Media day for the senior Russian national team in Novogorsk

A media day took place for the senior Russian national team in Novogorsk ahead of the third stage of the 2018/2019 Euro Hockey Tour.

The players trained in these following lines:

Igor Bobkov, Alexander Samonov;
Zakhar Arzamastsev, Alexei Vasilevskiy - Dmitry Kagarlitsky, Vadim Shipachyov, Anatoly Nikontsev;
Rushan Rafikov, Alexander Elesin - Sergei Shumakov, Denis Zernov, Ilya Mikheev;
Alexei Bereglazov, Artyom Zub - Andrei Kuzmenko, Andrei Svetlakov, Konstantin Okulov;
Andrei Mironov, Evgeny Kulik - Alexei Kruchinin, Alexander Kadeikin, Anton Burdasov;
Ivan Mishchenko - Grigory Denisenko, Denis Alexeev, Kirill Slepets.

RIHF president Vladislav Tretiak:

- Pyotr Kochetkov was summoned to the national team for this competition? We have a lot of strong goaltenders. It doesn't matter that he's playing for HC Ryazan, players like Evgeny Nabokov and Ilya Bryzgalov also started out with their clubs' second teams. He will play and I would also like to thank HC Lokomotiv Yaroslavl for giving a chance to the young Ilya Konovalov. Are we watching Ilya Kovalchuk in the NHL? There was a time when he didn't play much with the Los Angeles Kings. He's gained form, and if Los Angeles miss the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, we will call him up for the 2019 IIHF World Championship. We're proud of Alexander Ovechkin's record in the USA, he's a true patriot of our country and always plays for the national team!

National team leader and RIHF first vice-president Roman Rotenberg:

- Our goal is to win every match. We have called up the best players from their teams. All players travel here knowing that playing for the national team develops them individually. The level of international ice hockey is completely different to club level. Vadim Shipachyov and Dmitry Kagarlitsky? It's important for players to leave their comfort zone in order to achieve new things. This season, Vadim is playing at the level required for the Russian national team. The Winter Universiade? We are preparing for that the same way we did the Olympic Games in terms of technology, monitoring and the medical services. The national team is always the priority.

Russian national team head coach Ilya Vorobyov:

- Vadim Shipachyov will be the captain. Ilya Konovalov will play, but fellow goalkeeper Pyotr Kochetkov is injured and won't take to the ice. This time, the majority of CSKA Moscow and SKA Saint Petersburg players are with the Russian Olympic team, other and younger guys have been given a chance with the senior side. Defenseman Alexander Romanov will play more in the Olympic team so we summoned Ivan Mishchenko. Alexander Elesin is developing and we're happy to see him playing well in the Euro Hockey Tour.