Russia U18 have begun their World Championship preparations

The Russian under 18 national team have begun the training process for the upcoming World Championship, which will take place in Slovakia between the 13th and 23rd of April.

Head coach Sergei Golubovich has called up these following players to the preliminary roster:

Goalkeepers: Arseniy Akhmetov (Irbis), Pyotr Kochetkov (Dizel), Dimitriy Rayko (HC MVD), Kirill Ustimenko (Dynamo Saint Petersburg).

Defensemen: Veniamin Baranov (Dynamo Saint Petersburg), Danila Galenyuk (Mamonty Yugry), Georgy Dedov (Russkie Vityazi), Yegor Zhdanov (Kuznetskie Medvedi), Vladislav Kazamanov, Alexander Kovyrin, Alexander Osin (all HC MVD), Evgeny Kalabushkin (SKA-1946), Nikita Okhotyuk (Belie Medvedi), Semyon Perelyaev (Ladya), Dmitry Rodionychev (HC Sarov).

Forwards: Mikhail Bitsadze, Alexei Lipanov (both Dynamo Balashikha), Evgeny Groshev, Leonid Nikolenko (both Ladya), Alexander Klisunov (Russkie Vityazi), Vitaly Kravtsov (Chelmet Chelyabinsk), Daniil Lobanov (CSKA Moscow), Maxim Marushev (Irbis), Ivan Muranov, Alexei Toropchenko (both HC MVD), Kirill Popov, Pavel Shen, Alexander Yaremchuk (all Mamonty Yugry), Daniil Skorikov (Tolpar Ufa), Kirill Slepets (Lokomotiv), Alexander Khovanov (Irbis), Nikita Shashkov (Sibirskie Snayperi), Bulat Shafigullin (Reaktor).

Reserve list:

Goalkeepers: Maxim Zhukov (Green Bay Gamblers).

Defensemen: Mark Rubinchik (Saskatoon Blades), Dmitry Samorukov (Guelph Storm).

Forwards: Yaroslav Alexeev (Sherbooke Phoenix), Kirill Maximov (Niagara Ice Dogs), Pavel Koltygin (Drummondville Voltigeurs), Andrei Svechnikov (Maskegon Lumberjacks), Ivan Chekhovich (Baie-Comeau Drakkar), Nikita Anokhovsky (Lokomotiv).

Russian under 18 national team head coach Sergei Golubovich:

- Players who impressed during the season and who couldn't be at previous training camps have been called up. We have a large number of players. Also, ten players who compete in North America have been placed on the reserve list. The coaching staff have an ideal opportunity to see how ready these players are in order to form our final roster for the World Championship. It's good that there is high competition within the team.

Andrei Svechnikov, Yaroslav Alexeev, Dmitry Samorukov and Mark Rubinchik will definitely join the team during this training camp. We do not yet know if the other players will be able to travel here. However, these players will have to prove that they deserve to be on the roster.

The camp will start with a medical examination. Then, we will get stuck into the hard work. Two friendly matches will be held before we fly to Slovakia, and another two are planned for when we are in Slovakia. After that, we will make our final roster decision.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation