Vladimir Filatov and Igor Efimov speak after the friendly match in Novogorsk

Following the friendly match between the under 20 and under 18 Russian national teams (4:2) ahead of the upcoming Liga Stavok Cup of the Future, the two head coaches shared their emotions.

Russia U20 head coach Vladimir Filatov:

- I really liked our performance in the third period. In the first two, I think that both teams performed well. What am I expecting from the competition in Saint Petersburg? Taking into account the current situation, it's great that we have the opportunity to compete at such a tournament! We don't know when we will return to the international scene, so we have to make sure that our guys don't forget what it's like to represent the national team. Who will be our starting goalkeeper? Sergei Ivanov always plays at his level, Sergei Murashov has greatly improved and Ilya Nabokov always shows his potential when training with us. There is healthy competition within our team.

Russia U18 head coach Igor Efimov:

- It was a useful experience for us to compete against players older than us. I would like to thank the Russian Ice Hockey Federation for including us in the competition participant list, our guys are ready for the tournament and understand the system which all of our national teams use. All of our players are eager to show their best ice hockey in Saint Petersburg. As you saw for yourselves, we played well in this game, our players have experience of competing in the MHL. We certainly won't lose out in terms of determination and character!