"It is important that everyone feels like a significant part of the team"
A week ago, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl won the Gagarin Cup for the first time in its history. In the final, he beat Traktor Chelyabinsk in five matches (4:1). This triumph was the second in the career of the head coach of the Railwaymen Igor Nikitin, who previously led to victory in the KHL CSKA Moscow playoffs in 2019.
In an interview with Izvestia, the 52-year-old specialist spoke about the emotions of a new victory, about the desire to win a trophy in memory of the Lokomotiv team that died in a plane crash on September 7, 2011, and spoke about the role of star striker Alexander Radulov, who signed a contract with Yaroslavl last summer.
— How did you win this Gagarin Cup?
— I would like to thank the guys, the hockey players, who believed in our ideas and principles and through hard work and the highest dedication came to this success. It was four years of very difficult work, when we developed step by step and went to victory. The players have been giving their all in games and training all this time, doing everything they could. Yes, there were different things, there were disappointing failures, like last year's final against Magnitogorsk. But the guys continued to work hard, and thank them very much for that. They went towards their dream and eventually achieved it through over-exertion, injury, pain, and all their emotions.
— You and Dmitry Yushkevich are the first to win the Gagarin Cup in two different eras — before the salary cap in the KHL and after its introduction. Is it harder to win now?
— It's probably obvious here that the Gagarin Cup and the current one were won at different times, in different conditions. But it is impossible to compare what is more difficult here. For example, six years ago I had a lot of experience, and now I have more. In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues on the coaching staff, with whom I have been working for years. These are not just real professionals, but people with great character and very reliable comrades. One of them is Dmitry Yushkevich, whom you mentioned in the question. The team consists not only of hockey players, but also of such people working in the coaching staff and administrative staff. And without them, we would not have succeeded.
— What is the special feature of the victory in Yaroslavl?
— First of all, we were able to bring the trophy to a city with such a hockey history, to please the fans who have been waiting for it for so long. It was a special responsibility for us to work in a club and a city that had experienced such a tragedy as the death of the 2011 team in a plane crash. I really wanted to come to their monument and bring the Gagarin Cup there, thereby honoring the memory of the guys. That's what we've been working for all this time. And in this regard, the emotions from this victory with Lokomotiv are special.
— You joined Lokomotiv in September 2021, just a couple of weeks after the 10th anniversary of that tragedy. Did you realize that you are expected to win in many ways in memory of the lost team?
— Of course, they understood where they were. As much as on the Locomotive itself, and on the city of Yaroslavl as a whole, the weight of that tragedy hangs. Every year we visited the children at the cemetery, at their memorial, and paid tribute to their memory. But we really wanted to bring the Gagarin Cup to the club in memory of them. And now, in the fourth year of work, it was possible.
— Only twice in the 17-year history of the KHL during the season has the same team won both the regular season and the playoffs - in both cases it was CSKA and Lokomotiv, led by you. How do you manage to combine these two mutually exclusive successes? It is considered dangerous to enter the playoffs as a favorite.
— Well, a year ago, everyone also called us favorites before the final with Magnitogorsk. You remember the result. We have taken this experience into account (smiles). In general, of course, it was not easy for us in any match — all the series, all the games were very difficult. The success can only be explained by the fact that the hockey players were well prepared and at the same time worked their every shift to the maximum from start to finish. Such work could not go without results.
— How did we manage to assemble such an even team, where during the playoffs there was no one who failed, almost every player, if not seriously injured, contributed to the success?
— The emphasis here should be on the fact that we have a team sport. I'm not just saying this for the sake of words — it's just important that everyone feels like a significant part of the team. Everyone worked with this feeling. I think it was transmitted on the ice.
— In the quarterfinals of the playoffs, you were on the verge of failure when Avangard equalized the series, losing 1:3, brought it to the seventh match, and then, losing 0:2 in the middle of the third period, also fought back and lost to you only in the second overtime (2:3). What emotions did you feel from the fact that all the work could have gone to waste?
— This series has allowed us to become a team that is capable of winning the Cup. We talked about this within the team immediately after that victory, and it can be repeated now that we have successfully completed the season.
— Alexander Radulov, who was recognized as the most valuable player of the last playoffs, joined Lokomotiv before this season. Can we say that such a figure was not enough in last year's final against Metallurg?
— No, all I can say is that Sanya has come to court this season. And how could it and should it have been in the last final? I can't say. Everything should be on time.
— Is it true that the victory in the seventh match of the series against Avangard was greatly influenced by Radulov's powerful speech to the team in the locker room during the break between the third period and overtime?
— We weren't in the locker room, so I'm not sure (smiles).
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