Roman Rotenberg: "SKA are beginning to develop a winning mentality"

HC SKA vice-president Roman Rotenberg told R-Sport about how Ilya Kovalchuk feels, and about extending Artemiy Panarin's and Viktor Tikhonov's contracts:

About Ilya Kovalchuk's condition:

- Ilya had an injury, and his form was affected by that as he couldn't train with the team for a month. You also need to take into account his emotional state after the recent family event. We needed to give him time, and now he's returning. He has practically fully recovered, and together with the birth of his daughter he should be able to regain top form.

Ilya missed the game with Severstal because of family reasons. Everything is fine, and he should tell you himself about the birth of his daughter. I think that now he will be even more emotional on the ice. He will be in a good state in which to take on Torpedo. Ilya is with the team in Nizhny Novgorod, and will be SKA's captain in this match.

About the situation with Artemiy Panarin and Viktor Tikhonov:

- We have a very warm relationship with Artemiy, and we speak about a lot of things together. We're very happy, that Artemiy can now play at such a level. He works hard, is a World Junior Champion, and is constantly trying to improve. He is a great example for everyone. He has a true fighter's character, and it's a great thing for hockey. It's obvious, that SKA 100% wants to extend his contract, and our negotiations with him are continuing. Both Artemiy and Viktor are very important players for our team. They aren't only great sportsmen, but great people too. We will be only happy to work with them further.

- About the upcoming match with CSKA Moscow:

- The game with CSKA will be tight. CSKA lost to Jokerit and to us in Saint Petersburg, and they will be pumped up. SKA and CSKA are huge rivals, especially this campaign. CSKA are a great club with plenty of traditions and history, but we will also be ready. All of our players are training together, and Mikko Koskinen has recovered after being ill and is picking up form.

We have to try and win every game. If you win, you will become the championship's front runner. However we don't have any set goals to win the regular season. But you have to try and beat your opponents in sport, especially as SKA are beginning to develop a winning mentality. The team's results in the regular season show how ready they are for the play-offs.