Interviews ahead of the quarter-finals of the Gagarin Cup playoffs

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We understand that Avtomobilist are a strong team, otherwise they wouldn't have knocked Ak Bars out. We also know what areas of our game require improvement. Unfortunately, Alexander Nikishin will definitely miss the start of the series due to injury, so Pavel Dedunov will be our captain for game one. Yekaterinburg's strengths? They don't have any weaknesses, they're a strong side with experienced players and top foreigners. They're style has remained the same for several seasons now. Nevertheless, we will focus on our approach and will play to our strengths. Sergei Shirokov? He's an Olympic champion who we know well; he used to play for SKA.

HC SKA defenseman Artyom Sergeev:

- Let's see what happens in the first match on Sunday, we want to find out how Avtomobilist will compete against us.

HC SKA forward Pavel Dedunov:

- Everyone knows what to do, there isn't any illusions. We must fight for each other and continue moving forward towards our goal. Do teams in the Eastern Conference play differently in comparison to clubs in the Western Conference? In my opinion, ice hockey is the same everywhere. The price of a mistake is very high in the playoffs, regardless of who you're playing against. We can expect both sides to compete with an emphasis on being solid in defence.

HC SKA forward Alexander Kadeikin:

- Yekaterinburg are a strong, organised team with an excellent pair of lines. A bad team wouldn't have defeated Kazan 4-1! Yes, we respect our opponents, but we have our own plans and aren't prepared to allow the other team to progress to the semi-finals.

HC SKA forward Mikhail Vorobyov:

- The main thing is to be fully prepared for Sunday. When you start a new series, it's really important to start on a positive note and take game one.

HC SKA forward Vasily Glotov:

- Of course, we know that Avtomobilist are an excellent team, but we're focused on ourselves. We can't wait for game one on Sunday!