“It’s a shame that such a strong generation of talented boys from Russia have been deprived of international tournaments.” Interview with Matvey Michkov

“The puck hit me in the elbow”

– Matvey, how do you find the game against CSKA?

Lost, bad. Let’s sort out the mistakes and move on.

– Do you feel your progress at the KHL level, playing against such big teams?

– Yes, I am gradually adapting to adult hockey. I try to do my best in every game, to play for the team. It’s important that team wins come as soon as possible – that’s the most important thing for me.

– You made four blocks – do you pay as much attention to the game in defense?

– Today, it turns out that I had to play a lot in defense. Because the CSKA team is good in attack. Somewhere they were running, crushing us. So, we had to defend ourselves, and I tried to do everything so that we didn’t concede a goal. Unfortunately, we failed to win. But that’s okay – we’ll analyze our mistakes and move on.

What happened in the second period when the puck hit you?

– Yes everything is fine.

– Where did she go?

– At the elbow. It appears to be – yes, a protected place. But there are times when the elbow breaks. But everything is fine, I will be ready for the next game.

“Bédard is great, he shows good numbers”

– Did you immediately understand that you would be sent to beat the free throw at the end of the game? What were you thinking?

– I didn’t think of anything like that. I don’t care who shoots the ball. The main thing is that we score. Unfortunately, I couldn’t score. I will analyze this episode and draw conclusions. I will continue with a cool head.

– At the end of the match, you made a good solo pass, and you almost scored. What is more convenient for you to score – after such passes or a free throw?

– I think it’s more convenient to beat a ball. There are no rivals, you are alone against the goalkeeper. And when there was a solo passage, the defenders still get involved. Therefore, the passage is noticeably more difficult.

– You could be one of the main stars of the Junior World Championship, which is coming to an end. What do you think of this tournament?

– It is a pity that Russia did not manage to participate in this tournament. But it’s not all up to us, unfortunately. Therefore, our task is to play wherever we are. And I follow the world junior championship as much as possible. I know there will be a Czech Republic-Canada final. I will see, yes. Hockey is always interesting.

Do you like Connor Bedard? He scored 23 points, but that’s at the junior level. And you play with men.

“Look, I’m going out and playing hockey. And he plays hockey. He does, he’s the top scorer there, as I’ve been told? Very cool, the guy is handsome. And he’s six months younger than me. Shows good numbers. That’s cool, man.

– And what is more important for your development – six games at the junior level or six games in the KHL?

– Of course, matches at the adult level give more. It’s more interesting for my experience, it’s better for my development to play with men than with juniors.

“I’m ready to play even in the MHL, if it’s better for the team”

– What can you say about the generation of Russian hockey players? Grudinin, Poltapov, Miroshnichenko… We could have had an interesting team!

– In fact, there is a strong generation in Russia. At the World Junior Championships, we all played together on the same team. We reached the final, but we failed to win gold. We played very good hockey there. Played the final with the Canadians tied, but a bit unlucky. And the adversary made better use of his chances. And we are a little worse, so we lost this match.

But our generation is certainly very strong. And it’s a shame that such talented boys were deprived of world tournaments.

– If Sochi doesn’t make the KHL playoffs and you’re sent to play for the MHL captain, what’s in it for you?

Where they tell me to play, I will play there. If MHL, then MHL. If the management of Sochi decides that it will be better for the team, then I will play with great pleasure and try to help, I will do my best. I will try to win all the matches that will be there.