Former Russian national team coach Vladimir Krikunov shared his thoughts on the upcoming Gagarin Cup final series between Yaroslavl’s Lokomotiv and Kazan’s Ak Bars.
“Many highlight the fourth line of Ak Bars. You know how it’s said in the NHL: Cups are won by third and fourth lines. They must support the leaders as much as possible. With Lokomotiv, until Shalunov and Radulov took the initiative, no one could score at the right moment. It’s good that Beryozkin and Surin started to wake up later. All four lines, the whole team must work as a single mechanism to achieve the goal,” Krikunov said.
“Has the current Kazan team matured enough to win the fourth Gagarin Cup, or does Yaroslavl deserve a second consecutive title?” the reporter asked. “Everything is very even here. Both teams deserve to become champions,” Krikunov replied in an exclusive interview with Championat correspondent Pavel Panyshev.
