In the first round of the current season, the current winner of the Gagarin Cup CSKA lost to Lokomotiv, and Ak Bars, finalist of the last edition, lost to Avtomobilist, both series ended with a score of 4-1. Moreover, Dynamo, winner of the Continental Cup, lost in the second round to Chelyabinsk Traktor with a score of 0–4 in the series.
Tretyak noted that this season in the KHL turned out to be very interesting and unpredictable. Most teams played unevenly due to the reduction in foreign players, which brought the levels closer together. He highlighted the great interest in the games and a significant increase in attendance. Tretyak stressed that it is almost impossible to predict the winner of the current season, unlike in previous years when there were clear favorites.
— In general, this KHL season is very interesting. Most teams played very unevenly. This was due to the fact that there were fewer foreigners in the teams, so they became equal. There has been a lot of interest in the games and attendance has exploded this season. I used to be able to predict who would win in 80% of matches. But this season is completely unpredictable! Teams rose and fell – CSKA, Spartak, Ak Bars, SKA. Nobody managed to get through it, because the championship is difficult. Not all players are used to a tournament as important as the NHL. At one point we had three breaks, and we could lick our wounds and prepare the injured for the match. There is no rest now. The KHL championship is almost the same as the NHL.
If we talk about the results, we all expected the playoffs to be nice and interesting, but not to this extent. No one could have predicted that Dynamo would lose 0-4, CSKA – 1-4, Ak Bars – 1-4. I understand if there was a stubborn series, 4-3. But since they lost with such an advantage over their opponents, teams need to analyze their losses in depth. “Dynamo” is practically the national champion of the regular season, and they have not won any matches out of four. This means that there are some problems, but the coaches and club management will resolve them.
The interesting thing about sport is that it is unpredictable. This KHL season will be remembered by everyone. If before there were favorites in the playoffs, today it is difficult for me to predict who will win the Gagarin Cup, ”Tretyak told Match TV.
Source: Sport
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.
