Dynamo Kazan gained victory in the third match of the series against Dynamo Moscow – 4-2, and won the gold medal of the Russian Bandy Championship.
It is a historical first gold for the Kazan side, while for head coach Vladimir Yanko it was a record 10th win.
“I began to believe in victory only after the first half of Tuesday’s match,” Yanko told the Sport Express newspaper. “Before the break there was gale-strength wind at the stadium and we were losing 0-2. Only because of the fantastic play of Sami Laakkonen did we manage to level the score. In the second half of the meeting we played down the wind and we waited for the right time for a counterattack.”
“For a moment, the game calmed down, because our opponent is a good judge of hockey and didn’t open up,” Yanko went on to say. “But we managed to get a chance to score. I’d like to pay tribute to the Muscovites: they have a very good team. But we’ve beaten them four times in this season, therefore it can’t be said that the victory was fortuitous.”
This season Dynamo Kazan claimed the two biggest club trophies, the World Cup and the Russian Championship, and Yanko believes it is the right time to celebrate.
“We actually won three tournaments: the World Cup, the regular national championship, and the playoffs,” he declared. “I think this is enough for now!”