Russia (bbabo.net), - The coaching staff of the Russian national ice hockey team, headed by Alexei Zhamnov, has named the squad for the Olympic tournament in Beijing. Of the 37 people called to the gathering in Novogorsk, 25 people were included in the main application. Six more will go to China as spares.

Immediately disclaimer. This composition can only be called almost final. Zhamnov plans to decide on the final application on the eve of the national team's opening match against Switzerland, scheduled for February 9.

- The bet is placed on everyone, on 31 players, including substitutes. In the situation with coronavirus, anything can happen, - the head coach of the national team emphasized at a press conference immediately after the announcement of the squad.

31 hockey players will leave for Beijing on February 2. Substitutes will take part in all team activities, except that they will not live in the Olympic village along with the base, but separately in a hotel.

It was exactly the equal chances of the 31 players remaining in Novogorsk to break into the final squad that Zhamnov and the general manager of the national team Ilya Kovalchuk emphasized when answering questions regarding hockey players who fell into the reserve. After all, there were players who were predicted to have an iron place at the base.

This is the second sniper of the regular season of the Kontinental Hockey League Andrey Kuzmenko, who is having a great season. And the second sniper of the “regular season” Stanislav Galiev, who formed an excellent bond with the main star of the national team Vadim Shipachyov in Dynamo. Finally, the best Russian in the KHL at the face-off point, the best among those called in terms of utility, Alexander Kadeikin from Salavat Yulaev, turned out to be in reserve.

However, the listed players can still play in Beijing. But Anton Burdasov has already left the camp. Plus, a number of bright hockey players did not receive a call to Novogorsk at all. Among them are Nikita Tertyshny, Nikolai Goldobin, who are playing great this season, the most valuable hockey player in the playoffs of the Gagarin Cup 2021 Sergei Tolchinsky.

- I have no prejudice where the player is from. From SKA, from Magnitogorsk. We watch not only how a player plays for the club, but also for the national team. There are players who do not show in the national team the level that they show in the club. At the moment, we see that those players who are in the squad are more suitable for our system, - said Zhamnov.

The application of the Russian team for the Olympics included 25 people plus 6 substitutes. According to Zhamnov, all 31 players have equal chances to play at the Olympics

Tolchinsky is a different story. General manager of the national team Ilya Kovalchuk assured that Sergei was not called to the training camp for playing reasons. But the media suspect that this is not the only issue. After the Gagarin Cup final, Tolchinsky recklessly chanted an insulting chants against CSKA, from which he moved to his current club, Avangard. And the current adviser to the coaching staff and part-time president of CSKA, Igor Esmantovich, did not forgive Tolchinsky for this. The influence of Esmantovich explains the largest representation of the capital's army in the national team - seven people. And not all of them from the outside seem like solid candidates for the base. But if Zhamnov believes that these players meet the requirements of his system, then he has the right. He will be responsible for the result in Beijing.

In general, the head coach of the national team today is not to be envied. Without the players of the National Hockey League, many consider the Russian team the main favorite for the Olympic tournament. Any other result will be judged as a failure.

“The absence of players from the NHL is a minus for all hockey,” Zhamnov noted. - You always want the strongest to come to the Olympics. On the other hand, the Olympics is the Olympics. Her gold medal stays for life. For us, this is a big responsibility. We understand this very well. It is wrong to say that we have concrete chances for gold medals. This is a sport. Everything will depend only on us. If we play every match the best we can, we will succeed.

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Russian national team squad

Goalkeepers: Alexander Samonov (SKA), Timur Bilyalov (Ak Bars), Ivan Fedotov (CSKA).

Defenders: Alexander Nikishin (Spartak), Vyacheslav Voinov (Dynamo M), Alexander Yelesin (Lokomotiv), Artem Minulin, Yegor Yakovlev (both Metallurg Mg), Nikita Nesterov (CSKA), Sergey Telegin (Tractor), Damir Sharipzyanov (Vanguard).

Forwards: Sergey Andronov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Pavel Karnaukhov, Sergey Plotnikov, Anton Slepyshev (all - CSKA), Artem Anisimov, Artur Kayumov (both - Lokomotiv), Anton Burdasov, Nikita Gusev, Kirill Marchenko (all - SKA), Dmitry Voronkov ("Ak Bars"), Vadim Shipachev ("Dynamo" M), Arseniy Gritsyuk, Kirill Semenov (both - "Vanguard"), Andrey Chibisov ("Metallurg" Mg).

Reserves: goalkeeper Dmitry Shugaev (Severstal); defender Semyon Chistyakov ("Vanguard"); forwards Andrey Kuzmenko (SKA), Stanislav Galiev (Dynamo Moscow), Vladimir Tkachev (Tractor), Alexander Kadeykin (Salavat Yulaev).

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