Vladislav Tretiak: "Our players are gaining international experience"

Dear friends,

February is an important month ahead of the upcoming World Championships for our national teams.

The management group of the senior national team took the strategic decision to call up the players included in the squad for the Euro Hockey Tour competition in Sweden. The fact that young players received a chance shows that we are working towards the future. The national team is open to everybody, and we cannot forget that the main goal of the Euro Hockey Tour is to develop players, especially the younger ones, and get the team ready for the World Championship. These players will improve by gaining international experience at this level. The players displayed a good team game at the tournament.

In Sochi, the under 18 Russian national team did well by winning their Five Nations competition. As for the under 17's, one team came second in the Five Nations in Sweden, while another set of U17 players travelled to the Youth Olympic Festival. In Finland, the under 16 Russian national team took second spot in the Four Nations by winning two out of three matches.

The senior Russian women's national team won the Six Nations in Dmitrov, a competition which was the last in the 2018/2019 Women's Euro Hockey Tour.

In early March, we will support our men's and women's student teams at the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, and they both have the task of winning the gold medal. Student sport is very important for a healthy lifestyle in our country.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation President

Vladislav Tretiak