“Parents bring a six-year-old child: he is already Ovechkin, works.” General director of “Siberia” – on the nuances of building a team

“Beck is a very specific striker, not everyone will play with him”

– Do you think that the Ministry of Sports has precisely taken the decision to reduce the limit of Legionnaires a few days before the meeting of the leaders of the KHL clubs, where the league was going to draw up a collective opinion on this subject?

“Maybe it has something to do with it. Although I don’t think officials at this level pay attention to things like a club meeting. I think the decision of the Ministry of Sports has matured even more early, but that’s how it went. We’ve been talking for more than two hours now. And if they had broached the subject of the legionnaires, they wouldn’t have finished until the morning.

– Is the rise of “Siberia” this season associated with powerful legionnaires? Or is it just them?

– Of course, not only. The team is built from all the players, everyone contributes. But foreigners fit well into our composition. The head coach managed to find “chemistry” between hockey players with different characters. They have long mixed ties… Because, for example, Beck, despite all his talent, is a very specific hockey player. And not all partners are ready to play with him.

Is it outrageous?

No, it’s not outrageous at all. Beck is specific in his style and the way he plays. Figuring out his next move is quite difficult. This striker has an extraordinary sporting spirit. It is therefore not easy for the partners to adapt to it.

“The price of legionnaires who give results will increase”

– You now have three legionnaires in the team. Did you already know that would be the case?

“Of course, I dictated the text,” laughs Fastovsky. – To joke. Actually, we wanted to find two more legionnaires. But there were no good options.

– Agents break clubs’ hands? And now the price of legionnaires will increase again?

– It will grow, but for those who give results. On those legionnaires who can show up and give victory to the team. As well as on Russian players who give results. Reducing the foreigner limit affects a lot of things.

– Can the work of schools for children be accelerated? So they start giving new Vladimirs to Tarasenko? After all, hockey is not like football. We have all young hockey players who want to become Ovechkin.

That’s what his parents think. They bring a six-year-old child to the section and say: “Here he is already Ovechkin, work with him.” The struggle for good coaches of children has been going on for a long time. And it does not depend on the number of foreign players in KHL clubs. Schools need to create a good competitive environment. And that means a massive influx of children into school. Well, it doesn’t happen that 20 people are recruited and 15 of them become professionals.

– And in Novosibirsk there is no large influx in the section?

– There is interest in hockey, but it’s still not the same amount. And then, over the next ten years, the families of hockey players change their place of residence, move. Moreover, we have a competitor next to us facing Avangard, which invites everyone to join.

– It is clear that Omsk “sucks” young people into its academy. But why do the guys go there from Novosibirsk?

– We must pay tribute to Omsk – they have created very good conditions for the development of children. Their parents don’t even always take them there with the aim of making a boy a hockey player. And just to live and train in good conditions. Novosibirsk also aspires to this, the discussion continues at the highest level. But for the moment, there is, that’s it. Nevertheless, we now have half the team – our own players. We will continue this topic. We will start by bringing in the most promising players from the youth team.

“The star game in Novosibirsk will cause an unrealistic stir”

— Will your new palace be operational in a year?

– Sure.

– Will you qualify for the KHL All-Star Game in a year? Here in the same Avangard they say they will first think about how beneficial it is for the club.

So far this has not been discussed. First, the palace must be completed for the team to move there. And then we’ll start thinking about having the All-Star Game. But this, of course, must be planned for the future. there is no doubt.

But will you think about profit? Or is it more important that the city has a vacation?

“Of course, we are thinking about profits. But this holiday will cause unreal excitement in Novosibirsk. All neighboring towns will come here.

– Is it a big disappointment that the World Junior Championship did not take place in Novosibirsk, where, by the way, the Russian team was supposed to play?

– We fought for a very long time to get this World Cup. So there is disappointment. But we can’t influence the circumstances, so pulling our hair out is useless. We must go on living and working. And remember that the palace is still under construction for the fans, for the local residents. Novosibirsk did not lose here.

“Everything was decided with Martemianov in one evening”

– How did you manage to hit the bullseye so well when choosing a head coach?

– In December, I would not like to summarize and give some high-profile features. So far only the middle of the season. I thought and I still think that our team deserves the place it occupies. We’ve always been bothered by hockey-related reasons that I really don’t like. The abundance of incredible injuries or other things that are difficult to influence. Certainly, we are going well, but everything is played in the playoffs. You must first enter it with confidence. And we will see there. Now it is better to scold us and evaluate – later.

– But still – in the summer you had a very long short list. Why was Andrey Martemianov chosen?

“It was a losing streak for several years. We decided that in this situation it is extremely important to get into the playoffs. Andrei Alekseevich knows how to form a team, create the right atmosphere in it and bring it to the Gagarin Cup. That’s why we chose it. The negotiations were very short. Literally a call to the agent, I flew to Sochi, where Martemyanov lives. And we decided everything there in one evening.