The former head coach of the Russian national hockey team openly criticized CSKA Moscow for a slow, uninspired effort after their first‑round exit from the Gagarin Cup, losing to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. His comments, relayed by Soviet sport, cast a critical light on the team’s approach and intensity at a pivotal moment of the season.
He said that management assumed all problems, even the most disruptive ones, would simply fade away with time. Yet no clear solution emerged. The period required thoughtful evaluation of what needed to be done for the next campaign. For a legendary squad with a substantial budget, being eliminated in the opening round without a fight proved to be a nightmare, he argued.
The decisive outcome in the series came in the fifth game, with Lokomotiv prevailing 6–3. The Lokomotiv lineup featured sharp contributions from Alexander Polunin, Alexander Elesin, Andrey Sergeev, Alexey Bereglazov, Ivan Chekhovich, and Maxim Shalunov, all delivering accurate shots. For CSKA, Mikhail Grigorenko, Vladislav Kamenev, and Nikita Nesterov found the back of the net.
Heading into the final stretch of the series, Lokomotiv had built a commanding 4–1 lead in games, leaving CSKA with a steep climb to force a comeback.
CSKA remains the holder of the Gagarin Cup title title from the previous season. In the championship series of the prior year, the army team also defeated Ak Bars Kazan, a club eliminated in the first round of the 2023/24 season.
CSKA is the current holder of the Gagarin Cup. In the final series from the last season, the army squad similarly defeated Ak Bars Kazan, which exited in the first round during the 2023/24 season.
A former world champion named the main reason why CSKA fell short in the Gagarin Cup race.