Famous goalkeeper Anton Khudobin said in an interview with that he does not consider CSKA’s elimination from the Gagarin Cup in the first round a sensation.
In the regular season of the Fonbet KHL Championship, CSKA took sixth place in the Western Conference, and lost to Lokomotiv in the first round of the playoffs (1-4).
— Have our playoffs become similar to those of the NHL in terms of feeling? Already in the first round, Ak Bars and CSKA were eliminated.
— The fact that CSKA was relegated is not a sensation. It was expected. Because the guys have played in the final six years in a row. How much strength and emotion do you think they have left? It’s not so easy to rest for a month and a half, then start the season again to reach the final again. And so for six consecutive seasons. There is a human resource. The guys are mentally tired. No matter what you told them, they got more than the maximum out of themselves.
Maybe next season CSKA will qualify for the Gagarin Cup again. But this year it seems to me that they are just mentally and physically tired. Remember how Tampa reached the Finals three years in a row, then got knocked out in the first round. This has a very strong impact. Because every time you run a big marathon – with flights, travel, matches every other day, fights for points. But there are still household chores, everyone has a family. And it all adds up…
I didn’t exactly predict CSKA’s relegation, but I said they might lose in the first round. And this is normal in this case,” Khudobin told .
CSKA is a three-time winner of the Gagarin Cup (2019, 2022, 2023).
Watch live broadcasts of Fonbet KHL Championship matches on Match Group channels, matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.
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.
