Raising the flag. Imports in the Gagarin Cup finals
Two new import players – Luke Johnson and Robin Press, representing the USA and Sweden – itched their names onto the Cup this year, with Lokomotiv’s defenseman Martin Gernat getting close and helping his team reaching the Gagarin Cup finals. Let’s see how did they fare in the final round.
Sweden
D, Metallurg, 4 G, 3 (0+3) points, +2
Not many players from Sweden have claimed the Gagarin Cup championship before – with the most recent being CSKA’s Adam Reideborn and Fredrik Claesson, other than Klas Dahlbeck. In the earlier years, Tony Martensson, and then Anton Lander helped bringing the Cup to Kazan. Robin Press’ contribution to Magnitka’s third title in history was strong: not only did he post three assists in the final series and being awarded with Best defenseman honors in the final round, but he was one of the top players overall for Metallurg in the entire elimination stage. The defenseman had 14 assists and 17 points from the blue line, including a long scoring streak in the second round, and was tied with Dmitry Silantyev for the top scorer in the team and the second scorer in the entire league. Press was certainly one of the top players for Andrei Razin in the whole season.
United States
F, Metallurg, 4 G, 0 points, -2
Johnson’s numbers aren’t as impressive as Press’ – yet he contributed with a strong two-way presence and a solid play on the dots, winning more of the 60% of his faceoffs in the first and third games of the series. The American-born forward thus helped Metallurg in raising its third Gagarin Cup and followed Reid Boucher as the second US player to lift the Cup after his forward colleague won with Avangard back in 2021. The Grand Forks, ND, native, has left his mark on the playoffs netting the OT, game winner in game three of the semifinals against Avtomobilist. He also often served as fourth forward in powerplay stretches against Lokomotiv, cementing his excellent performance as a role player to add depth to an already talented roster.
Slovakia
D, Lokomotiv, 4 G, 1 (0+1) point, even
The imposing defenseman was one of the last to surrender for Lokomotiv – he even recorded an assist in Loko’s lone goal in the decisive fourth game of the series. Gernat failed to be impressive on the scoresheet as he was in the semifinal’s series against Traktor, yet he often led the way in minutes logged and tried hard to be useful to his team in both the defensive and offensive zones. Gernat’s first season in the KHL can be called a success: the d-man had a deep impact on Lokomotiv’s play, scored plenty of points, and was one of the best on the blueline during the elimination stage. Lokomotiv’s priority in the offseason should be retaining the productive import defenseman.
