Vladimir Antipov: Traktor is ninety percent ready for the playoffs

Oleg Znarok, Dynamo’s head coach, said that his team was disciplined tonight. Do you agree?
Yes; Dynamo always plays disciplined hockey. Overall, it was a match of equal opportunities, but we could not convert our chances while Dynamo did. We were trying to catch up, but failed to.

In which aspect do you think Dynamo was better tonight?
I would not say Dynamo was way better tonight, even though they are defending champions. We should have been more aggressive and pushing to try to turn the game around. Still, it’s only a regular season game; the biggest challenges will come in the playoffs.

Do you think Traktor’s completely ready for the playoffs?
Well, I’d say we are 90% ready for the playoffs, and we still have time to improve this figure – there’s a two-week break in February. I think it will be useful for us; we will be able to correct some of our mistakes.

What is Traktor’s goal for this season’s playoffs?
We have to at least get to the conference finals like we did last year.