The head coach “Lada” Oleg Bratach told that the hockey players of the Togliatti team could have been relaxed by the intermediate first place in the KHL during the season.
Lada has not played in the KHL since the 2017/18 season and returned to the league this season. In the first season after returning, the Togliatti club took seventh place in the Eastern Conference and reached the playoffs, and during the regular season it took the first intermediate place in the league. In the first round of the playoffs, Bratash’s team lost to Avangard Omsk in five matches.
— The new Lada was very surprising. Before the season, many said Togliatti shouldn’t expect to make the playoffs. When was a team born that went through the championship with a lot of confidence?
— The team was born throughout the pre-season period. We carefully “gave birth” to him. And I won’t say that the birth was very difficult. All the guys responded. The overall work began with an individual conversation with each player. It was an acquaintance with someone.
I immediately spoke openly about what I expected from them in terms of work and attitude towards business. Everyone agreed. And it was decided by everyone that we would start the season for a reason, but that we would try to do everything in our power not to live up to the expectations of the skeptics.
— In the fall, Lada was first in the league. You looked at the table – what emotions did you feel?
– Fuck me! Do not look ! Because it could have a negative impact on us. And I think to some extent it had an effect. Maybe not immediately, but in the future. Not all the guys appreciated this enough. Even though we have warned and reminded each day how we achieve this result. If we stop doing this, we will immediately fall to the table. And the higher you climb, the more painful it is to fall. We talked about it every day,” Bratash told .
Watch live broadcasts of the Fonbet KHL Championship playoff matches on the Match Group channels, matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.
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.
