SKA - Sochi. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- We had to work really hard in order to win. All of our guys did a great job, they produced the required response. Sochi skated really well and with speed, we could see that they were full of motivation. It's an important victory for us, but the next match is also very important. We will now prepare for Saturday.

- Did the fact that Sochi are bottom of the table affect your players? Did you have to work harder to make them motivated?

- We found the required words when we had a serious discussion inside our dressing room. We aren't looking at the standings, all teams in the KHL are strong. When teams change coaches, they always play really well for a certain period of time. Sochi tried really hard, and their goalkeeper Maxim Tretyak had a great game. It was a tough fight across the entire ice.

- Sochi have a lot of players who once played for SKA.

- A lot of teams in this league have players who once played for the SKA system. All teams want to play at their best against us, including Sochi. We had to play at top speed to win.

We changed almost all of our line formations after the maiden two periods, we really wanted to win in front of our fans. Tomorrow, we will analyse the mistakes which we committed. I would also like to congratulate Nikita Gusev who became the leading scorer in SKA history!

- Gusev has now overtaken Ilya Kovalchuk in the ranking concerning the highest scoring players for SKA.

- There is no future without the past, there are plenty of legendary players in our scoring ranking. However, we are now looking to the future. We have a tough schedule in November, we'll soon fly to the Far East. Furthermore, not long later, some of our players will compete at the KHL All-Star Game and the Channel One Cup with the Russian national team. It's a difficult schedule with games every two days, we have to make sure that the guys are prepared emotionally. The main thing is to not receive injuries.

- What did you make of Gusev's performance today?

- The team won, so everything's fine. We want our players to take advantage of their scoring opportunities, this concerns Nikita and everyone else. We're working on this at training. We must improve in defence too, assisting the goalkeeper more and blocking pucks. A lot of work is ahead of us.

-16-year-old forward Ivan Demidov made his KHL debut in this game. Was this you were competing against the last-placed team?

- Ivan did a great job! He's constantly working hard in order to improve. We're keeping an eye on all of our players in the SKA system, Ivan has deserved the right to take to the ice in the KHL. We've spoken about an individual training plan for him which will allow for him to develop. If our young players are going to compete against the likes of CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Dynamo Moscow, Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Ak Bars Kazan, they need to be prepared physically. We have lots of excellent young players in our system.

- Why are SKA winning so many matches this season? Is it a phenomenon?

- There is no limit to perfection. It's all down to hard work and discipline. We worked really hard during the pre-season training camps, there aren't any secrets. If we look at this game, we didn't play well during the first two periods, we must start playing at our level for entire matches. So far this season we're scoring a lot of goals and not conceding many, I would like to thank all of the fans and journalists who are watching our progress. We recently looked back at video footage from Gusev's first team meeting with us, when we looked at how Barcelona played total football with Pep Guardiola as their coach. We're also analysing footage from the NHL, we want to prove that teams in Russia can play like Colorado and Tampa Bay. We're working 24/7.

HC Sochi head coach Sergei Svetlov:

- It was an interesting game. I can only be grateful to my players for their commitment, we played excellent ice hockey in terms of our tactics and approach in the opening 40 minutes. But, when you play against such a strong team like SKA, you cannot take so many penalties. We lacked concentration and freshness to kill those penalties in the third frame. I congratulate SKA with their win. This match will serve as a lesson for us, we have to improve our penalty killing and discipline.

- Did your players suffer physically in the third period?

- I don't think so. It was a tense game against a high-quality opponent. As a consequence of having less quality than SKA, we had to skate more without the puck. Teams with lots of quality can save energy, whereas we are becoming tired. We lost concentration and committed mistakes. Yes, our guys are progressing, but we want it to happen quicker. If we play like we did during the first two periods, wins aren't far away.

- How ready were you for Gusev competing on the powerplay for SKA?

- We weren't. Nonetheless, we all know that he is a true master of the game. He made two fantastic passes today.

- You have recently joined SKA. What have you been focusing on?

- The most important factor is how you play without the puck. You must be compact, play well across all zones and use the correct system. We're also looking at how we move out of defence and start attacking plays. There are a lot of issues, but the main one is our play without possession.

HC SKA forward Nikita Gusev:

- It was a difficult match, especially during the first two periods. We improved in the third and achieved the victory.

- You have set a club record for the amount of points.

- It's great! I am also happy that I achieved this straight away in my first game since returning. Now we need to move on.

- You seemed to struggle a bit during the first period, you missed an open goal.

- These things can happen in any match. I got used to playing in the first period, before I subsequently improved in the second two frames. I think that I will play better on Saturday.

- Did you enjoy competing on the powerplay? And how was it playing in one line with Dmitrij Jaskin and Mikhail Vorobyov?

- We have things to improve. Before our next game, we will analyse the footage and see what we can do better. We have to score when playing 5-on-5 too, not just when playing on the powerplay.

HC SKA forward Ivan Demidov:

- Just like Nikita said, the first two periods weren't good from our point of view. In the end, we applied too much pressure on the opponents and achieved a positive result.

- What did you feel when you found out that you were going to play?

- I was shocked! I am really happy that I was given the chance.

- Did you speak to Matvei Michkov? He also made his KHL debut for SKA when 16.

- No, he sent a message to me himself wishing me luck.

- What are the main differences between junior and senior ice hockey?

- The pace is higher here, you have to make decisions a lot quicker. The play is also a lot more physical, the hits are harder.