HC MVD (2) – Lokomotiv (5)

Chances to win the series 45/55

Spartak head coach Milos Riha believes that both teams stand equal chances to win the series and advance to the final. "Of course I will watch the series", he said to sport press. "Though I think that teams’ chances to win are equal, I predict that Yaroslavl club will be the winner. I won’t guess how many games they will need to determine the winner, but it is unlikely to end very quickly".

"Oleg Znarok’s team had very successful season and they managed to do without recessions. This season HC MVD made all other clubs respect them and became one of the main surprises of the League".

"They proved their high level in the first play-off rounds as they knocked out CSKA and Dynamo Riga rather quickly. HC MVD is well-disciplined team, which perfectly fulfil all coach’s instructions, that is very important factor in play-off series".

"Lokomotiv’s main advantage is players’ physical form, and we see that Vorobyev perfectly prepared players for play-offs. HC MVD also are in good physical form, moreover they had enough time for rest".

"Refereeing could also become decisive point in the series. If referees don’t break the game with a lot of suspensions, Lokomotiv will be allowed to play their hockey and in this case HC MVD will have tough time".

"I want to mention that very often we pay too much attention to weaknesses and weak sides of our rivals, but before doing it it’s necessary to get rid of your own mistakes", said Dynamo Riga head coach Julius Supler.

"As for the series between HC MVD and Lokomotiv, I think it will be equal battle. HC MVD is high-class team, which can easily organize quick counterattacks. Znarok possesses four links, each of them being able to lead his partners".

"But I have no doubts that Lokomotiv staff has video-tapes of their opponents’ games and Vorobyev and his assistants will get detailed information about HC MVD".

"I am linked with the Moscow region club, and I know well Oleg Znarok, his assistant Harijs Vitolins, players Strbak, Novak, Ellison. But I hope they won’t be offended if I say that I will support Lokomotiv in the series".

"I had been working in Yaroslavl for some time, I know many people there and I still keep contact with them".

"I would like to mention Lokomotiv fans, who always liked me. Even when Dynamo visited Yaroslavl this season, they supported my team and me. That is why I want to support their favourite team this time".

RIHA: FOURTH MATCH WAS DECISIVE

HC Spartak head coach Milos Riha commented on the outcome of his club’s rivalry against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.


"We were not lucky because we set the team for a different game", he said to sport press. "We were not lucky because we created the first scoring opportunity, which we didn’t convert into goal, while Lokomotiv scored in the counterattack".

"After that we conceded the second goal after a rude mistake. We didn’t have enough strength to fight back against this well-organized team".

"In general both teams played wonderfully in the series. Almost all games were held on high level, but we lacked something for victory".

"The fourth match of the series was crucial, because we lost with three minutes before the end. We wouldn’t have let Lokomotiv win, if we had taken 3-1 lead. The outcome of the series was determined on Tuesday".

"Lokomotiv experience helped them, while we couldn’t boast it. Moreover we lacked Slovak guys, who were not in their best form. I cannot say that they are to blame for everything, but I have some claims to them".

"Spartak made progress comparing with the previous season, however we didn’t make the final step to success. We lacked a strong player of Vasicek’s level, who is ready to take responsibility to him on powerplay and on penalty killing".

ZAKHARKIN: TEAM’S PSYCHOLOGY IS IMPORTANT

Salavat Yulaev senior coach Igor Zakharkin commented on course of play-off series against Neftekhimik and other evens in quarterfinal series.


"Only two goals have been scored in last two matches of our quarterfinal series and I was mot surprised by it at all", Zakharkin said to sport press. "Ahead of the start of the series we expected that teams wouldn’t present a feast of goals".

"Neftekhimik is hard working team, which stakes on discipline in defence and quick switch to counterattack, that is the main strong point of well-known specialist Vladimir Krikunov".

"We guessed that nobody would complete with Salavat Yulaev in open hockey. In this respect the first match with many goals was surprising".

"After Vancouver games we pay more attention to factor of the team’s psychology. Contact between coach and player becomes crucial in modern hockey".

"I suppose that with 1-2 score Salavat played like a team with perfect psychology. Having occurred in difficult situation we gained valuable experience".

"Specialists call Neftekhimik goalie Ivan Kasutin as the breakthrough of the series. I can agree with them, though we were aware of his potential before".

"On the other hand, we know situations when Kasutin is not always able to save his team. Our task is to play our players’ attention to these moments".

"I watch other play-off series a little bit, though failures of Dynamo and especially SKA came as big surprise for our coaching staff".

"Saint Petersburg club was one of the main favourites of the competition, plus all breaks for Euro Hockey Tour tournaments and Olympic games helped them a lot".

"It’s hard to understand why this big club came out of this favourable situation as a loser. Maybe they faced serious problems with training process".

"As for Dynamo, I think that coach’s plan was not reason of their mistakes. The team began the series against Spartak brilliantly, but when the score was 3:0 something happened and they failed the whole series. It turned that they didn’t manage to create a stable team".

"Spartak is interesting team. Milos Riha is wonderful coach, who sets his players for all games and presses their opponents and even referees. Maybe Spartak roster is weaken that Dynamo’s squad, but thanks to Riha’s energy situation has changed".

"I like Lokomotiv too, as they are very effective in play-off every year and don’t depend on coach very much despite Petr Vorobyev joined Yaroslavl one month before start of play-offs and had enough time to present his playing models".

RIHA: I AM SURE WE WILL RETURN TO YAROSLAVL

Having beat Spartak in Yaroslavl Lokomotiv took 3-2 lead in the series to be one step from Gagarin Cup semi-final series.


Lokomotiv – Spartak 2:1 (1:0, 1:1, 0:0)

Best players: Kiryukhin (L); Kochnev (S); Vasicek (L)

Score in the series 3-2 (5:1, 2:3 OT, 2:3, 4:3 OT)

"We began actively, but our defeat was caused by mistake, which led to the first goal, and too many suspensions," said Spartak head coach Milos Riha. "Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to compete with the team, which is perfect on power-play".

"But nothing is lost now and I am sure that we will return to Yaroslavl".

KHL: LOKOMOTIV LEVEL THE SCORE IN THE SERIES

Owing to overtime victory Lokomotiv levelled the score in the quarterfinal series against Spartak.


Spartak – Lokomotiv 3:4 OT (1:1, 0:1, 2:1, 0:1)

Best players: Vasicek (L); Obsut (S); Mikhnov (L)

Score in the series 2-2 (1:5, 3:2 OT, 3:2)

"Our team play worse than in the previous game", said Spartak head coach Milos Riha. "Maybe players couldn’t believe that they can beat so strong club in three straight matches and lost concentration".

But they played much better in the third period, though they made a lot of mistakes.

KHL: SPARGARNETT: ONE TARGET IS TO WIN GAGARIN CUP

HC MVD goalie Mike Garnett states that he is set to win Gagarin Cup.


Mike Garnett parried 42 strikes out of 43 in two home matches against Riga side and played the first game without conceded goals for the first time in KHL play-off series. After the second match he spoke to sport press.

"Our team has made good deal of work by reducing Dynamo’s scoring chances to minimum", Garnett said. "I had almost no serious burden except several episodes".

"I agree that the first match was more difficult for HC MVD despite bigger goal-difference. When you are behind, it’s uneasy to fight back in play-off series".

"I suppose that our main target for play-off is to win the trophy, playing one round and then slipping out of competition is not for me, because I want to grab Gagarin Cup".

"If you think how to win several games, it won’t help you achieve any successful result".

AK BARS TOOK 2-0 LEAD OVER MAGNITOGORSK

Ak Bars took 2-0 lead in KHL play-off quarterfinal series against Metallurg Magnitogorsk in Eastern Conference.


Metallurg Magnitogorsk – Ak Bars 0:4 (0:1, 0:3, 0:0). Saturday, 20 March

Best players: Morozov (A); Vehanen (A); Kapanen (A)

Metallurg Magnitogorsk – Ak Bars 2:3 (0:0, 0:1, 2:2). Sunday, 21 March

Best players: Morozov (A); Vehanen (A); Chistov (M)

Score in the series 0-2

"When your team is behind, you should do something", said Metallurg head coach Valeriy Belousov after the second match of the series. "Changes in the lineup helped a little bit, but in play-off it’s important when goalkeeper saves his team. Goalie has no right to concede goals, like it happened today".

Salavat Yulaev - Neftekhimik 6:2 (3:1, 1:1, 2:0). Saturday, 20 March

Best players: Radulov (S); Kir. Koltsov (S); Kalinin (S)

Salavat Yulaev – Neftekhimik 1:2 OT (0:1, 1:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:1). Sunday, 21 March

Best players: Kasutin (N); Yakutsenya (N); Radulov (S)

Score in the series 1-1

MIKHNOV: WE SHOULD HAVE SCORED MORE GOALS

Author of Lokomotiv winning goal in the KHL series against Atlant Alexey Mikhnov expressed his point of view on the series.


On Sunday Lokomotiv Yaroslavl won the fourth match of play-off series in overtime 2:1 and advanced to quarterfinals. Author of winning goal talked to sport press.

"As for the series, I think we deserved this victory", Mikhnov said. "We concentrated on defense more in the first games, created a few scoring chances, but anyway we won. And after that we fully controlled the situation".

"My link and I didn’t spend much time on the ice in the fourth match and coaches gave other players more playing time. That is why when I entered the game in overtime, I was fresh and absolutely calm".

"Vorobyev staked at attacking hockey and we should have scored more goals, but Atlant goalkeeper was on a high. We created many scoring opportunities and sooner or later it should have been converted into goals, and so it happened".

"We lost both matches to our future opponents Spartak this season, and we will try to rehabilitate".

NAZAROV: I DIDN’T KEEP MY WORD

Traktor head coach Andrey Nazarov feels pity that his team has to finish the season so early after losing KHL play-off series to Metallurg Magnitogorsk.


"On one hand, Traktor reached play-offs for the third consecutive season under my reign and sealed the first cup victory", said KHL youngest coach to sport press. "On the other hand, we have a feeling that we didn’t manage to find out Metallurg’s weakest sides and play better against this super club. We don’t want to finish the season so early, because the team is in excellent form now".

"We were weakened by injuries of our leading defensemen plus our top scorer Skachkov was suspended. In general we are one of the youngest clubs in the league consisting mostly of products of our own school, that is very important for development of the whole Russian hockey".

"Traktor had been conflicting with our fans during the season, but they saw off the team with ovation. This situation increased people’s interest in our club in the whole country".

"By the way, even despite our budget is one of the lowest in the league, Traktor and fans will always set for maximum goal".

"To be honest, I didn’t keep my promise to our fans because we didn’t advance to the second knockout round though we were very close to fulfilling our task".

UFA AND MAGNITOGORSK REACH KHL QUARTERFINALS

Gagarin Cup first play-off round was completed with two games as Salavat Yulaev and Metallurg Magnitogorsk advanced to the next stage of the tournament.


Avtomobilist – Salavat Yulaev 1:8 (0:3, 1:4, 0:1)

Best players: Radulov (S); Toresen (S); Blatak (S)

Score in the series 1-3

Traktor – Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2:3 OT (1:1, 1:0, 0:1, 0:1)

Best players: Platonov (M); Alistratov (T); Kuznetsov (T)

Score in the series 1-3

"It was very difficult and good clash", said Metallurg head coach Valeriy Belousov. "Traktor played wonderfully and we lost the second period completely".

Thus the following clubs will face each other in KHL quarterfinal series:

Salavat Yulaev – Neftekhimik

Metallurg Magnitogorsk – Ak Bars

Lokomotiv – Spartak

HC MVD – Dynamo Riga

SPARTAK EASES PAST DYNAMO

On sunday Spartak outplayed Dynamo Moscow at Luzhniki to win play-off series 3-1. They opponent in Gagarin Cup quarterfinal will be Lokomotiv, which knocked out Atlant.

Spartak – Dynamo Moscow 1:3 (0:2, 0:1, 1:0). 13 March, Saturday

Best players: Eremeev (D); Yachmenev (D); Weinhandl (D)

Spartak – Dynamo Moscow 4:0 (1:0, 3:0, 0:0). 14 March, Sunday

Best players: Kochnev (S); Cibak (S); Lapenkov (S)

Score in the series 3-1

"I thanked players for their work", said Spartak head coach at post-match press conference. "They have done everything like we asked them to. They calmed down and played with better discipline, that told upon result immediately".

"We lost play-offs in the first match of the series when we held 3-0 advantage and possessed initiative for most part of the game", said Dynamo head coach Andrey Khomutov. "That result told upon all Dynamo players".

"I consider our hockey in play-offs unsatisfactory and I want to apologize to our fans, who waited good game from us".

Lokomotiv – Atlant 4:3 (2:1, 2:0, 0:2). 13 March, Saturday

Lokomotiv – Atlant 2:1 OT (0:0, 0:0, 1:1, 0:0, 1:0). 14 March, Sunday

Score in the series 3-1

TIKHONOV: CSKA LACKS EXPERIENCE

On Saturday HC CSKA became the first club to slip out of Gagarin Cup play-off series, by losing to HC MVD in three matches. Legendary Russian coach and CSKA honorary president Viktor Tikhonov summarized results of the series.


"The team prepared for the season perfectly and demonstrated good hockey and result at the beginning of the championship", Tikhonov told Sport Express. "But later CSKA just lacked experience, that was the first reason of the club’s failure in play-offs".

"Players’ inexperience made them make unnecessary mistakes. They were too emotional".

"The second reason is insufficient experience of the head coach Sergey Nemchinov, who worked his first season independently. I suppose that our opponents’ head coach fully outplayed Nemchinov in the series against HC MVD".

"Several misfortunes settled uncertainty in our players and they became confused. And again it is caused by lack of experience".

"I am sure that coaches’ decision to part with Schastlivy and Kulyash was wrong. In any case I wouldn’t have parted with these players. I agree that Kulyash has very difficult character, but it was necessary to work with him, because I don’t see any best players in the team now".

"Everybody was afraid of Kulyash’s strike and after his quit CSKA had problems of realization of powerplay. When there are so many suspensions, you can make result on powerplay".

"I know that Nemchinov conducts many theoretical exercises, but theory cannot replace practice and team’s discipline leaves much to be desired in this case, because players don’t have skills which are worked out during trainings".

"I see brilliant future for CSKA. Coaches can work with their youngsters, who are very ambitious. The only thing I would do is to add several top-level forwards, since young players cannot lead the team for the whole season. And of course the team needs another captain".

"My attitude to foreigners is negative, because with their arrival to our hockey we stopped developing our reserves in all clubs".