"We really wanted to win the Gagarin Cup in memory of the lost team"

Last week, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's hockey players won the Gagarin Cup for the first time. Striker Alexander Polunin scored a decisive assist in the second overtime of the seventh match of the series with Avangard: after his throw and a substituted stick performed by Byron Frez, the team won the most difficult confrontation of the season.

In an interview with Izvestia, Polunin spoke about the desire to win in memory of the Lokomotiv team that died in a plane crash on September 7, 2011, explained how strong the current Yaroslavl coaching staff is and what was the role of striker Alexander Radulov in success.

— Is this trophy special for a man who has been playing in Yaroslavl for most of his hockey life, with the exception of short trips to Sochi and Amur?

— Yes, it's nice to win the Gagarin Cup, because we've been working for so many years, and it's borne fruit. I think every kid who was in the Lokomotiv locker room deserved this victory and was heading for it. We walked together.

— What is Igor Nikitin's strength as a head coach?

— He just knows all of us from the inside. He believes in us and that victory will come sooner or later due to hard work. Therefore, both the players and the coaches were confident that success would be ours.

— How did Lokomotiv improve compared to last year's final loss against Metallurg?

— I think a little bit of everything. We worked productively before the season and during the regular season, prepared for the season and especially for the playoffs and took into account all the mistakes that we made that year. As a result, we took the step that was expected of us, both ourselves and the whole city. We waited for this and went to the goal.

— As a person who studied at the Lokomotiv school, when the tragedy of 2011 happened, did you feel a special responsibility for the result?

— Of course, not without it… There was a responsibility. And we tried to play not only for ourselves, but for our loved ones, the fans, and the city. But also in memory of that team. And we really wanted to win a Cup in her memory.

"It is important that everyone feels like a significant part of the team"

Igor Nikitin, head coach of Lokomotiv, talks about the Gagarin Cup victory, the memory of the lost Yaroslavl team in 2011, and Alexander Radulov's role in the railway workers' triumph.

— Your final against Traktor started with a defeat in the first match, when Chelyabinsk scored two goals in 13 seconds. Why did you no longer allow him to score such a series of goals, or to win back a gap of two or three goals, as he did in previous rounds?

— We were just doing our job. We played our own hockey. That's why they didn't let Traktor do what it did to other rivals.

— What did you feel when, as a result of your shot in the second overtime of the seventh match of the series against Avangard, Lokomotiv won the most difficult confrontation for themselves?

— I was not thinking about my shot, but about the fact that we won such a difficult match and such a difficult series. The joy was not for myself, but for the whole team. Moreover, it gave us all confidence. It gave us the understanding that we can, in principle, get out of any situation. Come out victorious.

— From the inside, how do you see Radulov's contribution to this success?

— Everyone knows Radulov, so I won't say anything new. A man of energy, constantly charged. It was a pleasure to spend this season with him. We learned a lot from him. I think, first of all, his thirst for victory. He made a big contribution to this success. Yes, Sanya was not the only leader in the team. Everyone understood that everything is in our power and we must win. Everyone contributed something of their own. But Sanya, of course, has invested a lot in the team. Everyone grew up with him, everyone learned something.

— Does Yegor Surin have a pretty cocky personality on the ice, is he the same in the locker room?

"Well, he's that kind of guy. That's probably his thing. He looks a bit like Sanya Radulov. It's no coincidence that they played in the same team. I think Egor has a great future. There's something about Radulov about him. I hope he will grow every year as a player.

— What is cool about the current coaching staff of Lokomotiv?

— The fact that people built this team for several seasons, believed in us, convinced us that we could win the Gagarin Cup. They explained all the nuances to us, every detail. And they prepared us well physically — here I especially want to say thank you to our physical training coach Dmitry Vladimirovich Pirozhkov. Without all this, we would not have succeeded.

— Is Lokomotiv able to maintain its leadership in the KHL for the coming years?

— I would like to. We have such a sports career that we don't have to guess. It would be great if we had everything we have. So that the majority of the team stayed, and we won the Gagarin Cup again. Let's see what happens next.