We spoke with the legend about the results of the IIHF convention, CSKA’s victory in the Gagarin Cup and Florida’s exit in the Stanley Cup final.
“Bobrovsky is half of the Florida team”
– For the fourth consecutive year, a Florida club has reached the Stanley Cup final. And the rise of hockey in this state is due to your time with the Panthers in 1999. Are you surprised at the rapid progress of hockey in the south?
– Yes of course. Everything develops, new owners arrive, set other goals. Then, in the early 90s, hockey itself was new to the state as Florida had just entered the league. It was the same in Los Angeles, and the boom happened when Wayne Gretzky joined the team. Then other clubs appeared in California – San Jose, Anaheim and teams from this state have already won three Stanley Cups.
Three bowls now and in Florida when Tampa took them. And now the Panthers will play in the Finals again, like they did in 1996. I’m glad hockey is growing in such a southern state.
– Your departure from Vancouver during the 1998-99 season proved difficult, there was even a strike. Did you realize right away that you wanted to be in Florida?
– I happened to move to the Panthers. There were different options, and I was traded. It wasn’t all up to me.
“Florida traded defenseman Ed Jovanovski, forwards Dave Gagne, Mike Brown, goaltender Kevin Wicks and a 2000 first-round pick for you. Vancouver sent defensemen Bret Hedican, Brad Ferens and a 2000 third-round pick to the Panthers with you. It was a blockbuster business and you weren’t in the strongest club.
– Yes, at that time, Florida was not the favorite in the league. Although it reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996, it was then an average NHL club.
– And how did you manage to score less than 60 goals in this team? You were the league’s top scorer for two consecutive years.
– So this is my main task – to score goals. I did my job and my partners helped me. It’s hard to score alone. And in Florida, actually, I scored quite a few goals.
What do you think of the current Panthers?
– It’s not by chance that they reached the final, because the management of the club changed a few years ago. And the goal has been set that you have to get into the playoffs and fight for the Stanley Cup.
– After all, Florida went through a period where the team only made the playoffs twice in 18 years.
– That’s it. A lot of money was spent on the team, every year Florida only got stronger with good players. The same arrival of Matthew Tkachuk last offseason is worth something. And so the result.
– And how do you rate the role of Sergei Bobrovsky?
– Another example of how Florida got stronger in the offseason – only that was in 2019. Bobrovsky is playing great, got out a lot of games. As they say, if you played zero, it’s already a draw. I read somewhere that Sergey made 168 saves in four games in the series against Carolina and only conceded six goals. This is a very strong statistic. I can easily say that today Bobrovsky for Florida is half the team.
“My sympathies in the final will be with the Panthers”
– It’s hard to guess now, because Vegas hasn’t finished its streak yet. But is a possible final between Las Vegas and Miami the perfect match for North American hockey?
“Dallas is still struggling, but the Vegas-Florida final won’t surprise anyone. Moreover, the Las Vegas team has been walking around the Stanley Cup for a long time, it played in the final in 2018.
Vegas has surprised a lot of people since the team was drafted into the expansion draft. Initially, there weren’t many superstars there. But the Golden Knights have risen to the top of the NHL. Many in America would be interested to see such an end. Also, neither Vegas nor Florida have won the Stanley Cup in their history. So we will see new champions.
Where will your sympathy go?
“Florida is much closer to me and I spent a significant part of my career there. I know how they treat hockey there. People are very sick, they support their team, my sympathies are with the Panthers.
“It’s good to see how CSKA shook the whole country”
– On Friday, the congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation was held in Finland. As a special representative of the Russian Hockey Federation (FHR) for international affairs, a member of the IIHF Council, tell me – which direction the wind is blowing?
— I worked at this online conference. So which way is the wind blowing? According to some reports, Russia will not participate in the next World Cup, which will be held in 2024. And at the next congress in a season, this decision will be reviewed again. IIHF President Luc Tardif said hockey should be out of politics. But it doesn’t always work. We will work further. But there will be no change until at least spring 2024. In other words, we miss the 2023/24 season. And we have to wait for the IIHF May Congress, which will be held in 2024.
– On May 30, a gala evening will be held in Moscow in honor of CSKA, winner of the Gagarin Cup. What do you say to army fans?
– Winning the championship cup in the KHL is not at all easy. I know inside out how the guys have played – both with injuries and overextending themselves through physical pain. It was a real fight of men. And look, the guys have won the seventh game of the series in two seasons! This suggests that CSKA players have a strong spirit.
In general, I had not seen such enthusiasm around the KHL playoffs and especially the final for a long time. Everywhere I went, everyone was talking about hockey: “How is CSKA doing there? What are the odds against Ak Bars? What do you think of the game?
Even people far from hockey have changed their plans, postponed important things to watch games on TV or enter the arena. It was a very big hockey party. I was very happy to see that as a soldier who came to the club at the age of six. And now I am a member of the Supervisory Board of CSKA. I am very happy to see that our team has moved the country so much. And I am proud to be associated with CSKA.
– Does CSKA look like the Detroit of the time when all America supported it? Wherever you go, there are fans in the stands in red jerseys with a winged wheel on their chests.
– I will say that I know a lot of Muscovites who support other clubs, but they also supported CSKA in the playoffs. I believe that CSKA is the strongest hockey brand in our country. And it comes from the Soviet Union, because CSKA is the most successful club, which has always been the base team of the USSR national team. As in Canada, the Montreal Canadiens are considered the norm in history, so we have CSKA.
– When you played in the same line with Sergei Fedorov, did you see in him the makings of a coach? He also has a powerful hockey IQ.
– The fact that Fedorov became the head coach two years ago came as a surprise to everyone. I think, including for Sergey himself. But it showed amazing results. Having no experience, he won the Gagarin Cup two seasons in a row. And two years in a row, he was recognized as the best coach in the KHL. I think this is a unique case.
Source : MatchTV

I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.