Sergei Golubovich: "We had little time to recover between matches"

Russia U18 head coach Sergei Golubovich:

- Today, the guys were lacking strength. Four matches in a row is difficult, especially when you have little time to recover in between. In the future, I would ask the organisers to give everyone a day off. As we didn't get in the medals, our goal has not been achieved here. However, we have looked at candidates for the World Championship roster. Some players surprised us in a good way, while other disappointed.

- What are your plans before the World Championship starts?

- Now, we will monitor players in the North American leagues. We already have an agreement in place with some of them in the American leagues. However, for the Canadians, the playoffs are the most important aspect of the season. As a result, players can't join our team until they have been knocked out.

Russia U18 forward Kirill Popov:

- We should have played better at this tournament. We were a bit unlucky too, our penalties let us down. It's a shame we lost, but life moves on. I am satisfied that I was called up to the national team, three players from my club were here. I had already played with Pavel Shen before, our line with Daniil Lobanov worked well. Now, we have to return home and prepare for the playoffs with our club.

Russia U18 defenseman Veniamin Baranov:

- Strong teams competed at this tournament. The toughest game was with the Americans, they have a really quick team. We lost because we made a number of mistakes at the start of the match. Did our tiredness take its toll? Maybe. However, overall, we are ourselves to blame. I didn't feel pressure because of being an assistant captain, everything was fine. Pavel Shen was excellent, he managed to show what he is capable of. It's never good to lose, but we will train in order to prove that we are worthy of representing the national team.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation