03:16Slovakia: Red Machine prepares for Austria at IIHF World Championships
The Russian men's national hockey team conducted a training session in Bratislava, after which the players and the coach talked to journalists and fans.
Among spectators of the Red Machine's practice, besides journalists, were also 12-13 years old young Russian hockey players from Vladivostok "Polyus-2006" junior team, who became winners of Golden puck tournament in February.
After the training happy kids caught the players leaving the stadium and got signatures from Alexander Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Eugeni Kuznetsov and many others. One of the kids even received a special gift - a hockey stick from the team's captain Ilya Kovalchuk.
Speaking to journalists after the practice, Head Coach Ilya Vorobyov praised his squad's next opponents Austria for their performance in the pre-championship friendly match against Canada. Also Vorobyov confirmed that the coaching staff of the Russian team had watched and studied Friday night's match between the Red Machine's main rivals in Group B - the Czech Republic and Sweden - which Milos Riha's squad had won 5:2.
He also confirmed Columbus Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin would not join the national team although he is free to play, after his club was eliminated in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Forward Ivan Telegin expressed his joy at being called to the national team and to be in the line-up for the clash against Austria, stressing that the best players from all over the world had gathered in Bratislava for this year's World Championship.
Defender Mikhail Sergachyov, who got a painful hit in the opening match from Norwegian player, confirmed he was alright, noting the team's progress in defence in comaprision with Czech Hockey Games', where the national team got together for the first time ahead of the 2019 IIHF World Championship and had lost twice in three games, and in their opening match against Norway.
The 2019 IIHF World Championship kicked off in the two Slovakian cities of Bratislava and Kosice on Friday. Russia has been drafted into Group B and will be playing its next matches in Bratislava against, Austria (May 12), the Czech Republic (May 13), Italy (May 15), Latvia (May 18), Switzerland (May 19) and defending World Champions Sweden (May 21).
03:16The Russian men's national hockey team conducted a training session in Bratislava, after which the players and the coach talked to journalists and fans.
Among spectators of the Red Machine's practice, besides journalists, were also 12-13 years old young Russian hockey players from Vladivostok "Polyus-2006" junior team, who became winners of Golden puck tournament in February.
After the training happy kids caught the players leaving the stadium and got signatures from Alexander Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Eugeni Kuznetsov and many others. One of the kids even received a special gift - a hockey stick from the team's captain Ilya Kovalchuk.
Speaking to journalists after the practice, Head Coach Ilya Vorobyov praised his squad's next opponents Austria for their performance in the pre-championship friendly match against Canada. Also Vorobyov confirmed that the coaching staff of the Russian team had watched and studied Friday night's match between the Red Machine's main rivals in Group B - the Czech Republic and Sweden - which Milos Riha's squad had won 5:2.
He also confirmed Columbus Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin would not join the national team although he is free to play, after his club was eliminated in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Forward Ivan Telegin expressed his joy at being called to the national team and to be in the line-up for the clash against Austria, stressing that the best players from all over the world had gathered in Bratislava for this year's World Championship.
Defender Mikhail Sergachyov, who got a painful hit in the opening match from Norwegian player, confirmed he was alright, noting the team's progress in defence in comaprision with Czech Hockey Games', where the national team got together for the first time ahead of the 2019 IIHF World Championship and had lost twice in three games, and in their opening match against Norway.
The 2019 IIHF World Championship kicked off in the two Slovakian cities of Bratislava and Kosice on Friday. Russia has been drafted into Group B and will be playing its next matches in Bratislava against, Austria (May 12), the Czech Republic (May 13), Italy (May 15), Latvia (May 18), Switzerland (May 19) and defending World Champions Sweden (May 21).