KAZAN, Russia – Like last season, the KHL final went to seven games and like last season it was Ak Bars Kazan claiming the crown. The team became the KHL champion after defeating MVD Balashikha, 2-0, on the road.

“The true nature of sport is to fight for victory in every game, no matter how much you’ve won already,” forward Alexei Tereschenko said. “If you saw the amount of fans awaiting us at the airport at 4 in the morning you can understand that winning never gets boring.”

For defenceman Ilya Nikulin the title is his third since he joined Ak Bars Kazan in 2005. “This was a very difficult season. Everything seemed to go against us,” he said. “We lost several key players, like Danis Zaripov, due to injury but we overcame all problems and stepped up as a team. The winning goal today was scored by our fourth line and that showed our team’s depth.”

The pressure on Ak Bars Kazan is traditionally high and this year was no different as they had to defend their KHL title. With a new, refreshed squad they started the season slow.

The key to the success was in their success on the road with just two losses in 11 road games.

Finishing in third place in the Eastern Conference, just four points shy of the 100-point mark, Ak Bars Kazan wore down its opponents in the playoffs.

Barys Astana from Kazakhstan was set aside in three straight games. In the next round, Ak Bars Kazan faced another KHL title contender in second-seeded Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Ak Bars got off to a great start defeating their division rivals in the first two games in Magnitogorsk. The steel city club showed grit and determination and grinded out two wins in Kazan to tie the series at two.

For the third time in a row, Ak Bars Kazan came out of Magnitogorsk with a win and finished it off on home ice with a 3-1 victory.

The next victim was geographical rival and top seeded Salavat Yulayev Ufa. Once again, Ak Bars stormed out with two away wins to eventually take the series 4-2 and qualify for the final.

Instead of playing Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the reigning champion faced MVD Balashikha. Although finishing second in the Western Conference, nobody  expected the team coached by Latvian national team coach Olegs Znaroks to make a deep playoff run.

It was history repeating when Ak Bars Kazan started with a pair of away wins. While the Russian media had already picked a sure winner of the series, MVD Balashikha came with three straight wins.

With its back against the wall, Ak Bars Kazan played its heart out in Game 6 and earned a lopsided 7-1 victory to extend the series. It was the biggest win ever in a final series of the Russian championship. Defenceman Alexei Yemelin led the scoring with five points. Also this led to a new entry in the Russian hockey history books, both for points scored in a single game in a final series and points scored by a defenceman.

The deciding game started with two cautious and nervous teams. After a scoreless first period, Ak Bars Kazan took the game to them in the second period. Immediately after the faceoff the team threatened the opposition net and at 21:18 Nikita Alexeyev was at the right spot to tip in a rebound from close range to get the party started among the Ak Bars fans.

Niko Kapanen doubled the lead late in the second period after which Ak Bars Kazan sat back and defended. Despite being outshot 11-4 in the final period, goaltender Petri Vehanen kept his net clean to cap a wonderful season in style.

By mentioning the Finnish netminder, one of the pillars of the champion’s success is explained. After last year’s successful season, Ak Bars Kazan remained Finland-oriented. Niko Kapanen remained, but forward Jukka Hentunen and goaltender Frederik Norrena were replaced by fellow Finns Jarkko Immonen and Vehanen.

Only a decade ago, Vehanen was considered a marginal goalie prospect. He wasn’t able to lock a spot in the SM-Liiga and moved to Norway. Eventually his game turned around and he found a starting spot in his hometown of Rauma. From there, his development went rapidly and he represented Finland in the 2008 World Championship.

During the KHL playoffs, Vehanen posted a new record with 15 post-season wins and was crowned as the best goalkeeper of the playoffs. His 1.60 goal against average and a save percentage of 93.7 were even better than his regular season stats.

Where Vehanen stopped the opposition from scoring, head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov was the architect behind the plan of how to unravel the opponent’s defence. An Olympic gold medal winner in 1984 and six-time world champion, Bilyaletdinov has had success in Russia and is ranked as one of the country’s most established coaches.

His bond with Ak Bars Kazan is strong. During his six-year tenure Bilyaletdinov won three championships in 2006, 2009 and 2010. He lost the league finals in 2007 and won the Continental Cup in 2008 which makes him the most successful active coach in Russia at the moment.

Next season the triple is looming for Bilyaletdinov and Ak Bars Kazan. Several team owners are demanding success for the millions of rubles they are spending and this summer they are likely to open up their wallets once again in order to take over Ak Bars’ reign in Russia.

But if there is one team that is accustomed to feeling the pressure, it is Ak Bars Kazan. The pride of the Republic of Tatarstan doesn’t worry about it. For now the green-red colours of the team occupy the streets. Success smells sweet and so does spring in Kazan.

Notebook:

• Ak Bars Kazan’s quarterfinal series against Barys Astana included the longest game played in Russian hockey history. It took over 104 minutes before Niko Kapanen broke the deadlock for the KHL champion.
• The average attendance figure in the KHL rose by 7% to 5,670 per game.
• For the fifth consecutive year, scoring was down in the playoffs from 5.02 goals per game in 2005 to 4.76 this season.
• Salavat Yulayev Ufa forward Alexander Radulov was the top scorer in the playoffs. Despite getting eliminated in the division final, Radulov’s eight goals and 19 points were not matched by any other player.
• Jaromir Jagr will sign a new contract before the start of the World Championship to extend his stay with Avangard Omsk. Czech Jiri Hudler is poised to return to the NHL after a one-year absence. It is reported the forward will return to Detroit.
• Dynamo Moscow and MVD Balashikha merged into a new team called OHK Dynamo Moscow. Club president Mikhail Tyurkin announced the team colour, logo and mascot will be developed together with the fans.

JOERI LOONEN