- Are you satisfied with the result?“We, of course, wanted victory.” Nevertheless, I believe that silver awards are a good result. Our guys had strong rivals - Sweden, Canada. The games were difficult, and the referees did not judge very well. So they say ... But in general, all well done.
- Why so in the final?“They lacked character.”
- Character !?- Yes exactly.
- That is, the whole problem of our team lies in the field of psychology?- Exactly. I have no complaints either to the players or to the coaching staff. The team looked good, disciplined. It was clear that she was controllable. There were no stars in this team. Previously, there were such hockey players as Malkin, Ovechkin. There were no stars now. Eh ... I hoped that they would win, but ... Nothing ... In general, I congratulate them on the result. Silver medals are a good outcome.
- Why are we losing to Canadians?- Because of the character. Canadians, Americans are very brazenly behaving on the site. More confident. And you see, in the finale we are inferior precisely in character.
- Before the tournament, you met with the team and set the task for it - to win first place. So, the Russian team did not fulfill the task?- I would not speak so harshly. Still, any medals in tournaments of this level are a success.
- Premium pay them?- Yes of course.
- How many?- We will pay as for a victory.
- How many?- Two times more than last year.
- So how much?- Fine. The guys will get well.
- Head coach Evgeni Popikhin will remain in the team?- We will do everything so that such a specialist remains. He will be connected to work with the first team during the World Cup. We will try to keep him working in the youth team for the next cycle.
Alexey Shevchenko