2012/2013 Playoffs. Game 5, Avangard vs. Traktor - 0:4. Press-conference after the match

Valery Belousov, Traktor’s head coach:
I want to congratulate my team on advancing to the conference finals. We knew Avangard would be going for a win. Good thing we withstood Avangard’s pressure in the first period; then we used two power play chances in the second and secured the win.

Petri Matikainen, Avangard’s head coach:
First of all, congratulations to Traktor, they really deserved the win. We, of course, are very disappointed. I think the first two home games was the deciding moment; we couldn’t get focused and struggled along the way. Our game constantly was getting better, and I actually think we played our best game tonight. We had many scoring chances and an opportunity get the momentum, but couldn’t do it. Besides, we were allowing too many easy goals, and that was our downfall. We will need to think about what went wrong. Nonetheless, we accomplished something good this year as well; we were making a lot of progress during the regular season and managed to get to the second round of playoffs, so let’s look into the future.

Question to Matikainen: What is the reason behind Avangard’s lackluster showing in the playoffs – conditioning, being unlucky, wrong strategy or something else?
Matikainen: It’s the whole picture. You need to understand that there is always the other team in the series; Traktor was very patient, they capitalized on their scoring chances, their power play was working well. All in all, it’s not the end of the world by any means – this is hockey, somebody has to lose, and we were that somebody this time.

Question to Matikainen: You said that this is hockey and somebody has to lose; just a fact – four of the five matches in this series were lost with a total score of 0:15. Is there a reason behind this?
Matikainen: We lost the series 1-4, and that’s it. There’s no need for negative thinking though, please.

Question to Matikainen: You didn’t include players like Nesterov and Piganovich on the line-up. Do you regret it and do you think there were any mistakes in line-up formation?
Matikainen: I try to put the best guys on the ice, and that’s my decision. Nesterov, by the way, was seriously ill and spent several days in a hospital.

Question to Matikainen: You spent the entire season in KHL. Could you say what you would have done differently if you’d had this experience already?
Matikainen: You still want me to analyze the entire season minutes after the game. KHL is a great league. During the pre-season Avangard was left without the coaching staff; we began training three weeks later than the rest of the teams did. We kept a great atmosphere in the team; we played good responsible hockey that got us here in the conference semifinals. All in all, many good things happened to the team during this season.

Question to Belousov: Traktor’s potential opponents in the conference finals are still trying to find out which team is better. Do you think it’s better to have a little rest between two series or stay in the game rhythm?
Belousov: It just so happened that we won the series 4:1; you can’t possibly lose games on purpose in order to stay in the game rhythm. We have a week before the conference finals, so it’s great to have so much time to prepare.

Question to Belousov: Any preferences concerning the possible opponent?
Belousov: No; both teams are very capable, and there isn’t much difference whom to play against. We will have to play against someone anyway, so it’s the question of motivation.

Question to Belousov: Kuznetsov is playing better now, but seems to have many distractions like the recent Twitter wars etc. Did you consider talking to him personally about all of this?
Belousov: You keep putting so much pressure on Yevgeny; be a little easier on him, he’s still very young. As for his performance on the ice, I think he plays for team’s good a lot; even tonight when it was a two-on-one on the empty net, he wanted to pass the puck instead of taking a shot himself, which only proves my point.

Question to Belousov: Could you compare two series against Barys and Avangard?
Belousov: We trailed 0-2 to Barys, but were able to regroup and put the series away. Avangard was a different story; we had a special motivation because we knew them as a great team, and that seems to have worked.

Question to Belousov: Dmitry Ryabykin said after the match that Avangard played worse than Traktor expected them to. Do you share the same point of view?
Belousov: I’m not sure. Avangard dominated game 4; had they scored tonight in the first period, the whole match would have had a different scenario, so I’m not sure how to answer this question.

Question to Matikainen: During the season Avangard signed Piganovich, Bumagin and Gusev. Did they live up to the expectations?
Matikainen: Those were the players we chose together with the club’s management because we thought they would help us in the end of the season. As for their performance, I’m not going to speculate about this or that individual in particular – we have to look at it from team’s perspective. It wouldn’t be fair to judge certain individuals. I would also like to thank all Avangard’s fans out there and urge them to be patient; of course that’s a disappointment, but please don’t be so harsh on the team.

Question to Matikainen: At what point in tonight’s match did you understand that the series was basically over?
Matikainen: I believed until the very end that we would be able to pull at least one goal back in the third period that would get us back on track. Coaches always have to believe in the best for their teams.

Question to Matikainen: Which league has more difficult playoffs, Finnish or Russian? Why?
Matikainen: Both of them do; no matter which league you are in, it takes a lot from you, but if you are bull-hearted, you succeed.