Petri Kontiola: it makes no difference who is in the net

— It was a very tough series; really anybody’s ball game. We were lucky at times, that’s why we advanced; and I am very glad that we did.

Do you think Yeremeyev’s injury helped Traktor?
I for one think that both Yeremeyev and Poluektov play on the same level. Personally it made no difference to me who was in the net.

Why did it take all seven matches to determine the winner?
Nothing was easy in this series. We knew Barys was a very disciplined team; they performed well, but we were a tad better.

You scored twice in game 7. Was it the head coach that told you where the weak link in Barys’ defense was?
No, it was just a typical preparatory process. Everyone understood it was the moment of truth; we needed to win game #7, and we did just that.

Is Traktor going to avenge last season’s bitter loss to Avangard?
We’ll see; I am looking forward to this series, although it is surely going to be a tough one too – Avangard is a great team.