The teams' head coaches summed up the game.
– The main thing is that the fans liked the game.
– Daniel Sprong are back to the lineup today. How would you rate his performance and does he meet your requirements?
– We are a team, so everyone who played contributed to the victory. He is no exception. These are not my requirements, but hockey's. They are the same for everyone.
– Do you agree that the break did him good?
– We have our next game in a day. We don't evaluate after every game. Well done today, he scored the necessary goals. By and large, he did his part. Like many of the guys who scored and took in the puck. It's just that no one sees it. Therefore, I wouldn’t focus on Sprong, today is a team victory.
– There were a lot of penalties today, including for CSKA. What do you think are the reasons for so many penalties, especially at the end of the game?
– Vladislav Provolnev was not sent off. The linesman single-handedly decided the moment, although the main judge says that the puck was touched. Perhaps such situations are replay challenging. This is one of the key moments in the game. There are deserved penalties, and there are penalties at the end, when the guys just wanted to play for their statistics. But hockey is a team sport. There is also a team playing against you that will punish you for this.
– Is Pavel Karnaukhov's ascending to captaincy a constant? In games against Dinamo Minsk, you gave him a patch before.
– There’s no backstory about that. We just decided to take this burden off Nikita Nesterov so that he could focus more on the game.” And refresh the team a little. Not everything is smooth and simple for us. For Nikita, I think, it’s not so important what letter he has on his chest. In the locker room he will speak out at any letter.
– So, Karnaukhov will be the captain in the next game?
– Yes, why not.
– Did the captain's stripe put pressure on Nikita Nesterov?
– Whether the patch was pressing or not, it’s better to ask Nikita himself. I think that such things don’t put any pressure on a hockey player like Nesterov. He is quite an experienced and respectful guy. I will say again that he was given a breath of air. In any way, being a captain is an additional burden in the locker room, there are some nuances, but I wouldn’t focus on it. In my career as a player, I had a similar story with Alexander Svitov. For me, this has no backstory at all. It's part of the job and part of the team.
– It was noticeable that Daniel Sprong was one of the first to change out of the attacking trio, and he didn’t wait for the puck on the blue line. Was this noticeable to you too?
– I think he did the right things in today’s game, played team hockey, waited for his chances and capitalized on them. Everyone, including the younger generation, have to understand how games are won, what they rely on, and how great masters should play.
– How painful was the Dinamo’s second goal for the team? How much of a mental impact could it have on the players when goals like that were allowed?
– I wouldn’t say it was a funny goal. I'll put this goal as a collective job when Spencer decided to give an assist. The goalkeeper's job is to catch pucks. So when you start doing the wrong thing, it usually starts to tip over into the other team's favor. We step on the same rake throughout the game. It is clear that only fools do not learn from their mistakes. Smart and normal people learn from their own and other people's mistakes. That's why we must learn too. As for stress resistance, I’m interested in who will behave and how in this situation. Theory is one thing, and practical experience is another. Only through games like these do you feel the team.
– You said you were unhappy with Spencer's pass. Will you discuss this further or is it it up to the goalie coach?
– It’s not that I’m unhappy that he made this pass. The moment is such that the opponent's fifth player comes out. Our task of exploiting the power play has already been fulfilled, you are leading 4-1. In America it's called "game management". That is, you must understand in what situations you can take risks and in what situations you cannot. It comes with experience through big games, through mistakes like today. I will say again that smart people learn from their mistakes. And today we made our own mistakes. If we are smart and normal people, we should analyze this and move on. Our task is not to punish players, but to develop them.
Dmitry Kvartalnov, head coach of HC Dinamo-Minsk:
– I think CSKA wanted it a little more and blocked more shots. They destroyed us on faceoffs, especially in the first two periods in their zone. In such things we immediately give up the initiative. And, of course, the power play and penalty killing when we allowed couple of goals. The handicap was still big.
– Could you comment on the challenge after Sprong's goal. What did you see in this episode?
– A high stick. That's what the referee said.
– Keeping on about Sprong's puck. Have there been any similarly funny goals in your career as a hockey player or coach?
– I don't remember now. I think such things happened. Not rejoicing with those who rejoice. If it had bounced back to us, maybe we would have played it out. It turned out that way, so we deserved it.
– After last season's defeat, the hosts were probably in high spirits for today's game. Did you feel it?
– I don't know. We are focused on our game, and we have enough of our own problems. I don't remember what happened last year.
– For most of the championship, you are pulled down by the first line. Were there any thoughts to reshuffle it so that the others could follow suit? It seemed that the second line, and especially Vadim Moroz, did not look so good.
– I totally agree with you. We lack a big player on the wing. While Alex Limoges was playing there, he was also smoking a lot of games. Maybe this is a new league for him, we expect a lot from him. If you analyze the last 10 games, you need help there too. There, the 81st guy is having fun alone and the seventh one is helping.
– There were high expectations for Ty Smith that he would help out in attack, but he’s not that effective for you. Can you comment on this? Does he need to understand the game system or is it difficult for him in a different league?
– He plays well in attack, sometimes holds over the puck, so, he’s not going well yet. I hope to see a hang of it. He does some interesting things. Yes, he played incorrectly at the end when we allowed a goal. Maybe it's fatigue, maybe it's something else. He is a creative guy. I think the game needs to unwrap somehow, and it takes time. If you take the newcomers, they were warned that it was a very good, tough league. At first it seems easy to them, but it takes time. He will add in this regard.
– Do you agree that Vitaly Pinchuk was pulling the blanket over himself If you agree, is this a psychological story or just because of the game?
– We didn’t completely turn the game upside down, but he almost turned it upside down with his work, his attitude. Those guys who smoked a little during two periods, they apparently watched. We've pointed out a few things. He began to get it on. I agree that he overplayed sometimes. We tell him this, now we let him to do this, because we needed to save the game. He is the man who took all this upon himself.
