Media briefing before the start of the 2022/2023 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We're training in an intense manner. We will compete against a strong opponent in the first round of the playoffs, Dinamo Minsk play in a Canadian style and have a great coaching staff. We want our fans to provide us with fantastic support!

- SKA comfortably defeated Minsk in the regular season games. Can we expect the same to happen in the playoffs?

- We are only thinking about the first match at the moment. Minsk like to play a modern brand of ice hockey, we all saw how the Belarusian national team with Craig Woodcroft in charge won the Channel One Cup in Moscow in December. Right now, we're focused on game one and our tactical approach.

- This is the third consecutive year in which SKA will face Minsk in the first round of the playoffs. Is this an advantage for you?

- It makes it even more interesting for both sides. What happened previously is in the past, we are only focusing on the present. Our previous meetings hold no importance now.

- Have you already decided which goalkeeper will be in net for game one on Wednesday?

- We never reveal our line-up before we have to! It will be released one hour before the match begins. We trust all of our goaltenders and skaters. In order to not give the opponents any extra information, we aren't going to talk about our team selections now. We want to surprise Minsk.

- What can you say about your injured players?

- Our medical team are doing all they can to ensure that the players are fit for the playoffs. The best players who are able to play will be on the ice on Wednesday. Unfortunately, some of our guys are out for the remainder of the campaign.

- Dinamo have a lot of Canadian players who compete in an aggressive manner.

- We're not thinking about how aggressive they'll be. The main thing is that we will play with aggression! You must compete with sporting aggression and desire in order to score goals. When the opponents are on the attack, we must defend solidly as a team and help our goalkeeper. We must be watertight in defence and creative in attack. We are analysing the opponents in detail, but we will keep that information within our group.

- How are you motivating your young players ahead of the playoffs?

- Everything depends on our desire and hard work. When we won our first Gagarin Cup, a lot of our players, coaches members of the management hadn't had a lot of experience at this level. This doesn't mean anything now. Our task is to make sure all of our players are prepared, we need them to play to their individual strengths. We are studying the opponent's weak spots and improving our strengths as a team.

HC SKA defenseman Alexander Nikishin:

- How prepared do you feel for the playoffs?

- We'll see how ready we are in the first match. We feel that we're ready for the playoffs, we've had enough time to prepare. The foundations have been put in place.

HC SKA forward Dmitrij Jaskin:

- Our preparations have been taking place as schedule, we feel great and everything is in order. I was the top scorer of the regular season? Yes, of course I was happy with that achievement, but my teammates made a big contribution. No one was constantly looking at the statistics.

- SKA's concluding game of the regular season was full of drama, with your team recovering from a three-goal deficit against Sochi on the road. Has that given you even more emotions ahead of the playoffs?

- In that particular game, we once again proved that we have plenty of character and spirit. We've had plenty of such matches this season so far! That game allowed us to pick up even more positive emotions with the playoffs in mind.

- Do you have any playoff traditions? Maybe you won't shave?

- That's the usual tradition, but some of our players barely have any facial hair!

HC SKA forward Nikita Komarov:

- What expectations do you have for this series against Dinamo?

- They have a good team, but we will fight for our victories. I held faceoff draws with Sergei Zubov at the end of our training session? We need to watch the video to see who won! We're working on all aspects of the game ahead of the playoffs.