Reaction after the first Future Cup day

After Russia U20 defeated the U18s on the opening day of the Future Cup in Novosibirsk, both teams shared their reaction.

Russia U20 head coach Andrei Mironov:

"I didn't like how we played in the first period. Nevertheless, following our conversation during the break, we subsequently improved and took our game to the next level. The U18s are always full of motivation when playing against us, whereas our players initially feel a bit nervous. We asked our guys to unleash more shots after the maiden frame."

Russia U18 head coach Anton Korredor:

"This was a good experience for our team. In order to continue progressing, sometimes you have to make mistakes and learn from them. While competing on the powerplay, we took too long making decisions and the opponents were simply quicker than us. We'll take a look at what we can improve and show the players how we play more effectively. When playing against opponents older than you, it's only possible to beat them by displaying commitment and playing the right way."

Russia U20 forward Alexander Zharovsky:

"The main thing is that we won! Furthermore, I would like to thank the fans for their wonderful support. We needed time to adapt during the opening stages, but we did then manage to display our brand of ice hockey."

Russia U20 forward Mikhail Melikov:

"Overall, we competed at a good level and managed to score plenty of goals. I'm satisfied with the result, and of course my pair of goals serve as a nice bonus. Thank you to my teammates for providing me with superb assists! We'll continue working hard in order to achieve the desired results."

Russia U18 forward Roman Kozhevnikov:

"The atmosphere really was unbelievable! In terms of the game itself, we saw that the level of players representing the U20s is pretty high. They're well-built physically too. We will now correct our mistakes are prepare for the rest of the competition."