Russia U20 return to Moscow from the 2019 World Junior Championship

After returning home with bronze from the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship, head coach Valery Bragin, forward Grigory Denisenko and goalkeeper Pyotr Kochetkov spoke to the media.

Russia U20 head coach Valery Bragin:

- A lot of the players were crying after the semi-final defeat to the USA, but in the end, we managed to calm them down and focus on playing Switzerland in the next match. Overall, I have more positive emotions from the competition than negative, we won six out of seven matches and it's important that we claimed the bronze medal. The guys stuck to the roles which they were given.

Russia U20 forward Grigory Denisenko:

- My impressions from the World Junior Championship? To be honest, it's a double edged sword. Our goal was higher than bronze. Nevertheless, because of the fact we have a medal, I feel positive. I was the best forward at the tournament? The main thing is the team and not personal achievements. Before we played Switzerland, we gathered as a team without the coaches, and said that we need to play as a family and do everything in order to win.

Russia U20 goalkeeper Pyotr Kochetkov:

- There was healthy competition between myself, Amir Miftakhov and Daniil Tarasov, and I've been friends with Daniil since the Super Series. My save against Switzerland? It didn't matter because they scored in that same attack. For us, it was really difficult to recover from the defeat against America, we had our best match of the tournament. It was a painful loss. It's good that we had clear heads for the match against Switzerland and managed to win a medal.