The head coaches of the teams summed up the results of the match.
Sergey Fedorov, head coach of CSKA PHC:
— I think a quick goal cooled the ardor of our opponent a little, and I think we played very competently in our places, we had the puck going forward, which is important in this game, knowing the potential of an opponent who likes to throw the puck into the zone and attack in this way, because of very mobile attackers to cover a large amount of work. Nevertheless, the guys coped with it with a really good game, well done. Happy victory to the fans, thank you so much for your support. As always, we talk and feel until twelve at night, we can stay in the illusion, then a new working day.
— Have there been any changes after such a successful start? Usually SKA took the start of the games...
— Basically, there was no such deep dialogue as you asked. We really went from shift to shift, because we had the advantage of the second shift, if we take the game away, we don't have this advantage, so we continued to release our guys according to certain preparations that we saw after receiving our opponent's roster. We wanted to keep a rhythm and a certain balance in the game, it was very important after such a big playoff.
— Vladislav Podyapolsky took a place in the SKA goal. Have you paid extra attention to this?
— Before the match, the coaching staff received certain information about who is performing. We didn't pay much attention to the fact that there would be other goalkeeper, however, we made a couple of comments to the team.
— How important is it for you that there were seven matches in the previous series, and now there is time to take a breath?
— Taking a breath is good. We watched a little bit how Ak Bars played and how they fought with the avant-garde. A very experienced coach, I personally understand when he became a coach.
— Did Gusev's absence affect CSKA's game?
— A provocative question in a good way. Nikita is a good player, this is the decision of the SKA coaching staff. Probably, I can say banally that we concentrated on aspects that needed to be tightened up, because there is not a lot of time for the training process.
— A six-year winning streak over SKA. What's the secret?
— I can't say for all the years, I know one thing: CSKA was formed on character, skill and performance of coaching tasks.
Roman Rotenberg, SKA Head Coach:
— Excellent live game, intense. Both teams played with a spark. Great atmosphere, full stands. We need this kind of hockey. We only came out to win, there was a bad start, then we tried to score, the opponent did not let us do it, played great in defense. A strong opponent. Congratulations to the CSKA team on reaching the final. We have a young team, many guys have not played in the finals before, the leaders of the team are guys born in 2001 and 2002, we still have everything ahead of us. We will strengthen the team. Overall, we had a great season. Yes, we wanted to win the Gagarin Cup, we won the Continental Cup. We have two conference finals in a row, so we will try to take this step in the future.
— The third period was the last opportunity to return to the game, but in the end CSKA overthrew you, you received three dissmissals, one of which led to a missed puck. Why couldn't you come back?
— Here we play as well as the opponent allows. I will not comment on the dissmissals, we have professional judges. We have a lot of guys injured before the end of the season, during the season they always play very hard, there were such injuries that do not allow the guys to play at all. First of all, we need to figure out something, correct something, because we have Tankov, Shvets, Moiseev, the guys we need, who play according to the system. Yashkin was seriously injured against Torpedo, we can openly talk about it, he was on injections the whole series. The fact that he plays, it's already a blessing. There was a serious injury in the NHL, but we were resuscitated, we are working. We have a lot of injuries. As for the third period, it all affected. Physically, we gave everything, the guys gave everything, there are no questions for the team. This is a young and daring team that will be strengthened, we understand how we can do this, there is understanding. The third period was not great, but it will be better from now on.
— For the sixth time in a row, SKA loses to CSKA in the playoffs, can you understand the reason why it fails? Both teams have changed many times, different variations and systems, what is missing? And how can you beat CSKA?
— This is my second Conference final as a head coach. Already in this final we saw improvements. This is a very experienced team, which should not be given scoring chances, they are masters of a high level. These are guys with experience of playing in the NHL, they won at the Olympics, their backbone does not change, we will also strengthen our own. We understand how to win, at the same time CSKA's championship window will close soon, but it is just opening for us, we have a young team, we are looking forward. They have been building such a team for 5 years. I remember when we started the series, Dmitry Kvartalnov was still the head coach, nothing has changed since then in terms of the system. The system is honed in nuances, in training, for years it goes on when such things work mechanically. Tackles, a stick, as the first goal, it was impossible to allow them to substitute, this is their trump card, mistakes were made here. We continue to hone our details, we have been doing this for two years. Yes, the team has changed a lot, many journalists said that SKA would be weakened this season when all our leaders left. No one expected that SKA would play so brightly this season, yes, we set ourselves a high bar, scored the most goals in the regular season, won the Continental Cup, with which I congratulate everyone.
— Vladislav Podyapolsky started the match today in the goal, why was such a substitution made?
— This is an objective replacement, Nikolaev had a lot of serious injuries before the start of the season, he is a young goalkeeper.
— I talked to some SKA fans, a lot of tears. Can you say a few words for them?
— We are very grateful to our fans who supported us all season, who had high expectations from us. Thank you for the fact that we always have full stands, both at home and away. It is very important. For everyone who supports us and believes in us, we continue our work, we will come back stronger, we have already made a big step forward in the season. We will definitely win the Gagarin Cup together, we are only striving for this. Since 2018, the SKA team has not won any trophies, this season the Continental Cup gives us hope for the future.
