Reaction following the Olympic final against Finland

After losing 1:2 to Finland in the final of the 2022 Olympic Games, ROC goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov, defenseman Yegor Yakovlev and forwards Vladimir Tkachyov, Arseniy Gritsyuk and Pavel Karnaukhov spoke to the media.

Goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov:

- This is a tough loss for us to take. Such opportunities rarely appear, but we couldn't take advantage of it. We didn't compete well enough today, more emotions were required. The Finns blocked more shots, hit the target more often and were consequently luckier than us.

Defenseman Yegor Yakovlev:

- The positive thing is that we qualified for the final of the tournament. It is difficult to win games if you only score one goal, we began to move away from our game plan when leading 1:0. Maybe things would have turned out differently if we had continued to play our own brand of ice hockey. Two even teams competed against each other, fortune was on Finland's side. In a game like this, we needed to score dirty goals like the Finns did.

Forward Vladimir Tkachyov:

- Any shot in a match like this is dangerous, Finland scored their two goals with simple attempts. From our point of view, we didn't create enough chances and we allowed Finland to have plenty of shooting lanes. Yes, a lot of people during the tournament said that we play boring ice hockey, but good defences win titles.

Forward Arseniy Gritsyuk:

- I simply feel empty inside, I don't have any emotions. This is a very disappointing defeat. Now, we need to return to our respective clubs with new emotions. What was lacking? We didn't shoot or crash their net enough. The Finns played really well in the neutral zone, they broke up nearly all of our attacking plays.

Forward Pavel Karnaukhov:

- What do I feel inside? Emptiness, of course. As many expected, one goal decided the match. This is a part of sport, we simply have to accept this result. Am I satisfied? We have an Olympic silver medal, but we were close to the gold.