"Surin will dig into herself, but she will never stop"

The last hockey season in Russia turned out to be completely triumphant for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. This club became the first in history to win the main prizes of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and the Youth Hockey League (MHL) in one year — the Gagarin Cup and the Kharlamov Cup, respectively. In the final of the KHL playoffs, the adult team of the Railwaymen won the series 4-2 against Ak Bars Kazan, and in the decisive MHL match, a youth team called Loko prevailed over Spartak Moscow (4:2).

Given that Yaroslavl won the Gagarin Cup this year and last year with a large number of its students in the squad, it can be expected that players who won the trophy at the youth level will soon rise to the base. In an interview with Izvestia, Oleg Tauber, the head coach of MHC Loko, shared his emotions from the victory, explained the success of the club at all levels, commented on the success of his pupil Egor Surin at the KHL level and assessed the chances of the current youth to repeat his path.

— What emotions did you feel after winning the Kharlamov Cup?

— Of course, the emotions are the most positive. It was a good final episode, a good game. An indescribable feeling of victory.

— Three days before your triumph, the main team of Lokomotiv won the Gagarin Cup. Was there pressure on you and your team to repeat the success of the seniors and win the Kharlamov Cup?

— We have been striving for this. But they didn't focus their thoughts and emotions on it too much. We were just trying to do our job.

— You played your penultimate fifth match of the final against Spartak at home, and several players of the main team who won the Gagarin Cup the day before came there. Did they communicate with your team in any way, did they give instructions before crucial games?

— They had just arrived from Kazan from the last victorious match of the final. They had a lot of their own events these days. But thanks to them for coming to our match, finding free time and supporting us.

— Were your players influenced by the fact that the main players came to their match?

— It was more influenced by the fact that there was an opportunity to become the first club in history to do such a double in one season — to win both the Gagarin Cup and the Kharlamov Cup. We were striving for this.

— Why does the system work so well in Yaroslavl that the youth team constantly gives such a large influx of players to the main team and they are fighting for trophies in the KHL?

— This is a very effective system. The school is open, the youth team is working. And the club's strategy itself is aimed at making its graduates more trusted. This has been working for years — it is a multi-year strategy.

"Trophies are not won, but taken away — we have taken what belongs to us"

Lokomotiv hockey player Pavel Kraskovsky talks about his victory in the Gagarin Cup, his comeback with Avangard and his return to the finals with Ak Bars

— Can this be scaled to the whole country?

"Why not?" If it's a good system, then it can be adapted somewhere else. But it's up to other clubs to decide. If someone wants to, they'll take it. Someone has their own strategy. Each club works out its own way.

— The main team of Lokomotiv won the hardest semi-final series against Avangard. After the last seventh match, I asked Egor Surin if he would be tired before the final against Ak Bars. In response, he remembered you and your words: "Everything goes out of my head. If you tell yourself in your head that you're tired, then you're really tired. And if you're fresh in the head, then everything's fine." Is it nice that, having gained a foothold in the KHL, Egor remembers your attitudes?

- of course. Egor periodically appears at our base. Whenever possible, we meet and communicate. He did well to make it to the KHL, and I congratulate him on that. I had a great season, two great seasons. A good prospect... Rather, not a promising one, but an established master. Winning two Gagarin Cups at the age of 19 is worth a lot. I think this is just the beginning of my career.