Roman Rotenberg speaks after beating Sibir in Novosibirsk

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- First of all, I want to note that the new stadium here in Novosibirsk has a wonderful atmosphere with their passionate fans. At the same time, though, their previous arena always had a unique atmosphere too. Thank you to our supporters who were with us throughout this road trip, we saw them in Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and in Novosibirsk. In terms of the match, we produced a solid performance today, not allowing the opponents to create opportunities and competing in accordance with our plan. The guys competed with commitment and blocked pucks. In front of goal, we played with cool heads and managed to score our all-important goals. However, we do still have things to work on.

- The puck struck Marat Khairullin in the face. How is he feeling?

- We didn't take any risks. He has gone to hospital for some tests, the puck struck him in the jaw. The guys played for Marat today. This is a part of ice hockey, you have to be on the crease. We must give credit to Sibir goalkeeper Anton Krasotkin today, at times it felt as though there were six goaltenders in their net! It was difficult to score against him, but we eventually broke through with beautiful markers.

- Semyon Sinyatkin took Khairullin's place in the fourth line. What can you say about his performance?

- Semyon initially performed well at the summer training camps. At training, Semyon is one of our best players. I'm not surprised that he played so well today, he had previously impressed in our preceding games. He could have even scored when he skated through 1-on-1, but he needed to unleash a less straightforward shot. Sinyatkin is an interesting player, he's well-built physically and skates well. Semyon is deservedly in our line-up as a consequence of winning the competition among our limiters.

- Sibir received lots of penalties today, and they also had a goal disallowed because of high sticking. Have the referees started to become more loyal to SKA?

- We don't need to start searching for factors outside of ice hockey. The referees are doing their job. The opponents sat in defence and tried to ruin our style, whereas we worked hard with our legs. If we analyse Sibir's penalties together, then we will see that they were all rightly given. We always need to speak in an open, honest manner. The press also need to start reporting with honesty, there are a lot of paid articles out there. Together we can take Russian ice hockey to the next level. This year, it's great that teams like Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, Severstal Cherepovets and Sochi are beating the leading KHL clubs, we can see why they are playing so well and scoring plenty of goals. Ice hockey is developing, we mustn't stand still. Every coach needs to develop, including me.

- SKA really struggled last year during this Far East trip, but this time around you won all three matches while only conceding one goal along the way. What changes did you make to your preparation?

- We defeated Magnitogorsk last year before this road trip, but a lot of our players received injuries. At the same time, players like Nikita Gusev joined the team and played in their first games. Players need time in order to become fully acquainted with our system. Following that away series last year, we did make the required conclusions. Nonetheless, we can still improve further in all aspects of the game.

- The line consisting of Valentin Zykov, Zakhar Bardakov and Nikolai Polyakov was your first today. Did you make that decision after they played so well against Admiral in Vladivostok?

- Every game is different, unlike the theatre you never know what is going to happen. This is the beauty of sport. We made this particular decision as a consequence of playing against Novosibirsk.

- What did you make of the ice today? A lot of teams who travel to Novosibirsk often state that it isn't of the best quality.

- It's important to measure the ice's thickness. We've started doing this ourselves. There were some problems with our rink in Saint Petersburg too, but improvements are currently being made. There is a device which measures the thickness of the ice. In accordance with the tournament regulations, it should measure between 35 and 50 millimeters. Unfortunately, though, the KHL isn't checking whether this rule is being adhered to. The ice thickness at the majority of arenas is 60 millimeters, which is a violation of the regulations. We didn't manage to check the ice thickness here at the Sibir Arena. When the thickness is 60 millimeters, the puck bounces around and it's very difficult to display beautiful ice hockey. It all depends on the quality of the water and how it's filtered. I want to ask the league to make sure that the quality of the ice is high at every stadium, this will ensure that it's possible to play flowing ice hockey. When the puck is bouncing around, we lose excitement, goals and sponsors. It becomes judo, not ice hockey.

- Is there any news concerning Nikita Serebryakov? How are the negotiations coming along with Admiral?

- That's a question for those who started reporting this news in the media. We aren't going to comment on rumours. Naturally enough, we will always be happy for the best players to join SKA. You need to ask Serebryakov this question.

- Taking into account the fantastic performances being produced by Artemiy Pleshkov, is there any point in signing a new goaltender?

- We have a long season ahead of us. When Las Vegas won the NHL Stanley Cup, their fourth goalkeeper was on the ice! We don't know what will happen in the future. In Kazan, Ak Bars are playing with their third netminder. We need at least two strong goalkeepers in order to win the Gagarin Cup. The deciding factor is the player's desire.

- In the 2022/2023 season, KHL general managers named Dmitry Nikolayev the best goalkeeper of the league in an anonymous poll. What happened to him after that?

- We need to speak about what happened in the playoffs. There are certain factors which we have been regulating together, but I'm not going to speak about them publically. He is a completely different person now. Due to these consequences, he did receive an injury. Every athlete should prepare himself professionally and want to play sport. A player can fall in love, there can be drama at home, and these factors do affect the performance level. My task as head coach is to help every player take the next step. Right now, Dmitry is working excellently. When the time comes, he will take to the ice. He's already back in our game roster. This season, he's not been playing as a result of his injury. Last season different factors affected him.

- Has Alex Galchenyuk fully adapted to the KHL?

- Alex can play a lot better, he has huge potential. You will see this for yourselves later on this season.

- When will Brendan Leipsic receive his Russian citizenship?

- In my understanding, the process is going as it should, but there are still some formalities remaining. Decisions concerning citizenship are taken at the highest level. His documents are being put together.

- In the future, will the Russian Ice Hockey Federation organise games involving the senior national team here at the new Sibir Arena?

- That really would be great, it's wonderful to play here with these passionate supporters. We'll be happy to play here.

- During pre-season, you said that David Nemirovsky is a pub league coach. Did you speak to him after that? Maybe you had said too much?

- Great ice hockey players are also involved with pub leagues! Connor McDavid plays there in the summer. I didn't mean it as an insult. Ice hockey is a game of emotions. I know David well, he used to play for SKA with the number 81. However, no one needs fights and dirty plays in ice hockey. We want children to get involved with the sport and for the fans to attend matches.