The under 16 national team have started training in Novogorsk

The under 16 Russian national team have started training in Novogorsk.

28 players have been called up:

Goalkeepers: Vsevolod Skotnikov (CSKA Moscow), Danil Chechelev (Vityaz), Yegor Tulepov (Lokomotiv).

Defensemen: Artemiy Knyazev, Nikita Vaschenko, Danil Klimov (all Ak Bars), Yegor Arbuzov, Nikita Oleynik (both CSKA Moscow), Ilya Mironov (Lokomotiv), Mikhail Stikhanovsky (Ugra), Yury Salov (Spartakovets Yekaterinburg), Dmitry Tyuvilin (Loko-04 Yaroslavl), Alexander Kirpichnikov (Traktor).

Forwards: Artur Brovkin (Ak Bars), Ilya Safonov, Vasily Podkolzin (both Vityaz), Danil Zinovyev (Traktor), Alexander Cherniy, Matvey Guskov, Alexander Chernov, Daniel Butsaev (all CSKA Moscow), Saveliy Kuvardin, Vladimir Bakanin (both Salavat Yulaev Ufa), Alexei Krivchenkov (Sibir Novosibirsk), Danil Bashkirov (Ugra), Yury Ushakov (Dynamo Saint Petersburg), Yegor Chuzhikov (Severstal).

Following this training camp, 22 players will be selected for the yearly President of the Sporting Club Cup tournament in Minsk, Belarus.

Vladimir Filatov, Russia under 16 head coach:

- This tournament will be held not for the first time. I have spoken with the coaches who were with this team last year. Latvia, Slovakia and Belarus are serious opponents and it will be a good experience.

- At this age, what does one year's difference make?

- Our country is rich on ice hockey talent. My opinion is that the under 16 national team should be capable of playing with any team a year older. Our country is growing, we want our players to be capable of defending our country's colours against any opponent. 

- What goals does the team have for the competition?

- We want to see how many national team candidates we have. We have a lot of talented players, but there is only one national team. Every squad is 30% made up of new players. Also, we always want to win tourmanents in which we play in.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation