Ak Bars defenseman Ilya Karpukhin shared his thoughts on the Yaroslavl team ahead of the Gagarin Cup final series against Lokomotiv.
— You faced Lokomotiv only twice during the regular season. What stood out about them?
— Yaroslavl is a tough opponent. You can immediately see it’s a systematic team that has been built over many years. They have a foreign coach, which in a sense brings more of a Western system. Their style is visible and clear to us. There aren’t any major surprises or secrets.
— Do you think Lokomotiv under Hartley has changed significantly compared to Nikitin’s era?
— I wouldn’t say it’s drastically different. Of course, there are changes — a new coach always brings a new vision, new aspects to the game, and he adapts things to his own views on hockey. But I wouldn’t say there have been fundamental changes, and it’s not a completely different team.
— Did Hartley primarily add Western elements, making the team more versatile and offensive?
— Probably yes, that can be highlighted, — Karpukhin said in an interview with Championat correspondent Rustam Imamov.
The Gagarin Cup final series between Lokomotiv and Ak Bars kicks off tomorrow in Yaroslavl.
