"We are just gaining the experience that CSKA had in 2023"

There is a pause in the KHL for the All-Star Match, which will be held on February 7-8 in Yekaterinburg. CSKA left for the break with a winning streak of six matches. In the regular season, they are in fifth place in the Western Conference, nine points behind the leading Yaroslavl Lokomotiv and three points behind Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo, which closes the top four. A place in the top 4 will give you the advantage of your site in the decisive game of the first round of the playoffs. Interestingly, at the end of November, CSKA was in a serious crisis. He was in ninth place, outside the playoff zone. But in the last two months, Igor Nikitin's team has won 15 out of 21 matches.

The most productive player of the team in the current championship is striker Prokhor Poltapov, who scored 32 (15+17) points in the goal+pass system. In the last game, he beat Daniel Sprong, who had not played for the Army team since November, who moved to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. Now both forwards will cross paths at the All—Star Match, which will be the first in their careers for Pollapov and Sprong. In an interview with Izvestia, Prokhor explained how his team improved this winter, appreciated the game of red-blue newcomer Klim Kostin, and also compared the current CSKA with the one in which he won the Gagarin Cup in 2023.

— How would you rate the recent matches of CSKA?

— I'll appreciate it well. We win, we score our points where we need to. We are moving on in a good mood. But there is still something to work on.

— There were moments in several games when the head coach broke up your usual three with Maxim Sorkin and Vitaly Abramov. Was it difficult to rebuild?

— I wouldn't say it's difficult. Basically, we have the same game system in our team. Everyone understands how to play with each other. Therefore, they calmly adapt if the link partners change. Moreover, you can't guess in the playoffs either. Maybe someone gets hurt. And then what? Will the whole game go down the drain?

— In January, Klim Kostin joined CSKA from Avangard Omsk. How do you like his first days in the team?

"It's okay. Adds speed and physics to us. A player with experience: he recently arrived from the NHL. He does useful things, talks a lot with the team, suggests — for example, when playing in the majority. Everything is great.

— A little over two months ago, CSKA had a severe crisis, you were out of the playoff zone. How did we manage to reverse this trend and gain momentum?

— At the expense of the team, I think. Everyone began to understand what was required. We calmed down a bit, pulled away from negative emotions, that nothing was working.

— Are you focusing more on rough work?

— Yes, we concentrated on work. And on their own. According to the principle of "start with yourself and then you won't ask your partners."

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— Two months ago, it was difficult to imagine CSKA in the playoff zone, now you are close to the top 4. Is there a fundamental task to achieve the advantage of your site in the first round?

— The main task is to win every match in order to prepare for the playoffs.

— What else should CSKA add to be fully ready for the playoffs?

— Stability.

— Does the current CSKA already resemble the team in which you made your KHL debut under Sergei Fedorov and won the Gagarin Cup?

— Yes, it reminds me. Then, of course, the line-up was completely different. Almost all the guys in that team had reached the Gagarin Cup finals for several years in a row, lost them and won. They were experienced, and we are just gaining this experience.

— You have already played for more than six months under the guidance of Igor Nikitin. Does his style of work reflect the foundations of what CSKA played under Fedorov, who replaced Nikitin a year and a half before your debut at the base?

— Of course, it can be traced.

— What do you expect from your first trip to the KHL All-Star Game?

— I just want to have a good time there. To meet someone from hockey players. And meet with people you already know. I just want to talk to those guys who left CSKA in recent years. You could even say you want to rest your head a little.

— Who do you want to talk to from the former army? With Sprong?

— Not only that. There is Misha Grigorenko, Kostya Okulov — these are the first ones who come to mind.