Tretiak on Bobrovsky: “It was a pleasure to watch a Russian goalie stop Canada’s top stars”

President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) Vladislav Tretiak assessed the contribution of Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to the victory in the Stanley Cup final.

Florida defeated Edmonton in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final with a score of 2:1. The winners of the NHL championship bowl were goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and forward Vladimir Tarasenko.

— Did Bobrovsky make the greatest contribution to the team’s success?

— Yes, it was Bobrovsky who won the 2024 Stanley Cup. You saw how he played, right? He was just in awe at the end of the seventh game. He stopped all the shots, made a ton of saves. It was brilliant! Of course, hockey is a team sport, but this is exactly the case when the goalie’s contribution to the victory is especially great. Don’t forget what strong opponents Florida faced in the playoffs, especially in the final. McDavid alone can beat two or three at any moment and pass to an empty corner. And our goalie stopped this entire powerful attack almost single-handedly. He stopped 40 shots, becoming the main hero in the team’s winning matches. As a goalie, I understand very well how difficult it is. And what kind of concentration, preparation, and psychological effort such feats require. I won’t hide the fact that it was very nice to watch the Russian goalie stop Canada’s main stars – in this way, the long-standing traditions of world hockey are being observed,” the Match TV website quotes Tretiak as saying.

Bobrovsky and Kulikov became Stanley Cup winners for the first time in their careers; Tarasenko won the trophy in 2019 as part of St. Louis.