Today, September 3, the next KHL season starts, but memories of the end of the last championship are still fresh. Lokomotiv lost to Metallurg in the final, but the Yaroslavl team made a strong impression in the playoffs, and forward Maxim Berezkin became one of the team’s leaders during the cup matches. A native of Chita, who has been playing in the Lokomotiv system since childhood, he became the best scorer and sniper of the railwaymen and the main hero of an incredible series with Avangard.
Before the start of the new season, in which Lokomotiv and Berezkin will have a lot to prove, the Yaroslavl striker gave an interview to the Championship correspondent, in which he said:
— on the phenomenon of snipers in the Omsk arena;
— on understanding the new role in the team;
– around 0-4 in the final with Metallurg and the most difficult series with Avangard;
– on the confrontation between Fucale and Shalunov in the semi-finals with Traktor;
– on comparing Lokomotiv with Florida;
– about the special feeling towards the fans of Yaroslavl.
What to expect from Lokomotiv in the new season
Lokomotiv did not break anything after the failure in the final. What will the Radulov factor change?
“I wonder as a full-fledged leader of Lokomotiv”
—How was the preseason? – Everything is fine. There were intense training sessions with weights, I had an emotional break. I wanted to skate, play hockey and feel the atmosphere of the matches.
— Lokomotiv played against Traktor and Avangard at the Omsk tournament. – Yes, this is a great experience, a great training before the regular season. We recently had a seven-game series with Avangard and we are already fundamental rivals for each other. A lot of fans also came, so it turned out to be a bone-to-bone match. This is the kind of chopping block around the playoffs.
—Do you consider the last season a big step forward for you? “I didn’t see it that way. I just want to improve season after season, not stay still, grow.
— The start of last year was not very successful, what helped you improve afterwards? — Yes, it is clear that I did not score 30 points in a month, but I adjusted my statistics quite calmly and kept myself in shape. I did not think much about performance. And in the playoffs there is no room for weaknesses and excuses, and that is why he showed a good game.
— In Omsk you score in almost every game. Is the local atmosphere as inspiring? — Yes, I’m already paying attention to this too (laughs). This goes back to the last Blinov Cup. I really like playing here, the arena itself, the ice is good. It turns out that it’s your favorite arena! But only after Yaroslavl, of course.
—During the last playoffs, did you feel like you were dragging the team down? – Yes, there was that feeling. It was important for me that the team won and that I helped them achieve results. Now I wonder about that as the full-fledged leader of Lokomotiv.
Maxim Berezkin
Photo: Yuri Kuzmin, foto.khl.ru
Metallurg was better prepared in terms of emotions in the final. And we were not in perfect condition.”
— Igor Nikitin is an excellent psychologist. Does he motivate with carrots or sticks? – Yes, and so on and so forth. He knows how to praise, but he also knows how to ask very strict questions. He teaches us to be responsible for our actions.
— You called CSKA kryptonite, whose passage will pave the way for Lokomotiv to the Gagarin Cup. What surprised Magnitogorsk in the final? — I won’t say that I was surprised at all. All the matches were close in score, but who will remember that? The games were close, they just got luckier somewhere. Plus we weren’t in perfect condition.
— Nikitin took the blame after the final. I couldn’t keep the team in good shape. — Perhaps the necessary tone was not present only at the beginning of the first match of the final series. When you don’t play for a long time, you get out of the habit. Then we ran and started to pick at each other. Igor Valerievich took the blame, but everyone at Lokomotiv can do it.
In fact, even with the score at 0-3, we all understood that we could easily get back into the series. There is no need to look far for an example: Edmonton finished 3-3 from 0-3 in the NHL final. No one in our team doubted their capabilities; there was enough strength and emotion. “Metallurg”, I think, was simply better prepared in terms of emotions than we were. They were helped by the victory in the seventh game of the semi-finals against Avtomobilist – on this rise they reached the final and were able to win the first game. And the first game means a lot.
Great conversation with Igor Nikitin.
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– Avangard almost turned the quarter-final series around after changing coaches. Did you not understand how to play against Zvyagin? – Yes, the team there is competent, people won cups. The hockey players themselves understood everything perfectly, especially after the 0:7 in the second game. They rallied that way, and luck was on their side somewhere, remember at least the winning goal in overtime in the third game: there were four of us in goal, but the puck still flew in.
“Avangard” – the handsome guys who returned gave us a great lesson. But in the seventh match it was incredibly nice to win, especially in Omsk.
— Maybe sometimes it is better to play the seventh game away from home, where there is no additional pressure from the stands? “I can’t speak for everyone, but for me it’s like this.” In front of your fans, you understand that if you lose, then you leave the arena and look people in the eye.
— Was there no panic when the score reached 3-3? – No panic. We just had to try again to play our best hockey. All my thoughts were on the seventh game, I didn’t remember the fifth and sixth games. Upon arrival in Omsk we had a short meeting, they showed us our best moments in the playoffs and the team became even more united. We came out charged, brave and managed to open the scoring in the first half. And time started to play against us, and then I also scored the second goal…
Maxim Berezkin with his teammates after scoring in the seventh game of the series with Avangard
Photo: Dmitry Loshkarev, photo.khl.ru
“Maybe they expected trouble in Chelyabinsk. But Lokomotiv was prepared for absolutely anything.”
—Being so young, do you manage to have a short memory and not get carried away by emotions? – Yes, it is clear that sometimes they go too far… But Igor Valerievich knows how to calm and direct our emotions in the right direction.
— Did you read the press during the playoffs, when many people had already given the Gagarin Cup to Lokomotiv before the final? – No, I only read something later, when the season was over. But I myself understood that we consider ourselves favourites. But then I realised that the final is a completely independent competition, there is no point in looking at what happened before the decisive series.
— Did you expect Traktor to take revenge on Fucale in the matches in Chelyabinsk? — In this collision, such a ridiculous situation occurred: Max Shalunov’s skate slipped and he couldn’t stop. It all happened out of the blue. Similarly, you can, when turning towards the goal, get hit in the back by a defender and crash into the goalkeeper. Shalunov didn’t fly towards Fucale at breakneck speed, it was just an accident.
We were probably expecting some kind of trouble in Chelyabinsk, but we were absolutely prepared for all possible skirmishes. And so they came out and proved it all with the game.
“What was McDavid doing in the NHL Finals? But Florida is beautiful. His example is before our eyes.”
— Do you talk to the young players on the team about who was selected in the NHL draft? Surin with But and Simashev are first-rounders. – Yes, of course, there is such a moment. It is interesting to see all this, what guys are recruited. Now I congratulate Yegor from the bottom of my heart, last year I congratulated Sima and Butyara. They are handsome, what can I say.
— How did Simashev and Booth react to the fact that “Arizona” moved to Utah? – They say everything is fine there. Although I think that any NHL team has good conditions. Simashev went there, the training camp was easy and he was delighted with the atmosphere.
—Has Dmitry changed in any way after being selected so high in the draft? “He recently told me that he is extremely motivated to prove that he was not chosen as number six for nothing. It was a surprise at the time, but the way he plays now, everything fits together.
— Are you looking towards the NHL? — I try to think only about one specific season. I’m a Lokomotiv player and then we’ll see how my career goes. I sometimes keep in touch with people from Edmonton, but there is no communication with the bosses.
—But you follow the Oilers? — And I follow the NHL first of all. And it just so happened that both we and Edmonton made it to the final last season. I didn’t expect such a result from them, such a comeback in the final, but they showed crazy character. What was McDavid doing? I started scoring four points a game! Just an incredible player. In Game 7 they should have had a better emotional background, but Florida is beautiful. We tuned into a particular game and we took home the Cup.
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— An unusual player arrived for Lokomotiv in the off-season: Alexander Radulov. Did he bring anything new to the dressing room? — Radulov is very energetic, he always talks to everyone, encourages everyone. He has such an emotional background… You feel that we will succeed. That’s how I feel.
—Do you see him as a star or as just another teammate? – Of course, as a teammate, but at the same time you understand that he is a star in our league. At the same time, everyone in our team is equal and Radulov himself is a very team person and a hockey player.
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— Yaroslavl hasn’t seen Lokomotiv win for a long time; last year they came very close. Do you have any special feelings in front of the fans? – Absolutely. We have to prove that losing the final was a mistake. And an example of this is Florida. First we lost the final without any chance of winning and now we have won the Cup. We can do the same.
