Valery Kamensky : The Russian national hockey team continues to prepare for the Olympic Games – we recall that in Beijing 2022, stick and puck masters will play medals without the participation of NHL representatives, which means that all the strongest will not be there.
Why this happened is a separate conversation, the National Hockey League and its relationship with the IIHF and the IOC is generally a complex topic. In the meantime, let’s discuss the preparation of our team with the adviser to the head coach, the famous forward and member of the Triple Golden Club (which includes those who won the Olympic Games, the World Championship and won the Stanley Cup) Valery Kamensky.
– Valery Viktorovich, on January 23, the names of the hockey players who will be included in the final application should be announced. It is clear that it is not worth discussing specific names now – you will still refuse, tell us how the team is doing in general.
– You are right, now is not the time to ask questions about the composition (smiles). The only thing – I will clarify: even those whose names will not be heard on January 23 among the 25 players included in the application should not despair and relax. The current situation implies (as well as the regulations) that substitutions can be made for health reasons. Therefore, everyone should be charged. Although we also hope that everyone will be healthy. The headquarters is also waiting for Zhamnov –
Aleksey Yuryevich, having submitted a positive text, while he is leading the team remotely … However, fortunately, he has no symptoms. Therefore, we believe that he will soon join the team. The main thing is that all the guys and members of the headquarters are now reliably protected from strangers, they are calmly preparing.
– It is clear that it is difficult to compare, but still – is there something in common with the 88th, when you were preparing for the Games in Calgary as part of the USSR national team, for example?
– Of course, the situation is quite different. The main thing is that there was no pandemic then! But what unites everyone understands: these are the main competitions of the four years. You have to give everything to the maximum, show everything that you are capable of. The goal is to win! And the team we have – as then – a single whole. The headquarters is working according to plan, all the preparatory work is being carried out.
The roles are distributed: who is responsible for defense, who is responsible for attack, who is for the majority – and so on … And, of course, we sort out all the rivals by bones.
The composition of the Russian team for the Games-2022 (extended list)
Goalkeepers: Yaroslav Askarov, Alexander Samonov (both SKA), Timur Bilyalov (Ak Bars), Ivan Fedotov (CSKA), Dmitry Shugaev (Severstal).
Defenders: Dmitry Vishnevsky, Alexander Nikishin (both Spartak), Vyacheslav Voinov (Dynamo Moscow), Alexander Yelesin (Lokomotiv), Artyom Minulin, Yegor Yakovlev (both Metallurg), Shakir Mukhamadullin (Salavat Yulaev”), Daniil Pylenkov (SKA), Nikita Nesterov (CSKA), Sergey Telegin (Tractor), Semyon Chistyakov, Damir Sharipzyanov (both – Avangard),
Forwards: Sergey Andronov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Pavel Karnaukhov, Sergey Plotnikov, Anton Slepyshev (all – CSKA), Artyom Anisimov, Artur Kayumov (Lokomotiv), Anton Burdasov, Nikita Gusev, Andrey Kuzmenko, Kirill Marchenko (all – SKA), Stanislav Galiev, Vadim Shipachev (both Dynamo Moscow), Artyom Galimov, Dmitry Voronkov (both Ak Bars), Arseniy Gritsyuk, Kirill Semyonov (both Avangard), Alexander Kadeikin (Salavat Yulaev), Vladimir Tkachev (Tractor), Andrey Chibisov (Metallurg).
A comment. It is clear that Kamensky did not analyze the composition personally. So I would add a few words from myself.
So, many do not understand why Sergei Tolchinsky from Avangard did not even make it to the extended list. It is believed that non-hockey reasons were to blame. As far as I know, this is not so. Professionals are gathered in the headquarters of the national team. They are focused on results. They are not enemies to themselves, so as not to take the strongest. It’s just that Tolchinsky will not get into the first two links, as they argued. And in the third and fourth, a completely different functionality is needed.
Roughly the same with the defenders. It is difficult to find better attackers than, for example, Voinov or Nesterov in Russia now. “Homebodies” in the current expanded composition is also enough.
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