Interviews ahead of playing Sweden at the 2022 Olympics

Ahead of the upcoming semi-final of the 2022 Olympic Games against Sweden, ROC men's ice hockey team coach Sergei Fyodorov, defenseman Damir Sharipzyanov and forwards Artur Kayumov, Vladimir Tkachyov and Anton Slepyshev all shared their expectations.

Coach Sergei Fyodorov:

- It was a good training session, we trained at a slightly higher than average tempo. Of course, all of us coaches watched the match between Sweden and Canada. We have a good understanding of how the Swedes like to play ice hockey, we know their model. Tomorrow morning, we will tell our players how to play against them.

Defenseman Damir Sharipzyanov:

- All of the guys have wished me a happy birthday, so I'm certainly in a great mood today! The main thing for us is to win our next two games at this competition. It will be tough, though, Sweden have a strong team. Given how this tournament is turning out, I don't think that the two teams will have a lot of scoring opportunities, so we have to be clinical when presented with a chance. Everyone understands the importance of this match.

Forward Artur Kayumov:

- I feel great now, the doctors helped me fully recover from the injury which I had received. Today, we worked on our shooting, odd-man rushes and our powerplay. We will play on the front foot tomorrow.

Forward Vladimir Tkachyov:

- We trained as normal today, we didn't change anything. Sweden and Canada? They are both equally matched teams, one mistake decided the outcome. In such games, the price of mistakes is huge. We have to cope with our emotions, play without tension, work hard and create opportunities to score.

Forward Anton Slepyshev:

- We have to be more aggressive and compact against the Swedes, competing with the initiative and not allowing them to display their brand of ice hockey. Moreover, we have to improve our powerplay. Our discipline? We're speaking about this all of the time, we have to maintain control of our emotions and not take penalties. Everything should be fine, we've had time to prepare.