Russia U18 are preparing for the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament semi-finals

Ahead of the 2017 Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament semi-final against the Czech Republic, Russia U18 held a training session. Some of the players skated, before the entire squad worked out in the gym.

Russia U18 defenseman Roman Kalinchenko:

- We feel great. On the ice, we worked on out shooting a lot. After that, we moved into the gym where we recovered from the previous tournament matches. It's tough to play three consecutive games, but we're trying to rest well after every fixture. The Czechs have a good, disciplined team and it's not surprising that they have made the semi-finals. We'll analyse how they play. It's not important that we'll play in the Czech Republic for this game, we will play to win.

Russia U18 defenseman Andrei Pribylskiy:

- I was surprised to be called up to this tournament, because I was already preparing for a match with my club Dynamo. However, I received a call telling me that I will replace the injured Danila Galenyuk. I packed my stuff and made my way to the airport in two hours. Having trained with the national team for a month, it's been easy settling back in again. We will try to win against the Czech Republic, however I think that it will be a hard match. The main thing is to withstand the Czechs' advances in the first period. I am confident that we'll win.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation