KOVALEV: I DIDN’T DESERVE A CALL-UP

One of NHL leading Russian players Alexey Kovalev gave an interview.


In September the Olympic champion-1992, the country’s champion-1991 and 1992 and Stanley Cup winner-1994 Alexey Kovalev was invited to the pre-Olympic preparation camp, but few people expected to see the 36-year-old veteran in Russia’s “23-men squad”, which was unveiled last Friday.

Alexey scored only seven goals in 35 matches in Ottawa and admitted in an interview to Sport Express, that he didn’t deserve a spot in Olympic roster.

"First of all coaches rarely change the winning roster, and it would be preferable to take players, who won gold medals at the previous World Championships", said Kovalev.

"And secondly this season is not very successful for me, so there is no sense in taking the forward with so low efficiency to the Olympic Games".

"In general the 23-list didn’t surprise me, as Bykov capped those players, who worked with him earlier".

"The Olympic Games will be held in the middle of the season, and players won’t have any time to get used to each other like at the Soviet Times. In this situation it’s better to cap players, who know each other well".

"I always support Russian team and believe that we will win the gold in Vancouver. I really think that our squad is very good. We proved during the last two years that we can win, so I will support our national team as hard as I can".

"Many people believe that Canada is our main competitor and it’s wrong, because many countries have very strong and dangerous teams nowadays".

"It’s impossible to name the main challenger in the competitions, when coaches have an opportunity to take the strongest players".

"The atmosphere at the Olympics is the main special thing about this tournament. Hockey players often play against each other, while this time we will unite. And winning the Olympic is so unforgettable feeling!"

"I am player, but no a coach, so I can’t advise something to Bykov. Russian team’s coaches know everything without my advice, as they have rich experience of winning the World Championships and Olympic games".

KALYUZHNY: WE ARE MORE SELF-CONFIDENT NOW

Dynamo Moscow man Alexey Kalyuzhny scored the winning goal to lead his club to victory over CSKA.


"This victory became the eighth consecutive one for Dynamo", said the club’s vice-captain Alexey Kalyuzhny. "Of course this fact makes us more self-confident, because we lacked it at the beginning of the season".

"Now we play more calmly and even despite we were behind in this game, we managed to snatch victory".

"Both teams played very cautiously during two periods, since nobody wanted to be the first to concede goals".

"We played against CSKA with difficulty this season and suffered two losses, but I can’t say that we were too angry, we just wanted to win".

"I don’t think that my partners Komarov and Umark wanted to disable Parshin. Denis is one of CSKA leaders, and it’s natural when players challenge leaders more than others".

RUSSIA’S 23-MEN SQUAD

The coaching staff of the Russian hockey team named preliminary 23-men roster for the Olympic Games.

Preliminary list includes three goalkeepers and 20 in-field players, 14 players represent NHL, while nine men play in KHL. The 40-year-old Sergey Fyodorov is the oldest player in the roster, while the youngest is Semyon Varlamov, who is 21.

The 23-men lists includes these players:

Goalkeepers – Evgeniya Nabokov (San Jose), Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenics), Semyon Varlamov (Washington);

Defensemen – Andrey Markov (Montreal), Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars), Dmitriy Kalinin (Salavat Yulaev), Konstatin Korneev (CSKA), Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton), Fyodor Tyutin (Columbus), Sergey Gonchar (Pittsburg), Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa);

Forwards – Sergey Zinovyev, Alexandr Radulov, Viktor Kozlov (all – Salavat Yulaev), Alexey Morozov, Danis Zaripov (both – Ak Bars), Ilya Kovalchuk, Maxim Afinogenov (both – Atlanta), Alexandr Ovechkin, Alexandr Semin (both – Washington), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit), Evgeniy Malkin (Pittsburg), Sergey Fyodorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)

Coaches have right to correct the list until 15 February, but only in case of players’ injuries.

SIMAKOV SUSPENDED FOR TWO YEARS

Former forward of HC CSKA Alexey Simakov has picked two-year suspension in the Kontinental Hockey League structure.


Yesterday the Control and Disciplinary Committee of KHL tried the case of the former forward of CSKA Alexey Simakov and his former club. As the result the forward has been suspended for two years in KHL.

The chairman of KHL Control and Disciplinary Committee Vladimir Saraev commented on reasons of the player’s suspension.

"Conflict of Simakov with the club began when the player had status of CSKA player", explained Saraev. "Simakov was not satisfied that sum of his contract had been reduced in accordance with procedure of redraft".

"CSKA did everything possible to help Simakov continue playing hockey, for example the club didn’t use their right to dismiss the player for his absences".

"We thought that this conflict had been settled after Simakov moved to the other club. And suddenly after two months of playing in Avtomobilist he presented his claim to CSKA again".

"Simakov wanted CSKA to pay off the debt, that is illegal attempt to earn money. The player parted with CSKA in accordance to the rules and he had no right to demand anything from his former team".

"Forward’s desire to ignore regulations was the main reason of his suspension. While making this decision, we took into consideration circumstances of this case".

"Firstly this player violated regulations, secondly we have been trying to settle this conflict since July, while Simakov didn’t want to make compromise".

"And finally we are aware of player’s absences as well as abuse of player’s rights from the side of Simakov and his agents".

KUDASHOV: OUR TASK WAS TO REACH PLAYOFFS

HC MVD captain Alexey Kudashov talks about his club’s successful streak in the Kontinental Hockey League.


HC MVD’s performance became the main surprise of KHL regular season. The club, which didn’t reach playoffs a year ago, now goes on the second place in the Western Conference leaving behind such grands as Lokomotiv, Dynamo Moscow and Atlant.

Captain of the club Alexey Kudashov, who became the most valuable acquisition of HC MVD this season, talks.

"If I say that we had planned to be on the second place in our Conference I would lie of course".

"We created the team, which is not going to be at the bottom of the standings, and we had clear task to reach playoffs. Our work during pre-season period let us count on positive results".

"It was some kind of a challenge. We were not shocked by our current position, as we didn’t want to go high from the very beginning. We just come out to the ice with the task to earn points".

"We will try to win every match in playoffs. HC MVD will have advantage since nobody sets the task to win the title. All players will try to show themselves".

FINLAND WIN CHANNEL ONE CUP, RUSSIA IS ONLY THE SECOND

Russian hockey team defeated Czech Republic in penalty shootout to take the second place at the Channel One Cup in Moscow, while Finland won the trophy.

Russia ended their streak of five straight titles at home Channel One Cup after Finland beat Olympic champion Sweden 4-3 in penalty shootout.

President of the Russian Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretyak summarized results of the tournament.

"The last match against Czech Republic was really fantastic", said Tretyak. "It’s a pity that we didn’t win it in regular time, however nerve-strain was absolutely unbelievable".

"When our trio defended our goal against five Czech players, I was so happy and proud for our fighters. I even want to make a video and send it to Canada for our youth team, so that they will see how they need to fight".

"I agree that Russia has problems in defense, and it’s clear that our defenseman often make wrong decisions. I also lay claims to our forwards, who created a lot of scoring chances but didn’t convert them into goals".

"I don’t want to blame players, since several players are weaker than other Russian internationals’ by their individual qualities".

"Fyodorov, Radulov and Saprykin won the World Championship, but failed to demonstrate all their best skills at Channel One Cup. As for these players, I think that they were a little tired".

"The coaches’ task of determining the Olympic roster has become more complicated, but on the other hand it became easier, since now we see which players are better prepared. Coaches have enough information to think about, they need to watch the games again and analyze them".

"Level of hockey will be higher at the Olympic Games and players will be much stronger too. Czech guys forgave us this time when they didn’t score on powerplay, but nobody will do it in Vancouver. Our main target for today is to determine the squad".

"I can’t make any predictions until December 24. To my mind now it’s better just to sit down and analyze all players’ performance at Moscow tournament".

"I think that we should take three links of NHL players to Vancouver. By the way Czech Republic coaches said that they would take 18 in-field players to Vancouver out of 20, that means that only two players, who took part in Channel Cup One, will go to the Olympics".

"Of course we won’t do without NHL players and fortunately many of them shake off their injuries and return to action".

KURRI: I LIKE THE ROLE OF DARK HORSE

General manager of Finnish hockey team Jari Kurri gave an interview after his team won the Channel One Cup.

"I am not ready to say that Moscow competition was the last chance for our players to earn a place in Olympic squad", said Jari Kurri. "They should prove their right to be included to the national team’s roster for the Olympic Games during the whole season".

"Now it’s still unclear how many players, who took part in Channel One Cup, will go to Vancouver".

"We are to face difficult choice, because players from NHL and Europe claim to equal number of places in the team’s roster. We will think it over again and discuss, since we have two weeks before announcing the squad".

"I would prefer to keep names of candidates in secret until the very end. Players shouldn’t relax regardless their former achievements".

"Performance during the regular season (in Finnish league or KHL) is important, but they pass through the main test in the national team".

"Pessonen and Ramo didn’t play at Channel One Cup through injury problems, while Kukkonen was absent because of family circumstances. But it doesn’t mean that they lost chances to go to Vancouver, since we had enough opportunities to watch them in action".

"More Finnish players now play in KHL and we can watch their display in detail, while they can make progress in the high-class championship and earn money there".

"I don’t see anything strange in extending the contract with the national team’s head coach Jukka Jalonnen ahead of the Olympic Games and the World Championships. We are satisfied with his work, as the team demonstrates high-quality hockey and makes progress under his reigns. It seems to me that our trust will positively affect his work".

"Finland won silver medals at the previous Olympic Games and we would like to improve this result. It’s clear that Canada and Russia are the main favorites, and they are followed by Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and America".

"On the other hand any team is able to surprise everyone and we will try to do it in Vancouver".

"Nobody expects winning the gold from us, so I even like our role of dark horse. Canada will play at home, and everybody understands that the hosts will be pressed by the home public. Russia won two previous World Championship and is eager to take the Olympic gold, while we are in shadow".

PLYUSCHEV UNVEILED THE SQUAD

The head coach of the Russian youth hockey team Vladimir Plyuschev announced the team’s roster for the World Championships in Canada.

Vladimir Plyuschev will take 22-men squad to Canada:

Goalkeepers – Igor Bobkov, Alexandr Pechursky;

Defensemen – Nikita Zaitsev, Dmitriy Kostromitin, Dmitry Orlov, Nikita Pivtsakin, Alexandr Tarasov, Maxim Chudinov, Kirill Youryev;

Forwards – Magomed Gimbadov, Pavel Dedunov, Maxim Kitsin, Evgeniy Kuznetsov, Vyacheslav Kulemin, Kirill Petrov, Vladimir Tarasenko, Evgeniy Timkin, Maxim Trunev, Pyotr Khokhryakov, Nikita Filatov.

Goalkeeper Ramis Sadikov, forwards Alexandr Burmistrov, Ivan Telegin and Dmitriy Kugryshev wil join the team in Canada.

The team will hold one trial match against Latvia (21 December) ahead of the World Championships kick-off.

TRETYAK: I AM THANKFUL TO BYKOV

There publish interview with president of the Russian Hockey Union Vladislav Tretyak, which is an extract from Igor Rabiner’s book "Hockey madness: from Nagano to Vancouver".


New book of the journalist Igor Rabiner named "Hockey madness: from Nagano to Vancouver" will be published soon. This book is devoted to three Olympic hockey tournaments, where the author worked as Sport Express special correspondent.

Today there's an extract of the interview with the president of the Russian Hockey Union Vladislav Tretyak, as you can read the full version of this conversation in the book.

"We had two candidatures for the post of the Russian national team head coach - Bilyaletdinov and Bykov", said Tretyak. "I respect Bilyaletdinov very much, as he is one of the best Russian coaches, but Zinetula was more oriented on his work in Ak Bars".

"He was honest while saying that he needs to pay more attention to his club and that he wouldn’t be able to work at several Euro Hockey Tour competitions, while the national team needs a constant coach, who is concentrated on the team’s problems. That is why I decided to see Bykov at this post, it was my personal decision".

"First of all I played with him and I perfectly know him. Secondly he got playing and coaching experience in Switzerland, and thirdly he showed himself as a good coach in CSKA. I asked him and he told me that he would be ready to head the national team with his assistant Igor Zakharkin".

"I mentioned that his tandem with Zakharkin is very effective and my intuition didn’t deceive me. I am thankful to Bykov, who managed to restore Russia’s former glory".

"He lived in Europe and it helps him find common language with our players from NHL. Bykov always knows how to talk with them".

"We set the task to seal the first place at the Olympic Games in Vancouver. However I suppose that any place on the podium at the Olympics is good for the team in any case. Olympic medals of any value deserve our supporters’ respect".

"Though I would repeat that it’s necessary to aim for the first place. We want to achieve maximum result, but I won’t consider the second or the third place as a failure".

PLYUSCHEV SET TO WIN THE GOLD IN CANADA

Head coach of Russian youth hockey team Vladimir Plyuschev talks about preparation for the World Championships.

The national team’s youngsters are now preparing in Novogorsk for the World Championships, which will kick off on 26 December in Canada. The head coach Vladimir Plyuschev shared his views on the team’s readiness.

"Hockey has changed considerably during several past years", said Plyuschev. "Our players always try to keep the puck in hope to score, but Canadians won’t let us do it and that is why it’s necessary to reorganize our tactics".

"We will make the final decision on goalkeepers later. We will take only two of them to Canada on 19 December, while in general we will take 22 players".

"One goalkeeper Sadikov and four in-field players will join us there, The final roster will be announced after the trial match against Latvia in the North America. It’s a pity that we didn’t have the full squad in Novogorsk".

23 players took part in the training session yesterday. CSKA forwards Filatov and Kulemin arrived to the training base in the afternoon.

"We lack only those players, who play in Canada – Burmistrov, Telegin, Ostapchuk, Kugryshev", mentioned Plyuschev. "Only Kostromitin joined us from the North America".

"The Russian Hockey Federation holds talks with AHL clubs of Voynov and Grachev".

"This situation surprises me a lot because I can’t understand how they can deprive people of an opportunity to participate in prestigious tournament".

"I understand situation of Kulikov, who has regular practice in Florida in NHL, but I have no idea about problems of other players. I face these things for the first time in my coaching career".

"I said at the meeting of federation’s executive committee in August that we set the task to win the gold in Canada, though I know it will be difficult to do it. Sweden and America could also compete for the first place, and I think that we shouldn’t underestimate Finland and Czech Republic".

FETISOV SIGNED CONTRACT WITH CSKA

CSKA president Vyacheslav Fetisov signed a provisional contract with the Moscow club.


The 51-year-old hockey legend passed his medical and signed a contract with CSKA until the end of the season. He has already been a part of the CSKA in the KHL game against SKA.

"To my mind it’s very important that our young players will get a unique opportunity to play with legend of the world hockey", said CSKA head coach Sergey Nemchinov.

"His contract will run until the end of the season so we will want Fetisov in other matches too".

BRODEUR: RUSSIANS OWE ME SOMETHING

The best goalkeeper of Canada of the last fifteen years, potential first-choice of the Maple Leaves at the Olympics-2010, Martin Brodeur gave an interview.

New Jersey Devils 3-0 victory over Buffalo became the 103rd shutout for the 37-year old goalkeeper and thus he repeated the NHL record of Terry Sawchuk.

"It is not right that my era is starting," said the Canadian goalkeeper." My era is going to an end.

"Just look around and you will see how many young excellent goalkeepers there are in ice hockey!"

"I agree that European keepers are dominating at the moment. Russians, Czechs, Finns, Swedes – all are here! I can say that a Franco-Canadian goalkeeper is an endangered species, laughs the star of New Jersey."

"From my Russian counterparts I like the play of Nabokov and Khabibulin."

"The whole country is living only with anticipations of the Olympic Games. And you know that they expect nothing else but golden medals."

"I am not going to say buzzwords and promises I want to notice that we are to have very interesting matches with wonderful opponents."

"Our main rivals in Vancouver will be Russians, the current Olympic champions Swedes and I think the US national team. After all they have such a strong goalkeeper as Miller and such a notable forward like Zach Parise from our New Jersey."

"Every team at the Olympics will have its best players but the Russians owe me something. After all we lost to them in the quarterfinals in Turin."

"I am sure if our teams meet in Vancouver it will be a spectacular fixture."

"My record of 103 shutouts makes me proud – for nobody is trying to approach these figures now."

"But this record is not my personal but the achievement of the team, of all those defenders playing with me for all these years. 103 – is a big figure but I hope to increase it."

Way to go, Slava!

Former Red Wings defenseman and Russian hero Slava Fetisov is making a comeback in a Kontinental Hockey League game this evening. He's gonna play for CSKA Moscow tonight against first-place SKA.

That's the same age Gordie Howe was when he last played in the NHL, in 1979-80 with the Hartford Whalers. Cheli, who's with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, is a mere 47.

And Slava's still a double-threat: He's listed on the CSKA roster as a defenseman and team president.

For the record, he's just a temp on the defense. President Fetisov is filling in because the team has injury problems.

"We urgently need one more defender," coach Sergei Nemchinov said. "Fetisov practices constantly and has agreed to help the team."

Fetisov played for CSKA for a decade, starting in 1978, before jumping to the NHL. He retired in 1998 at age 40.

And the way Wings injuries are mounting up, maybe they should keep his number handy, too.
------------------------------------

There're some of today's comments on this story from all over the World down here:


- That's so cool! Most men are happy when they can digest red meat at 51!

- That's cool! In his prime, he was as good of a D as Bourque or Lidstrom.

- He won’t be the same as he use to be in the 80's and 90's but I'm happy he's playing again.

- That’s the great news. One of the greatest player ever on the ice. Fill a little envy to Russians.

- Would love to be able to watch the game. I doubt he could still throw it at the pace of todays game and his age considered, but man it would be nice to watch him throw another one of his patented hip checks out there again. Nobody I have ever watched could do it better than Fetisov used to in his time.

- Awesome! Fetisov helped a lot of russian players settle here in the U.S. and was the go to guy who could "correct" russian mafia threats to players and their families. Classy dude. Go Fetisov!

- WOW what a great story, Fetisov is an iron defenseman and, despite being a Bruins fan, I loved watching him play with the Red Wings.
Good luck, Slava, I'll try and catch some of your games on the KHL official site (KHL.ru), which shows next-day online broadcasts of some truly great hockey. Plus, it's the only way you'll see some all time greats like Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Yashin.

PLYUSCHEV’S TEAM GATHERED IN NOVOGORSK

The Russian youth hockey team began preparations for the World Championship, which will kick off in Canada on December 26.


These players began preparations for the competition in Novogorsk:

Goalkeepers – Igor Bobkov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Alexandr Zalivin (Dynamo M); Alexey Trifonov (Lada);

Defencemen – Dmitriy Orlov (Metallurg Novokuznetsk); Maxim Chudinov (Severstal); Nikita Zaiitsev (Sibir); Nikita Pivtsakin (Avangard); Konstantin Plaksin (Traktor); Alexandr Tarasov (HC MVD); Kirill Youryev (Lada);

Forwards – Vladimir Tarasenko (Sibir), Pavel Dedunov, Sergey Plotnikov (both – Amur); Maxim Kitsin (Metallurg Novokuznetsk), Maxim Trunev (Severstal), Evgeniy Kuznetsov, Egor Dugin (both – Traktor), Evgeniy Timkin (Avangard), Kirill Petrov (Ak Bars), Magomed Gimbatov (SKA), Pyotr Khokhryakov (Neftekhimik)

According to the head coach Vladimir Plyuschev defenders Anton Klimentiev and Dmitriy Kostromitin will join the team on Wednesday, while CSKA forward Nikita Filatov will come at the end of the week.

Goalkeeper Ramis Burmistrov, forwards Ivan Telegin, Alexandr Burmistrov and Sergey Ostapchuk will join the team in Canada.

UMARK LEADS DYNAMO AGAINST AK BARS

The main hero of the match between Dynamo and Ak Bars Linus Umark answered questions.


"I played awfully in the first and second periods and it’s better to forget about them", said Umark.

"I had to go to the match by metro and it didn’t let me catch necessary playing rhythm since the beginning".

Dynamo Swedish players became the main heroes of yesterday match between Moscow and Kazan teams, despite they missed a lot of scoring opportunities in the opening two periods. But after the break the Swedish stars levelled the score and managed to grab the victory thus making this match the best one for Dynamo this season.

TIKHONOV RETURNS TO SEVERSTAL

Yesterday Phoenics former forward Viktor Tikhonov decided to continue his career in Severstal.


The 21-year-old Viktor Tikhonov returned to Russia.

"I came from Phoenics several days ago", said Viktor. "My father and I thought which KHL team would be better for me and we were surprised that my former club Severstal still has rights for me".

"So far as I know I move to Severstal on a loan, since I have running contract with Phoenics".

General director of Severstal Anatoliy Tenitsky commented on Tikhonov’s move.

"We are glad that question of Viktor’s comeback to the team has been finally solves", said Tenitsky.

"He will hold the first training with us on Friday and maybe will take part in the match against SKA".

GUSTAFSSON: COUNTDOWN TO VANCOUVER OLYMPICS

The head coach of reigning Olympic champions and one of Russia’s main competitors at the coming Vancouver Games Swedish national team Bengt-Ake Gustafsson gaves an interview.

"I won’t be original if I say that determining of the team’s Olympic roster by December 23 will be our main concern at this time", said the coach. "I begin every day by watching NHL news. Moreover it’s time to prepare for the Moscow stage of Euro Hockey Tour, which will differ much from the previous three seasons".

"I am going to give three or maximum five places in the squad to players from European clubs, but two more links from the roster, who will play in Moscow, will be candidates to the national team’s squad for the Olympic Games".

"New rules allow us make changes in the list of players until the start of the Olympics so we should keep in mind at least ten players who don’t enter the 23-men roster".

"In Moscow we will see who would be able to replace NHL players in case of injuries. Moreover I seriously think to cap one non-NHL goalkeeper for Vancouver Games".

"I like statistics and mood of Henrik Lundqvist from Rangers, who is likely to be our number one goalkeeper. Supporters and hockey experts are sure that Russia and Canada will have the strongest goalkeepers in Vancouver and maybe it’s really so".

"But situation in our team is not worse, since three goalkeepers can’t play at one time. Henrik is cool-headed, experienced and has constant practice in his club".

"Peter Forsberg plays much better now than at the Carjala Cup in November, so if he keeps the same playing rhythm we will think about inviting him to Vancouver".

"Player with his experienced, mastership and two Olympic gold medals will surely help us. It’s not necessary to pay attention to performances during the season".

"Russian veteran Sergey Fyodorov also doesn’t score three goals every match, but nobody puts into doubt his usefulness to the national team".

TORESEN JOINS WEINHANDL AND HOSSA ATOP

Three assists in the match against Sibir allowed Salavat Yulaev newcomer Patrick Toresen catch up with KHL top foreign scorers Matthias Weinhandl and Marcel Hossa.

"It’s very pleasant that I became one of the league’s top scorers", said Toresen. "But I wouldn’t have achieved this result without help of my partners Alexandr Radulov and Sergey Zinovyev".

"However I should admit that personal statistics have never been number one task for me".

"I knew that KHL is very strong hockey league and that Salavat is very powerful club, which will go among leaders. I knew that it would be difficult to play there, and frankly speaking I didn’t expect that I would be the second top scorer of my club".

"I am happy that I earned more points that Jaromir Jagr, my favorite player".

"My partners are candidates to the Russian national team’s squad for the Olympics and I think that there will be several favorites in Vancouver, including Russia. This team has very strong squad, several stars from NHL and many good players from KHL".

"It’s hard to compare hockey in NHL and KHL, but I think that several Russian clubs including Salavat could fight as equals in NHL".

"Before my move to Russia I couldn’t assess level of KHL teams, but now I can say that Salavat Yulaev, SKA and 5-6 other clubs will fight for the Gagarin Cup trophy".

LARIONOV: FETISOV UNDERTOOD REASONS OF MY QUIT

Igor Larionov explains why he decided to leave SKA last summer and talks about his plans for future.


In summer Larionov sensationally left the post of SKA sporting director and rejected Fetisov’s offer to become general manager of CSKA. After that he returned to America and seems to withdraw from KHL active life though he still enters the league’s board of directors.

"I didn’t extend my contract with SKA through several reasons", explained Larionov. "But mainly because my point of view on the team’s formation is different from opinion of the club’s managers".

"I decided that it’s better to leave the team in this situation. Finally everyone can have his own vision of the team’s formation".

"The whole problem is that I saw the club as a business project, as I suppose that it was the main purpose of creation of the KHL. It’s wrong that owners of companies, who invest money in hockey, get nothing in exchange".

"Any team is build not for one or even two years, as it’s very serious and long process. I saw examples of Vancouver, San Jose and Detroit how to build the structure of the professional club set to achieve success in future".

"My friend Vyacheslav Fetisov offered me to become the CSKA general manager, but I refused, because I am not ready to move to Russia permanently. My son studies at school and plays hockey in Detroit.

"We moved to Detroit, because California is not the best place for the growth for hockey player. The main youth hockey is concentrated in Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, Buffalo and Saint Louis. And we had to fly from Los-Angeles to these cities during school year".

"It would be very interesting to work with Fetisov, as CSKA hasn’t won anything serious during twenty years since Slava, our partners and I left the club".

"It means that it’s necessary to change principles of work inside the team. Fetisov understood reasons of my refusal, while I gave him advice on strategy of CSKA’s revival".

"I won’t appear in my home team in the near future, because I want to spend two or three years for another hockey project. I am going to build company, which will deal with young players, provide them with consultation and other services".

KHL: SPARTAK BEAT DYNAMO IN SOKOLNIKI

HC Spartak outplayed their Moscow rivals Dynamo in the Kontinental Hockey League match yesterday.

Spartak – Dynamo Moscow 4:2 (2:1, 1:1, 1:0)

Best players: Knyazev (S); Radivoevic (S); Hudler (D)

"I want to apologize in front of our supporters for this match", said Dynamo head coach Andrey Khomutov. "It was the worse game for us this season and we will try to find out reasons of our crisis".

YAKUTSENYA SET NEW KHL RECORD

Neftekhimik forward Maxim Yakutsenya shares his feelings after he scored five goals in the match with Lada on Monday.


Maxim Yakutsenya needed only 14 minutes and 59 seconds to score five goals in one match, which a new record of the Russian hockey.

"I have already read in mass media that I became the second player to score five goals in one game after Morozov", said Yakutsenya. "It’s pleasant to find my name in this company".

"My team managed to do everything we wanted in the match with Lada. We caught our playing rhythm and scored nine goals".

"Lada is still very uncomfortable opponent even despite all their problems. We made sure of this fact several days ago, when we played in Togliatti and managed to get back from 1-3 behind and win only in overtime".

"Unlike previous years when Neftekhimik had the task to reach playoffs, this season we will try to advance as high as possible in the regular season. And then we will do our best to advance further in Gagarin Cup fight".

SUSHINSKY: I HOPE I WILL PLAY IN VANCOUVER

SKA forward Maxim Sushinsky earned 5 (2+3) points in latest two games of the regular season to head the KHL top scorers’ list with 38 points overall.


"I didn’t think about reasons of my so successful performance, as everything goes well for both my club and me", said Sushinsky. "I am in good form, I have wonderful partners so it helps us achieve high results".

"I often mention time when everything goes not well for me, and I don’t pay special attention to positive moments".

"My leadership in the top scorers’ list is mainly achievement of my partners. I haven’t achieved the same results during last two years and it happened because I didn’t have partners of so high level before".

"After the break connected with the Euro Hockey tour SKA began showing the same hockey, which we played at the start of the season. We had a negative series of games in November, as our match schedule was very challenging. But after the break we caught our usual playing rhythm and became even better".

"We need to continue showing hockey which we show now, and plus it’s necessary to improve in several components of the game".

"I prepare and hope that my own hockey and figures of my effectiveness will help Russian national team’s coaches make the final decision according to the side’s roster for the Olympic games".

"This season helped me understand that it’s early to finish my playing career. When your team wins, when you understand your partners without words, you want to play hockey more. It helps me improve myself and find something new in my game".

FILATOV: NEW ICON OF THE RUSSIAN HOCKEY

HC CSKA forward Nikita Filatov was voted the best rookie of the week by the Kontinental Hockey League.


The Russian youngster Nikita Filatov, age 19, stands best chances to become a new icon of the Russian hockey. The Russian national team’s squad for the Sochi-2014 Olympics will be made by such rising stars, and of course KHL clubs will follow CSKA’s example and will trust their youngsters more.

Having returned to CSKA from NHL Filatov made fantastic debut – 9 points in 5 games!

"When I came back to Russia I didn’t think about records and awards, as I just missed hockey, more playing time and good partners", Nikita told Sport Express. "Now I have everything I want and it’s great that I am very effective and helpful to my team".

"My partner Albert Leschev is a great player. Before going to the ice we agree with him how we should play in particular situation and it works out and it’s fantastic".

"Now I don’t think about the next season at all. I am satisfied with my current job, my clubmates and playing time. I don’t think about my return to NHL too".

"Of course I would like to have more time for rest between the matches, but I don’t feel tiredness".

"Russian youth team’s head coach Vladimir Plyuschev didn’t contact me, but if I get invitation to the national side I will surely come there and help. My dream is to become the world champion and I will have enough strength to put it into reality".

"Filatov’s performance didn’t surprise me at all, admitted CSKA head coach Sergey Nemchinov. We hoped that Nikita would score in our club and we trusted him. He played brilliantly in Columbus when coaches let him play".

"Hockey in NHL is an absolutely different game, with less space on the ice and more powerful hockey. But Nikita wanted to leave Russia, he grew up in the North America and learnt a lot there. Comparing with the last youth World championship he made progress".

"He is young and he has very important advantage as he can return to full fitness quicker than others, even when we have very fierce match schedule".

"Nikita is very talented player, but he is not Kovalchuk or Ovechkin. He is Filatov with his own unique tricks".

"If he goes to the youth Word championship, his absence would be a big loss for us, but we understand that he can help our national team".

DYNAMO FORWARDS DISMISED TO RESERVES

Forwards of HC Dynamo Moscow Oleg Saprykin and Vadim Epachintsev have been sent to reserves.


Ahead of the season’s kick-off the Moscow club managers counted that both newcomers would become leaders of the team, however their performance is far from ideal.

Dynamos coaching staff was not satisfied with hockey showed by Saprykin and Epachintsev in the match against Dynamo Minsk.

"Oleg and Vadim played awfully in Minsk and I decided to watch other forwards in action", said Dynamo head coach Andrey Khomutov. "I don’t consider their dismissal to reserves as educational measure, since we are trying to find our optimal lineup".

"All players should get a chance to show themselves".