Will Fedorov win his debut season. The main thing about the final of the Gagarin Cup

On Monday, the final of the Gagarin Hockey Cup starts, in which Metallurg will play against CSKA. About what to expect from the confrontation, Important The final is played up to four victories of one team. Matches will be played on 18, 20, 22, 24 and, if required, 26, 28, 30 April. According to the results of the regular season, Metallurg took first place, CSKA - seventh. Therefore, "Magnitogorsk" has the advantage of its ice. If it comes to the seventh match, Magnitogorsk will be the masters of the decisive game. Road to the final

"Metallurgist":

1/8 finals, Barys - 4-1; 1/4 finals, Avangard — 4–3; 1/2 finals, Traktor — 4–1.

CSKA:

1/8 finals, Lokomotiv — 4–0; 1/4 finals, Dynamo (Moscow) - 4-0; 1/2 finals, SKA - 4-3. Vorobyov has already beaten CSKA in the final

Metallurg and CSKA have already met in the decisive series of the KHL playoffs. In 2016, Magnitogorsk beat the army team 4–3 and became the champion of Russia for the fifth time. That season, as now, the team was coached by Ilya Vorobyov.

However, over the next six years, the lineups of Metallurg and CSKA have changed almost completely. Goalkeeper Vasily Koshechkin and defender Yaroslav Khabarov continue to play for Magnitogorsk. For Muscovites - defense player Bogdan Kiselevich, forwards Sergei Andronov and Andrei Svetlakov. Forward Semyon Koshelev was in CSKA in 2016, and now he is in Metallurg.

Also, CSKA is headed by another coach - not Dmitry Kvartalnov, but Sergey Fedorov. Therefore, no conclusions can now be drawn from the result of six years ago.

Statistics

Assessing the statistical performance of the teams in the Gagarin Cup, it is worth remembering that Metallurg played two matches more - 17 against 15.

The finals will see the two highest scoring teams in the playoffs. Metallurg scored 64 goals against opponents, CSKA - 50. At the same time, the army team has more reliable defense - 27 missed goals, and Magnitogorsk - 46 - the worst indicator among all participants in the cup meetings.

Also, Metallurg is in last place in terms of the number of penalty minutes received - 190, while CSKA has 120 (seventh place).

According to the implementation of the majority, Magnitogorsk residents are fifth - 22.1%, the army team is 11th - 17.1%. But Muscovites perform better in the minority - 84.8% (fourth indicator) against 72.3% (14th place).

As you can see, Metallurg has weaker defense, minority and discipline, but stronger attack and majority.

Trainers

Vorobyov has much more experience. He has been a head coach since 2015. In the year of his debut, he won the Gagarin Cup, and the next season he played in the final.

Since 2016, Vorobyov has been a member of the coaching staff of the Russian national team. At the 2018 and 2019 World Championships, he was the head coach of the national team. The team finished the first tournament with a defeat in the 1/4 finals, the second - finished with bronze medals. The world championship in 2019 was remembered for the fact that the Russians, having gathered all the NHL stars and being the unconditional favorites of the tournament, lost in the semifinals to the Finns (0: 1), who played with a squad assembled from hockey players from European championships.

Former legendary striker Fedorov, three-time world champion, Olympic silver and bronze medalist, three-time Stanley Cup winner, has been working as a coach for the first season. Previously, he did not even work as an assistant. Despite the complete lack of experience, Fedorov showed a result that can be called worthy even now - reaching the final. CSKA is an organized, powerful team with no obvious weaknesses.

Goalkeepers

Reliable goalkeeper play in the playoffs is not even 50% success, but more. Therefore, we will consider this line separately.

Since CSKA, based on statistics, plays more confidently in defense, it is logical that Ivan Fedotov's performance is better than that of Koshechkin. The goalkeeper of CSKA concedes an average of 1.68 goals per game and saves 94% of shots. Metallurg goalkeeper statistics - 2.29 goals, 92.9%.

It is worth noting that Fedotov is 25 years old, Koshechkin is 39. On the one hand, the Magnitogorsk resident is more experienced, on the other, it is harder for him to recover.

layouts

Metallurg won the semi-final in five matches and ended the series on 11 April. CSKA won in seven meetings, having played the last game on the 14th. This may give Magnitogorsk a certain freshness advantage.

If we evaluate the game of opponents before the final, then CSKA seems to be a more pragmatic and systematic team. "Metallurg" - more attacking, playing with an emphasis on the individual skill of the performers. It is no coincidence that only two players scored more than 10 points in the playoffs in CSKA. Metallurg has seven such players.

Both teams have their trump cards. But in the playoffs, defense, order, system and discipline are more powerful arguments. Apparently, this is why bookmakers consider CSKA to be the favorite of the series.

Expert opinion

“My opinion is that the chances before the start of the series are absolutely equal. Both teams have hockey players with experience playing in the finals. Much will show the first matches of the confrontation. But right now it's hard for me to give preference to someone.

As part of CSKA in the series with SKA, leaders who had previously been in the shadows turned on at the right time. The goalkeeper Fedotov looks very decent. There are many talented hockey players in Metallurg, and goalkeeper Koshechkin also shows a high level of play. The final should be interesting."