Former coach of Chinese club KHL Kunlun Red Star Alexei Kovalev told that the Chinese will do their best to play in the Olympic hockey tournament again.
Kovalev worked at Kunlun from 2018 to February 2022, first as an assistant and then as a head coach. He now lives in New York.
In the final tournament of the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese team lost against the Americans (0:8), the Germans (2:3) and the Canadians (0:5).
– How do the party and the government assess the result of the Chinese team at the Olympics?
– Don’t say right away. But it is more valuable for China to know how they then took first place in the World Cup group, playing with incomprehensible teams.
– China won the second division of the World Cup in April, beating teams from the Netherlands, Croatia, Spain, Israel and Australia.
– Exactly. The Chinese were really happy to have won the World Cup and moved up the division. Therefore, their entire focus is on shooting the B-rank Premier Division.
– There, we already have to play with Japan, Ukraine, Estonia, Serbia and again with the Netherlands.
– China is putting all its strength into it to qualify for the next Olympic Games. But I think it will already be difficult for them in this group. It’s not like playing with the Spaniards, who couldn’t even touch the puck.
And if it’s the Olympics, it’s hard to judge whether China is happy. If you haven’t won a single game, it’s hard to be happy. On the other hand, before the tournament, the Chinese asked me the question: “Are we going to score at least one goal? We play against Canada, the United States and Germany.
I replied, “Why shouldn’t we score?” They were worried about an example from football, how the Chinese couldn’t score a single goal at the World Cup. It was considered a disgrace.
But they scored two goals against the Germans, and with the same Canada (0:5) they showed good hockey. I think this result finally suited the Chinese,” Kovalev told .
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Italy.
Source : MatchTV
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