Mikhail Berdin: "I enjoy playing in the KHL"

SKA goalkeeper Mikhail Berdin:

- I think that I have made progress technically, I'm working a lot with the goalkeeping coach, something which I didn't have in Canada. I can see that I am making progress, there are less errors in my game.

- Are you disappointed that you haven't got a shutout yet?

- To be honest, I'm not worried about that. The main satisfaction is winning games. However, on the other hand, sometimes you can earn a shutout despite having played poorly from a technical point of view. A shutout is a bonus, the main thing is winning matches.

- Vityaz did have some chances today, especially when Evgeny Artyukhin in the first period.

- Any shot can be dangerous. Vityaz had a few opportunities today, if not many. Even if I did concede in the second period, I thought that I played in the correct manner technically. If you position yourself well, the opponents' attacks aren't that threatening.

- Do Vityaz play like a North American team?

- I wouldn't say that. It's true that they compete in an aggressive style, but they don't play fast ice hockey. They like to stay in defence. When I was in Canada, I thought that ice hockey in the KHL was slow, but the fact that the rinks have become smaller has changed that. I enjoy playing in the KHL.

- How does the work of the goalkeeping coach differ in Russia in comparison with Canada?

- There are more details here, the coaches work with your closer. In Canada, the mentality is that if you're not ready, someone else will play. In Russia the emphasis is on personal development. I didn't have enough ice to train on in Canada, we had to play 82 matches in a very short space of time. Here, in Saint Petersburg, I have the chance to come and train on the ice when we don't have a game or a team training session. We analyse everything in great detail. I really like this, I can see progress in my performance level.