- You completed the series of 1/8 playoffs against Lada as quickly as possible. But was it difficult?
- Yeah. We got the most difficult opponent of all. I think that CSKA and Lada are teams of the same class. Togliatti, it should be noted, played very well. We just acted even better. It turned out that our forwards are a little more experienced. But the heat in all three games was just crazy.
- For you personally, which game was the most difficult?
- I think the third. It was also physically very difficult to play the third match in four days. But I speak only to myself.
- Tell me honestly, have you already mentally prepared for the shootouts?
- At that time there was such a state that anyway - bullets, not bullets. I was ready for anything.
- In general, how do you feel about shootouts?
“Fine, like everyone else.”
- I know the goalkeepers who hate them. Don't you have one?
- It happens in different ways. Sometimes it’s such a mood that even with pleasure I’m ready to participate. It all depends on the situation.
- Doesn’t it seem strange to you that in the playoffs everything can be decided in a series of shootouts. Why not play until the puck is abandoned?
- Honestly, I have no opinion on this issue. Now there are such rules. Let them be.
- You somehow reflected the most important bullet in the first round. In the second game with a score of 4: 3, the Kets could not beat you. And in the return attack, the army team scored the winning goal in this meeting.
- Strictly speaking, it was a one-on-one exit, not a bullet.
- Yes. And yet how did you do it?
- The episode turned out to be rather unexpected, at least for me.
- What were you thinking at that moment?
- I immediately decided to stay on my feet until the last.
- This, probably, embarrassed Ketov. He was hoping you would fall. He even paused accordingly.
- Well, yes, I did. But I decided not to fall. It also seemed to me that for Ketov this was unexpected. He wanted to get the puck into the goal.
- Did you win psychologically or did the striker lack the equipment?
- One can hardly speak of a psychological victory. Probably, after all, Ketov did not decide what to do in this episode.
- In CSKA, Alexei Simakov began to play very cool. In the regular season, he scored four goals, and in the playoffs already three.
- Lech - well done. He had a very difficult season, the puck did not go into the goal. But he was able to overcome himself and is now reaping the fruits of his work. I would also note Vyacheslav Bykov, who, in spite of everything, gave Simakov the opportunity to play. And even invited to the team. Glad he went to the playoffs.
Alexey Shevchenko