‘I never dreamed of a rookie season like this’ – playoff MVP Nabokov
Metallurg Magnitogorsk won the 2024 Gagarin Cup on Wednesday, completing a sweep of Lokomotiv with a 2-1 victory in Yaroslavl. It’s the third time the Steelmen have lifted the cup, matching Ak Bars’ record. In addition, Magnitka now joins Dynamo Moscow on six post-Soviet championships.
Goalie Ilya Nabokov was named playoff MVP, while forward Denis Zernov’s 12 goals made him the leading post-season sniper. Defenseman Robin Press had most assists with 14, while the playoff points leader was Avtomobilist’s Anatoly Golyshev (9+9=18 points).
Nabokov becomes the youngest ever Gagarin Cup MVP. Today, as he lifted the cup, he was aged 21 years, 32 days. Another goalie, Ilya Sorokin, previously held the record: he was 23 years, 128 days when he was named MVP after CSKA’s 2019 triumph.
“It’s emotional right now,” the young netminder said. “It feels great to be the MVP but I couldn’t have done it without my team-mates and everyone around us. It’s all about the teamwork. There are no easy games in the final, it was tough every time. But we showed the character to win. I don’t know what made us better, I just know that we won!
“I never even dreamed of a KHL rookie season like this one. I didn’t think it was possible.”
Rising stars hit the top
Nabokov was not the only youngster on Metallurg’s championship team. Forwards Roman Kantserov, 19, and Dmitry Silantyev, 23, also made big contributions in their rookie KHL campaigns. Silantyev led the team in playoff scoring with 17 (5+12) points, while Kantserov was third on the list with 13 (4+9).
“I have no words,” said Silantyev. “It’s a fairytale, a dream come true. I’m still in shock. I just want to soak in the moment, look at the cup and kiss my medal. We won because we were quicker. Maybe fitness played a part. We were stronger in each game and the scoreline says it all. I don’t think Lokomotiv was distracted because everyone thought they were favorites. Both teams really wanted to win.”
Kantserov reflected on his rapid rise to prominence.
“Who would have thought my season would end like this? I was just 18 when [head coach] Andrei Razin called me up to camp. I struggled a bit at the start of the season but then I began to show what I could do. In the playoffs, I think we played great as a team. It doesn’t matter who got the points, what matters is that we’re the champions!
“It was an even series, but our character was stronger. I agree that sometimes Lokomotiv played better than us, but we dealt with it. A lot of people thought the Lokomotiv were the favorites but we proved that we are better. 4-0 – I don’t think you can get better than that.”
KHL President relishes unexpected final
President Alexei Morozov told KHL TV that the result was a surprise.
“There was no indication that the final would finish 4-0,” he said. “This was a meeting of two very strong teams that played excellent hockey all season. Every game was close, but Metallurg got the bounces and it finished 4-0.
“Before the final, lots of people backed Lokomotiv because they have more playoff experience. This is a bit of a sensation for us, nobody thought it would be a sweep. Magnitka has strong young players, but people thought that Nikitin’s experience would play a part and we might wait until game seven for a winner.”
Morozov also highlighted Andrei Razin’s journey to the Gagarin Cup – a path that started long before this season.
“I’d like to single out Andrei Razin, who has gone from a kid’s coach and worked his way up through every league. Now he’s won the Gagarin Cup.”
Contrasting emotions for coaches
Andrei Razin himself, who came to Metallurg from Severstal in the summer and had never gone further than the first round of the playoffs before, reflected on that difficult path:
“The feeling of joy in those first few minutes isn’t quite so strong,” he admitted. “Now it’s more like exhaustion, finally reaching the end of such a long journey.”
Several players on Razin’s team also moved from Cherepovets to Magnitogorsk, including Daniil Vovchenko, who scored the decisive goal in game four. But the head coach did not feel that this triumph was forged in another of Russia’s Steel cities.
“We’re one team,” he said. “Some of the guys worked with me in Cherepovets, but that was never something we thought about or talked about. We put together a good, winning team. The players who we took from Cherepovets played an important role here, but it wasn’t all about them.”
Although Razin did not expect a 4-0 sweep, he identified game two as the turning point.
“That was when we believed. Today is was clear that the guys knew how to win. Even when we were behind, once we tied the game the guys believed in themselves.”
His opposite number, Igor Nikitin, tasted Gagarin Cup defeat for the third time in four finals after his team managed just three goals in four games.
“Inside, it’s devastating. There’s a feeling of dissatisfaction, competitive anger,” he said.
“But we got what we deserved. We need to look at what went wrong, especially in preparing for the final series. If you look at our goals per game up to the final, we were probably the most prolific team. But, of course, we didn’t score enough in the final. We understand this. It was our problem this season and it got worse in the final.”
Looking at Lokomotiv’s chances of winning the championship next season, Nikitin added:
“It depends on the guys in the locker room. If they are OK with just getting to the final, that’s a problem. But if [losing] sucks at the pit of your stomach, or makes your heart pound with anger, then they can come back and win. That’s what I told them.”
