SKA - Spartak. Press-conference

HC SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg:

- There was a fantastic atmosphere inside the stadium! Our fans provided us with great energy. With such wonderful supporters, we need to win games, score as many goals as possible and display exciting ice hockey. After our previous match, we had a good conversation, trained well and worked on the details. The main aspect which requires improvement is our ruthlessness in front of goal. When we start taking advantage of our chances, we will win games by large margins. We will continue working hard.

- All of your matches against Spartak this season are fascinating. Do you have a specific mentality for playing against them?

- We have to give credit to Spartak. They have a young team which puts together nice passing plays and creates lots of opportunities. We need more matches against teams like Spartak, it helps all of our players and coaches develop. The main thing is that we’re making our fans happy with our performances, and we can see that the Ice Palace is often sold out. We are obliged to win our home games.

- Alexander Ovechkin reached 802 goals in the NHL last night, before Dmitrij Jaskin scored his 100^th KHL marker today.

- I would like to sincerely congratulate Alexander with his achievement! We met him in the summer when we were training in Novogorsk. Alexander always works really hard, and I would like to wish him good health so that he’s able to become the all-time top NHL scorer. When it comes to Dmitrij, then he required the least amount of games in the history of the KHL to score 100 goals. We all congratulated him as a team. The next match is always the most important one for us, and as our captain Dmitrij understands this better than anyone.

- Despite scoring twice, there seemed to be problems with your powerplay in this game.

- We’re always working on our powerplay. We actually scored three times on the powerplay today, but the third marker was disallowed as a consequence of offside. In order for our powerplay to work even more effectively, we have to be ruthless in front of the opposing net. We want more creative and improvised plays.

- New arrival Andrei Altybarmakyan competed on the powerplay in this match. Can you comment on the decision to sign him from Sochi?

- A lot of players from Saint Petersburg are currently playing for SKA. Alongside Andrei, Valentin Zykov and Dmitry Nikolaev are good examples. Andrei progressed through our system before subsequently playing for Sochi and the Chicago Blackhawks system in North America. Now, the time has come for him to take the next step. He has everything required to play for SKA including great skating, ice hockey IQ and a superb understanding of the sport. Just like everyone else in our team, he played a role in our win this evening. By the way, he dished out an assist for our fourth marker which was disallowed for offside.

- One player scored twice for Spartak, while two players both netted two for SKA.

- For Spartak’s goals, Shane Prince showed his quality. The visitors put together neat passing plays and escaped the attentions of our players. We never think about playing against one player in particular, instead we focus on the entire team we’re facing. All of our players on the ice committed mistakes for the two Spartak goals. We are constantly trying to minimalise the amount of mistakes, but we have to remember that errors are committed in every single game. All of the details require improvement.

- Former SKA defenseman Maxim Chudinov was on the ice for Spartak today, and he always loves to shoot from distance. Did you warm Nikolaev about this beforehand?

- Our goalkeeping coaches always make sure that our goaltenders are prepared for every match. As we can see, Chudinov didn’t conjure up any surprises. I remember how Andrei Kuteikin scored against Mikko Koskinen from neutral ice: initially, the puck was travelling towards his chest, but then it took a sudden dip. These things happen.

- How does Roman Rukavishnikov feel? He left the game.

- He has received a serious injury. In that incident, Roman showed commitment and blocked a powerful shot. All of our guys are prepared to block pucks for the benefit of the team. I would like to wish Roman a speedy recovery, the puck struck his thumb with force. We have to wait for the diagnosis.

- A combined total of 35,000 fans came to the Ice Palace for these last three games.

- When I started working with SKA, only two or three thousand people attended our matches. It’s vital to work with the public and achieve positive results on the ice. Fans love how SKA play the game. FC Zenit Saint Petersburg deserve credit, they showed us how to work with the supporters and ensure that the arena is full. People are choosing between ice hockey, football, the cinema and the theatre, so we must win the competition. It’s also great to see that more and more children want to play ice hockey; we don’t have enough ice rinks to keep them happy! Why do so many people attend our games? Because we win!

HC Spartak Moscow head coach Igor Grishin:

- I think that the fans enjoyed this game. SKA’s fans were loud, but our supporters also made their voices heard. Both teams had their chances, but SKA played with the advantage. The strongest team won.

- In what aspects were SKA stronger today? You were only trailing by one goal late in the third period, so you must feel somewhat disappointed.

- It’s really disappointing to lose. However, you cannot give such a high-quality opponent so many opportunities to compete on the powerplay. It was obvious that they were going to use some of their powerplay chances. It was tough for us, but SKA did force us to take those penalties.

- Did you have a special mind-set for competing against SKA for the first time as a KHL coach?

- Yes. SKA are the leaders of Russian ice hockey, we wanted to play well against them. We produced a good performance today, but it wasn’t good enough to be successful.

- What can you say about the third period?

- If you can remember, Yegor Savikov had a big chance for us at the start of the stanza. Had he scored, the match would have turned out differently. After that opportunity, we committed a foul and SKA scored on the ensuing powerplay. SKA then hit the target on the PP again, but our video coaches immediately noticed that the play was offside. SKA won because they forced us to take penalties with their intense pressing.

- Chudinov was fired up for Spartak.

- Maxim has been great for us since joining our team, he’s settled in straight away. We’re happy that he plays for our club.

- What about Alexei Emelin?

- The same can be said for him too. This was only his second game for us, but it already feels like he’s been with us for months. Alexei made more than 500 NHL appearances and has won the Gagarin Cup on three occasions, he’s a vastly experienced player. He immediately understood what I want to see from this team.

- Since becoming the head coach of Spartak, what specialities concerning the KHL have you noticed?

- Naturally, the ice hockey in the KHL is of a different level. Furthermore, the whole atmosphere for KHL games and the organisation of the matches are aspects which have stood out.

HC SKA defenseman Georgy Solyannikov:

- It was an unusual start to the game. When we play at weekends, I’ve noticed that we often start poorly. Thankfully, we quickly managed to equalise and we subsequently bossed the match. We applied heavy pressure on Spartak and showed our style of ice hockey.

- After losing to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday, what did the coaches focus on for this game?

- They asked us to play in a simpler manner inside our own zone, to follow their game plan and to shoot on goal more often.

- SKA conceded in the 37^th second of the match when shorthanded. Why did this happen?

- We’re used to starting games at 19:30, not 17:00! Nonetheless, the opponents were in the same boat, so we can’t use that as an excuse.

HC SKA forward Andrei Altybarmakyan:

- Spartak woke us with their opener. It was a really physical match throughout, but we needed to commit less mistakes.

- Speak to us about your emotions having returned to SKA from Sochi.

- I’m a team player. Even when Sochi were going through their tough spell, I tried my best to keep the group together and take a leading role. I’m really happy to have joined SKA, and I want to thank the management and the coaches for giving me the chance to play in my hometown. It’s a dream scenario for me!

- Did you have a feeling that this transfer was going to happen after participating at the KHL All-Star Weekend in Sochi?

- No, I didn’t. We just had a good time, there weren’t any hints about a possible move to SKA. When I received the news, I was thrilled. I know a lot of the guys in this SKA team, and everyone welcomed me with open arms. I have only positive emotions.

- Before today’s match, how many times did you train with the team?

- Once on Friday. We didn’t train this morning as a result of the game taking place in the afternoon instead of the evening.

- In comparison to Sochi, how different is the system which SKA use?

- Yes, SKA have a different system, but it’s not something new for me. I already had an understanding of what the coaches demand from the players. SKA always like to compete in an aggressive manner, immediately taking the game to the opponents and never sitting back. The more pressure we apply, the more mistakes the opponents will commit. Why did I choose the number 98? It was given to me!