Avangard Omsk goes into its first Gagarin Cup fired up to bring home its first silverware since 2004, a player who was part of that year's Russian Super League-winning team said Saturday.
Ex-NHL player Sergey Gusev was with Avangard when the team won its only championship, and after a late-career tour of several teams including SKA St. Petersburg has returned for the team’s charge to the Gagarin Cup final.
“Avangard has not had a medal for a long time, since I left Omsk, I think. That’s why I’m very pleased that we’re heading forward with confidence and trying to achieve first place,” the 36-year-old defenseman told RIA Novosti.
Avangard knocked out regular-season champion Traktor Chelyabinsk 4-1 in the Eastern Conference final series, and Gusev insisted the team had the courage in reserve for a worthy crack at the title.
“We haven’t left all our emotions in Chelyabinsk, because that’s not the finish for us.”
Avangard's Gagarin Cup opponent, Dynamo, qualified for the final with a shock 4-0 shutout series win over favorite SKA St. Petersburg.
“That sort of result can only be achieved by a very respectable team,” Gusev warned.
Gusev played five seasons in the NHL between 1997 and 2001, spending two years with the Dallas Stars and three with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
