We lost 20 years, now we need time and patience, but Ukranian hockey is walking in the right direction

When he was appointed as National Team headcoach in last april, the first words of Aleksandr Kulikov were: There is a lot of work to do!". Now he  is ready to battle to bring Ukraine at next phase of Olympic Qualifications. Host are favourites for upcoming tournament heldi in Kyiv next weekend, when they will face Poland - probably the main contender - Estonia and Spain. But the road to Sochi 2014 is still long. In this Kulikov accepted to speak about the prospective of his team and Ukrainian hockey in general, and also shared his views on the problematic situation.

Naturally, the conversation began with a discussion about the Ukrainian team training camp
"This training is very different from what we did at the end of the summer - said Kulikov. Theere we checked several players, some, as you can see, are no longer in the roster. Now we need to determine the composition of the first round of qualifying. As for today's training, I see that all the guys are aware of the responsibility of the next games. We looked at who is in what form, how players feel in some combination, as well as the powerplay situations handling. I can say that I am pleased with the first days, but we will continue to watch and make adjustments .I would like to thank Belarus for agreeing to hold two matches with our team.

The result in the matches against Belarus was important?
Of course, I can not say that we did not want to win. (Ukraine lost first match 2-1 and tied the second 2-2). Still, the most important is to view all the players in action

In next days the KHL players will arrive to play in Kyiv tournament, among them the NHLers Fedotenko and Ponikarovsky. They, as Kasyanchuk or other Donbas players will have indisputably a spot in the roster?
Of course! It's great that fans of hockey in Ukraine can personally watch stars as Fedotenko and Ponikarovsky. Not on TV, but under their eyes. Let's hope that Ponikarovsky will help us, because he, like Fedotenko, is recovering from an injury. As for the guys from the KHL, we have to cross fingers because no one had injuries and we have gathered here all those whom we wanted.

Fedotenko is in doubt, will be difficult to see him in Kyiv...
Let's not rush things. He has a serious injury, he has not played the last three matches. We hope that he was all right. In any case, we will consult with doctors.

How will you determine the goaltender for the decisive matches?
We have three goalkeepers on which we rely. Unfortunately this season they had not so many games. We had another goalie in the expanded list - Vadim Seliverstov, but he had the surgery, and he is still recovering. And who will start in the cage - Karpenko, Balaban or Napnenko - we'll see later.

You worked in Spain, but your main rival for the qualification is Poland. However, as you describe each of the opponents of the Ukrainian team?
We won't easy games. But it is clear that the Poles are our main rival. The fact that the team is now led by professionals such Bykov and Zakharkin says a lot about the ambitions of the Polish national team. So it will be very hard.

Olympic Tournament will be your second event since you sit on National team bench. Surely you have felt what it is to be a coach of the national team ...
Of course. Working in the team is very different from working in a club. Here, you are responsible for the entire country. While in the club you always see the players and know their shape and the physical form at any point. In the national team guys arrived two or three days before the game, so here the first thing to be checked is the state of a player, and then determine the roster

How do you evaluate the interaction with your assistants Yuri Gunko and Dmitri Khristich?
We have selected a good team, we have also invited Sasha Vasilyev for this tournament. Gunko and Khristich are famous people in the hockey world. They played in the Russian league and in the NHL, so they should not be present.They know hockey inside, watching the Ukrainian championship. We always find some common ground, and I am delighted that we have same views on the training process and hockey in general,

Gunko was a defender and Khristich a forward. Does this mean that their responsibilities in the coaching staff will be allocated accordingly their former position on ice?
Of course. Gunko gives more attention to the defenders, and Dimitri at the offensive part. Plus we have Alexander Vasiliev, who will work with the goalkeepers.

Federation constantly changed coach after a failure at the World Championships. Perhaps professionals need to give more time for a more successful outcome? Do you have a blank check for a long period?
First, my contract is for two years. Second, look at the same Donbass. In this team there is a good selection of players, some of them are players of national teams of their countries. But they do not play very smoothly. Because to create a good team is not so easy and fast. Need time to play and the guys have to know each other. Same is with the national team. There is a team and there are guys who are eager to play for, we don't discard anyone. Now we are invited to the training camp the current best defender and the best striker forward of PHL (Vasili Polonitsky and Dmitri Gnitko). They deserved it and we have to look at them.

Do you agree with the fact that Ukraine has, in the past years, reached the bottom and now it is moving forward?
We were at the point at which deserve, because what happened with hockey in this country, happened in last 20 years. We didn't lost a game and flew away. We have years of no development, when in YUkraine hockey was just and only Sokil Kyiv. Now we are developing a professional domestic league, this was the right move to do!. Yes, we have a lot of players not so good, but those that are can give us good results. But on the other hand, I can not deceive all, saying that from now on, we will beat everybody. It takes time and patience. We will try to justify the confidence of the fans.

Original interview on isport.ua

 

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