"We reacted calmly to the passage of the first round of the Gagarin Cup"

In the current KHL playoffs, the confrontation between Dynamo Moscow and Minsk ended the fastest: Minsk residents were the only ones who won the series in the minimum four matches. Dmitry Kvartalnov's team won twice at home (3:1), and then twice put the squeeze on the opponent in Moscow — both times in overtime — and scored a dry victory in the series (4:0).

This is the second consecutive appearance of the Minsk club in the second round of the Gagarin Cup, whereas in the first 15 seasons of the KHL it never went beyond the starting stage. In an interview with Izvestia, team captain Andrei Stas told how the team managed to achieve success, what the team gained after last year's defeat by Traktor in the second round (1-4), and also expressed the hope that the upcoming departure of Luc Tardif from the post of president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) with the puck will accelerate the return of the national teams of Belarus and Russia to the World Championships.

— If someone had said before the start of the series with Dynamo Moscow that you would win it as quickly as possible, in four matches, would you have believed it?

— It's hard to say. In fact, we didn't look that far and tried to go from game to game, concentrating on each next match. We tuned in to each game as the last one. Therefore, we were pleased with the final result of the series. Dynamo Moscow is a very good and skilled team. And each of the four matches with her was very difficult. So we're happy with how the series went.

— A year ago, when Dinamo Minsk reached the second round of the playoffs for the first time in its history, winning the series against CSKA in six matches (4:2), the team celebrated this success vividly. Now, it feels like you're marking the passage casually. Are you already used to such results?

— Well, yes. I think you can see that everyone in our team reacted calmly to the passage of the first round. Everyone understands the maximum tasks facing the team. Therefore, in a good way, we keep our emotions to ourselves. We already need to prepare for the second round in order to go further in this playoff. We need to recover well, especially since the last two games of the series against Dynamo Moscow ended in overtime, with the last match reaching the second overtime. In fact, these two time matches turned out to be like three. Therefore, we need to gain strength now. Fortunately, we have enough time to recover — we need to take advantage of this.

— Is it a plus that you will have more than a week to rest and prepare for the second round? Or, on the contrary, can such a lack of gaming practice have a negative impact?

— It's hard to say. I am sure that our coaching staff has a definite plan in this regard. And we will follow this plan.

"We ourselves provoked the judges to leave us in the minority"

Dynamo Moscow hockey player Ivan Zinchenko — about the failure at the finish of the KHL regular season and the upcoming playoff series with Minsk

— In the last playoffs, Minsk had a chance to go through to the second round of the playoffs if they hadn't conceded three goals from Traktor in the last minute in the first match of the series with the score 2-1, and in the second they hadn't allowed Chelyabinsk to equalize, leading 3-0, and hadn't lost in overtime. (3:4). What has Dynamo improved in a year, which should help to avoid repeating those mistakes?

— We've improved a little bit in everything. If we take young people, they have become a little more mature, more skilled and more experienced. I think that the club's management has done a good selection work. This season, our goaltending line has strengthened — Vasya Demchenko remained from last season and Zach Fucale, who had a very good series with Dynamo Moscow, was added to him. In general, everyone has improved a little bit. And this together gives the result.

— The day before your last match with Dynamo Moscow, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced that its president Luc Tardif would not be re-elected to this post and would leave it in September. Does this increase the chances of the national teams of Belarus and Russia returning to the World Championships?

— Of course, if that happens, it will be very cool. If we take the national team of Belarus, then we have a cool generation of hockey players gathered now. And it would be very good for them to go to international competitions. I think they would have done their best there.

— Will it be a disaster and an injustice if it is not dismantled in the coming years, and this generation does not play at the World Cup and the Olympic Games?

— Thank God they are still so young... Therefore, they will be patient. (He smiles.)