The Gagarin Cup showdown saw CSKA Moscow fall to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the 1/8 final, marking a clear upset in the sequence of the series.
Lokomotiv responded with a decisive 6:3 victory in the fifth game, extending their lead in the series and signaling a strong offensive performance from the Yaroslavl club that night.
Among the winners, several players stood out for Lokomotiv with precise finishes: Alexander Polunin, Alexander Elesin, Andrey Sergeev, Alexey Bereglazov, Ivan Chekhovich, and Maxim Shalunov all contributed with accurate shots that found the back of the net. For CSKA, Mikhail Grigorenko, Vladislav Kamenev, and Nikita Nesterov managed to score, but their efforts were not enough to turn the tide in this decisive game.
Going into the fourth win of the series, Lokomotiv held a commanding 4:1 advantage, creating a substantial buffer that challenged CSKA to respond with a flawless performance in the following matchup.
CSKA Moscow remains recognized as a recent Gagarin Cup champion, having claimed the title in the most recent campaign. In the prior season’s final, the army club faced Ak Bars Kazan, a squad that subsequently exited the 2023/24 season in a surprising early round.
Ak Bars Kazan met a tough hurdle in that playoff stretch, losing their series 1:4 to Ekaterinburg Avtomobilist, which clinched the advancement and reflected the evolving dynamics of the league’s playoff field.
During the broader international landscape, the IIHF made a controversial decision regarding participation for Russian players in 2022, effectively barring them from international competition for that year. At the outset of July 2022, the IIHF Disciplinary Committee rejected a formal request from the Russian Hockey Federation to permit Russian teams and players to compete on the world stage. This decision had wide-reaching implications for players, teams, and national program planning, shaping the competitive calendar for months to come.
In the broader dialogue noted by IIHF representatives, discussions with the Russian Hockey Federation continued, though the concrete outcomes remained constrained by the governing body’s policies and the geopolitical considerations surrounding international sport that year. It reflected a period of tension and negotiation that affected participation, scheduling, and the perception of Russian hockey on the global stage.