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Russian national team open day ahead of the Channel One Cup
12.12.2018
Ahead of the upcoming 2018 Channel One Cup in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the senior Russian national team held a media open day at the Legends Park in the capital.
The players trained in these following lines:
Sorokin, Shestyorkin, Bobkov;
Nesterov, Vasilevskiy - Grigorenko, Shalunov, Kaprizov;
Gavrikov, Tokranov - Gusev, Prokhorkin, Barabanov;
Antipin, Pedan - Telegin, Andronov, Plotnikov;
Blazievskiy, Elesin - Slepyshev, Kablukov, Ketov;
Naumenkov - Kuzmenko, Kadeikin, Loktionov.
Russian national team leader and first RIHF vice-president Roman Rotenberg:
- All of the lines are level, the management group will decide who plays after the training process. There's always a chance to change the lines. Which goalkeeper will play against Sweden? At the moment, it's planned that Ilya Sorokin will play, however changes can be made during the competition. The best form of defence is attack. We play total ice hockey. At the moment, 60 thousand tickets have been sold for the match against Finland at the Saint Petersburg Stadium, and there's a maximum capacity of 68 thousand. During the day, there will also be a concert, so 80 thousand people can attend the arena if we take that into account. There is a social responsibility which comes with all of our projects. Children have been invited to the game and we want as many people as possible to see this unique event. We're selling tickets, but at the same time, we are working with schools. Hopefully, together we will go down in Russian and world ice hockey history. We will study the statistics after the match.
Russian national team head coach Ilya Vorobyov:
- In comparison to the Karjala Cup, the first stage of the Channel One Cup, our style of playing won't change. We have two creative lines and two hard working lines. Every player has the opportunity to skate on the ice in the competition. Why did we send Anton Burdasov to the Olympic national team? He is a player for the first two lines and the powerplay, but at the moment, these positions are taken within our team. Pavel Datsyuk is training according to his own individual program, so he won't play at the Channel One Cup. Evgeny Ketov remains the captain while his assistants are Nikita Nesterov, Sergei Andronov and Sergei Plotnikov. We are hoping that there will be a lot of fans at the Saint Petersburg Stadium when we play Finland on Sunday.
Russian national team forward Sergei Andronov:
- It's always nice to play for the national team, and all of the guys are in a good mood. I didn't play at the Channel One Cup and this means I have an extra stimulus to perform well here. What can we expect tomorrow against Sweden? We will try to win. The Swedes always skate well and play excellent ice hockey with the puck. I think that Sergei Plotnikov and I play well together, we played at the World Championship, so it's nothing new for us. We need to play our style of game against the Swedes. I have never played at a football stadium before so the match in Saint Petersburg will be interesting.
Russian national team defenseman Nikita Nesterov:
- Everyone in the national side is experienced. There's no problem connected with the fact that we only got together yesterday. There's no break in matches? Personally, I don't think it's an issue, it keeps you in shape. I love to play a lot. Let's see what happens tomorrow and I agree with Vladislav Tretiak that we need to win the Channel One Cup.
The players trained in these following lines:
Sorokin, Shestyorkin, Bobkov;
Nesterov, Vasilevskiy - Grigorenko, Shalunov, Kaprizov;
Gavrikov, Tokranov - Gusev, Prokhorkin, Barabanov;
Antipin, Pedan - Telegin, Andronov, Plotnikov;
Blazievskiy, Elesin - Slepyshev, Kablukov, Ketov;
Naumenkov - Kuzmenko, Kadeikin, Loktionov.
Russian national team leader and first RIHF vice-president Roman Rotenberg:
- All of the lines are level, the management group will decide who plays after the training process. There's always a chance to change the lines. Which goalkeeper will play against Sweden? At the moment, it's planned that Ilya Sorokin will play, however changes can be made during the competition. The best form of defence is attack. We play total ice hockey. At the moment, 60 thousand tickets have been sold for the match against Finland at the Saint Petersburg Stadium, and there's a maximum capacity of 68 thousand. During the day, there will also be a concert, so 80 thousand people can attend the arena if we take that into account. There is a social responsibility which comes with all of our projects. Children have been invited to the game and we want as many people as possible to see this unique event. We're selling tickets, but at the same time, we are working with schools. Hopefully, together we will go down in Russian and world ice hockey history. We will study the statistics after the match.
Russian national team head coach Ilya Vorobyov:
- In comparison to the Karjala Cup, the first stage of the Channel One Cup, our style of playing won't change. We have two creative lines and two hard working lines. Every player has the opportunity to skate on the ice in the competition. Why did we send Anton Burdasov to the Olympic national team? He is a player for the first two lines and the powerplay, but at the moment, these positions are taken within our team. Pavel Datsyuk is training according to his own individual program, so he won't play at the Channel One Cup. Evgeny Ketov remains the captain while his assistants are Nikita Nesterov, Sergei Andronov and Sergei Plotnikov. We are hoping that there will be a lot of fans at the Saint Petersburg Stadium when we play Finland on Sunday.
Russian national team forward Sergei Andronov:
- It's always nice to play for the national team, and all of the guys are in a good mood. I didn't play at the Channel One Cup and this means I have an extra stimulus to perform well here. What can we expect tomorrow against Sweden? We will try to win. The Swedes always skate well and play excellent ice hockey with the puck. I think that Sergei Plotnikov and I play well together, we played at the World Championship, so it's nothing new for us. We need to play our style of game against the Swedes. I have never played at a football stadium before so the match in Saint Petersburg will be interesting.
Russian national team defenseman Nikita Nesterov:
- Everyone in the national side is experienced. There's no problem connected with the fact that we only got together yesterday. There's no break in matches? Personally, I don't think it's an issue, it keeps you in shape. I love to play a lot. Let's see what happens tomorrow and I agree with Vladislav Tretiak that we need to win the Channel One Cup.
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