Third title for Metallurg
The 2024 Gagarin Cup went to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Victory on Wednesday in Yaroslavl completed a sweep in the final series and sent the cup back to Magnitogorsk for the first time since 2016. It’s the third title for the Steelmen and a first for head coach Andrei Razin in his first season with the club. Lokomotiv suffered a second cup final loss, having previously been beaten by Ak Bars in the inaugural season. It’s a third defeat for head coach Igor Nikitin at the final hurdle, a run interrupted by his victory with CSKA in 2019.
Youngest ever champion
The outcome of the final – and especially the speed with which Metallurg romped to victory – was a surprise for many. Before the series, there were expectations that Lokomotiv’s greater experience would be too much for a young Magnitka team. But youth came out on top. Metallurg’s average age was 26 years, 34 days, making it the youngest ever champion roster (Nikitin’s 2019 CSKA previously had the record with 26 years, 236 days). Goalie Ilya Nabokov, who was the playoff MVP, is the youngest man ever to win that award: he lifted the trophy aged just 21 years, 32 days.
‘I never dreamed of a rookie season like this’ – playoff MVP Nabokov
Third time lucky for Karpov
But it wasn’t just about youth. Metallurg forward Maxim Karpov finally got his hands on the cup – more than a decade after his first trip to the final. Karpov, now 32, lost out with Traktor in 2013 and again with Metallurg in 2022. Last week, at the third attempt, he finished on the winning team. It’s taken Karpov 12 season, 752 games or 4,248 days to lift the cup at last.
Razin’s first cup
Head coach Andrei Razin is the latest to mastermind a Gagarin Cup triumph. He joins a list of 10 KHL champion coaches in his 10th season behind the bench in the league. But the 50-year-old’s coaching journey is a relatively unusual one: after leaving Metallurg as a player in 2005, he continued in the lower leagues for a couple of years before moving into coaching. But this was no fast track to a big job. In 2006-2007, Razin was an assistant coach with the u15 representative team for Russia’s Central District. Razin remained in kids’ hockey until 2012 when he took charge of Kristall Saratov in the VHL. Then in 2015 he took over at Avtomobilist for his first taste of KHL coaching. Five seasons at Severstal cemented Razin’s reputation as a coach to watch, earning him the move to Metallurg and – at last – the Gagarin Cup.
Off the ice
With the season over, most players are thinking about their vacations. But CSKA’s Vladislav Kamenev has been busy with more important issues. He headed back to his hometown of Orsk to volunteer with the flood relief squadron. Orsk was hit by heavy floods during the spring thaw and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes. As the season came to an end, Kamenev set up a fund-raiser to try to help; later he headed home to offer some practical assistance.
SKA-1946 wins Kharlamov Cup
This season’s Junior Hockey League title went to SKA-1946 after winning the final series 4-1 against Loko. A 2-1 victory in Yaroslavl sealed the success, with Ivan Vydrenkov potting the winning goal on a power play at the start of the second period. The Petersburg team completed its triumph despite the absence of playoff scoring leader Ivan Demidov, while Loko was unable to take full advantage of the addition of Daniil But and Dmitry Simashev following the end of the Gagarin Cup campaign.
Loko won the first game of the series 6-3, but SKA responded to reel off four wins in a row. That makes it the first team to lift the Kharlamov Cup after losing the opening game of the final. SKA forward Vladislav Romanov was selected as playoff MVP. He finished with 26 (9+17) points from 18 games.
Next season
Preparations for the 2024-2025 season are already underway. This week the KHL’s board of directors confirmed that next season will see all 23 teams back in action. The season is due to start on Sep. 3, with Metallurg hosting the tradition Opening Cup game against Lokomotiv in a repeat of this year’s final.
