Alexei Zhamnov: "The opponents will become more difficult"

Russian national team senior coach Alexei Zhamnov held a media briefing ahead of the second 2018 World Championship match against Denmark.

Russian national team senior coach Alexei Zhamnov:

- The lines have stayed the same, we're not changing anything and are continuing to work. There were things which didn't please us against France. Before today's training session, we had a team meeting where we showed the guys where they went wrong. However, there were also some positive moments. The whole tournament is ahead of us, only one game has been played.

- What did you not like? France only had 10 shots on the Russian goal.

- In the second period, we became too confident and stepped away from our tactics. At these tournaments, you have to keep competing for the full 60 minutes. The opponents will become more serious, the team should continue playing for the whole match.

- Has Nikita Gusev arrived?

- Yes, we will see how he's recovering when Nikita arrives in the hotel.

- Will he be at tomorrow's training session?

- Let's see.

- Is he not ready to play?

- Of course not, he's only just flown in. The coaches will see how he can begin training and playing in matches.

- Vladimir Tkachyov didn't come here because he had no emotions, but you are have decided to keep an injured player. Why?

- We're not rushing the situation. Nikita will be here with us.

- Is being too confident the biggest problem which you could encounter against Austria?

- I wouldn't say that. All of the guys perfectly understand the situation which we have. In the second period against France, we stopped sticking to the game plan and began making errors. It was the first match against France, the players know that the opponents will be stronger in the future. There were a lot of things which were good.

- Do you have information about Austria?

- Alexei Kudashov is watching their match at the moment. After that, we will analyse our material.

- Impressions from the USA-Canada match?

- I didn't see the match. Sergei Fedotov saw the match, we will speak later on today. Now, we're focusing on our matches in the group stages, but we have to think about future games too.

- Will Vasily Koshechkin play tomorrow?

- This is a question for Rashit Davydov, but I don't think we will change the winning roster.

- Ilya Sorokin won't be registered?

- Let's see, at the moment we're not making any changes. We are thinking about the next match, I'll talk about future issues later on.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation