Russia U18's training before the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament

The under 18 Russian national team have arrived in Bratislava, where the 2017 Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament will take place. Later on, the players trained at the Ondrej Nepela Arena in these following lines:

Goalkeepers: Miftakhov, Rybalkin.

Reds: Galenyuk, Solopanov - Denisenko, Iskhakov, Rtischev.

Whites: Okhotyuk, Zhuravlyov - Zavgorodniy, Guskov, Rotenberg.

Greens: Malyshev, Zhilyakov - Sokolov, Zhabreev, Bilyalov.

Blues: Kalinichenko, Babintsev - Dyadenkin, Shabanov, Tsybin.

Russia U18 defenseman Nikita Okhotyuk:

- During our training camp in Austria, a lot of attention was paid on to our tactics. We didn't work out in the gym that much. Asides from training sessions, we played in two friendly matches. It was a tough exhibition game against Belarus, we weren't concentrated for the full sixty minutes. Nevertheless, we took advantage of our chances in the third period to get the victory. We want to win the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament, especially given that Russia haven't become champions here for a long time. Everyone in the team knows that we have to win. Canada are a strong opponent like the Czech Republic or Sweden, we'll fight hard.

Russia U18 forward Matvey Guskov:

- This is the first time when I have played for Russia U18. Having scored a goal on my debut, I am filled with positive emotions. It's a great experience for me. I have been training in a line with Pavel Rotenberg and Dmitry Zavgorodniy, they are both good players. In the friendly match against Krasnaya Armiya, we scored a goal in the second shift. 

We've played another two exhibition games. The fixture against Belarus was tough, we were down 1:2 and couldn't capitalise on our chances. However, we turned the game on its head in the third frame. In the second match, we played against a Linz U20 team. We managed to win comfortably. In the past, I couldn't even imagine that I would get the chance to represent Russia at the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament. We want to win.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation