The RIHF coaching council has elected the head coach of Russia 25

The coaching council of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation has elected Roman Rotenberg to become the head coach of the Russia 25 team for the Liga Stavok Big Tour of the National team.

Members of the coaching council Boris Mayorov (chairman), Arkady Rotenberg, Vladislav Tretiak, Boris Mikhailov, Vladimir Yurzinov, Pavel Bure, Igor Tuzin, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, Alexei Kudashov, Valeri Bragin, Oleg Bratash, Vladimir Krikunov and Sergei Svetlov unanimously voted in favour of Rotenberg, who is also the head coach of SKA Saint Petersburg.

President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak:

- The average age of the Russia 25 team is indeed 25. For the May tour against Belarus, we plan to put a strong team together consisting of those who performed successfully during the KHL campaign. The final squad will be announced next week.

With SKA, Roman Rotenberg has established himself as a strong coach who understands what it takes to help players develop. His efforts in Saint Petersburg have proved this.

We have revived the practice of the coaching council choosing the coaches for our national teams. There were no disputes concerning the candidacy. Furthermore, it was planned that Andrei Razin and Andrei Kozyrev were going to join our coaching staff, but they have recently changed jobs and are busy forming their squads for next season. The full list of the management group will be announced when the final squad is revealed.

The players will begin training on April 23 in Novogorsk, before they will subsequently begin the tour on May 1.