The Final’s finest: Koshechkin, Lee, Mozyakin and Koshelev
To mark the climax of the season – the Gagarin Cup play-offs final series – the Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of the final in four categories.
– Best goaltender was Vasily Koshechkin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), who played in all seven games in the final. One of the all-important four victories was a shutout, and he recorded a save percentage of 94.51 and a goals against average of 1.79 for the series;
– Best defenseman was Chris Lee (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), who made 6 appearances, including all four winning games, earning a +4 for the series and contributing 4 points (2+2), one of which was the championship-winning goal in Game 7. Lee struck 15 shots at goal, blocked 18 shots from the opposition, and averaged 29 minutes 6 seconds on the ice – more than any other player in the final;
– Best forward was Sergei Mozyakin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), with 7 points (3+4), including a double and the game-winner in Game 5, from 7 outings. Mozyakin did not receive a single minus for any game, ending the series at a +8 (the highest rating achieved by any player on either team), and fired 23 shots at the CSKA net;
– Best rookie, out of seven players eligible for the category, was CSKA forward Semyon Koshelev. The 20-year-old clocked up 6 shots at goal and 4 hits in his 5 games, averaging 6 minutes 13 seconds of ice time.
