Russia (bbabo.net), - The Russian team won the second victory at the men's Olympic hockey tournament, but the impression from the game with the Danes (2:0) was painful. Best of all, the game shown by our hockey players characterizes the mood of the team's head coach Alexei Zhamnov, with whom he came to talk to journalists. It was not fun at all.

What are your impressions of the game?

Alexey Zhamnov: In general, not very good. I did not like that the task that we gave the players before the game was not completed to the end. They asked to be patient, because they knew that the Danes are a tough team, they play rather tough, mobile. They were asked to win neutral goals, to fight for them. Concentrate more on keeping the puck in the offensive zone.

I remember the World Championship in Bratislava, where at that time the mentor of our team Ilya Vorobyov said that we would never play as boring as the Finns. But it seemed that the Russian team aimed precisely at such hockey ...

Alexey Zhamnov: No, we don't play like Finns. We try to control the puck more, play more offensively. But when we do not have control, then you simply cannot be on the attack. Constant counterattacks on our goal. Game discipline consists of different nuances. If the players complete the game task - there is a result. We spoke with the players after the match. Everyone understands perfectly. Looking forward to tomorrow's match. There are 24 hours before the game with the Czechs to draw the right conclusions and change everything for the better.

You are talking about the lack of game practice. Maybe you shouldn't have stopped the KHL season so early?

Alexey Zhamnov: We sat at the training camp, as planned in advance. Only due to the pandemic we sat down five days earlier. Yes, it was planned that there would be friendly matches, two in Novogorsk and one here - with Latvia, but due to the coronavirus protocol, we did not have the opportunity to play with someone. Of course, there is not enough match practice, but everyone is in approximately the same conditions. Everything hinges on something else. If the team will observe the game discipline, everything will work out.

What about the majority?

Aleksey Zhamnov: Eight powerplays, zero goals. This is very bad.

I can't see the creativity from Vadim Shipachyov and Nikita Gusev....

Alexey Zhamnov: We will try to get creative from them.

Can we say that this team is assembled under the tactics of "hit and run"?

Alexey Zhamnov: I wouldn't say so. We have guys who can carry creativity in every link. But you will be creative when you control the puck. Today we had no control, except for small segments, when the game was completely different. But it should be like this for 60 minutes.

Are you satisfied with the game of the first link?

Alexey Zhamnov: I will say this. The first link has a lot of passes - little threat. There is an extra pass, because of which there is no threat. There are some shifts when they carry an opponent, but it does not reach the final throw. They are very addicted.

Why do the guys still fail to complete the game task?

Alexey Zhamnov: I don't know. Tried to talk to the players after the match. They tried to deliver. Nothing terrible happened, but the next matches will be more difficult. You have to give credit to the Danes. Good opponent. If there were better guys there, the ending would probably be different.

Is it important for you to show sparkling hockey, and not like today, when you wanted to hang yourself from the game?

Alexey Zhamnov: We don't want to hang ourselves from hockey. I will repeat about the game task. Everything comes from discipline.

Are you happy that the second match went to zero?

Alexey Zhamnov: The goalkeeper plays great. The guys in defense are trying to complete the game task. So far it hasn't worked on the attack.

Aleksey Yurievich, why are you sad? We won...

Alexey Zhamnov: I want to come next time, and the score would not be 2:0, but more convincing.

Is it important that we have two wins in the first matches?

Alexey Zhamnov: It's good that we have two victories. But for us the most important thing is to have a game. Further rivals will be more difficult. It is necessary that the guys create more chances. These details need to be corrected.

Did you see any progress compared to the first match?

Alexey Zhamnov: It's hard to say yet. Two goals scored. Will watch.

Do we understand correctly that now there is more negativity than after the game with Switzerland?

Alexey Zhamnov: In the first match there was more excitement, there was no game practice. Now you react differently.

bbabo.Net