For the first time, the Roscongress Cup was held as a tournament in which four teams participated. In the final, the Business team with Alexander Medvedev and Roman Rotenberg defeated Politika (7:5), for which Fetisov played. The third place was taken by the team “Champion”, which defeated the government of St. Petersburg (6:3) in the match for the bronze medal.
– Alexander Ovechkin made his symbolic team and included you in it. Do you think Ovi can follow in your footsteps and become a politician in the future? Or maybe he will become a businessman?
Sasha is a multifaceted person. I treat him with respect. It’s deep and emotional. But I don’t know, there is such a moment here … When I was playing hockey, I hardly imagined that one day I would become a politician. Ovechkin has enough political statements, and he makes them coherently, although the world is no longer a simple story at all. It’s a great honor, really. Few people can afford it. Especially when you wear a Poutine Team T-shirt and you have a photo with the president in an avatar on social networks. Everyone sees it.
So, in this sense, Ovechkin has political potential. But what he wants to do after his career is his decision. Now he could play for the Politician team and play for the Business team. We also had two other teams here – “Champion” and the government team from St. Petersburg. Ovechkin wouldn’t get lost either.
And above all, I judge from my own experience, a person must choose what will make him happy. You don’t have to do difficult things. You must understand that you can be useful. That you’ll be the one everyone’s looking at. And at the same time, decisions have to be made. It is not a simple thing at all. But let’s hope that Alexander Ovechkin after his hockey career, no matter where he works, will be useful to himself and to all of us.
“Vegas owner Bill Foley, who joined the NHL, made a statement: ‘We have to win the Stanley Cup in six years. And the Golden Knights did. Can such a story suit us? The same “Lada” is able to win the Gagarin Cup in six years?
— This will be possible in our realities if we accept the principle that sport is an equal opportunity for us. Then “Admiral” will win and Novokuznetsk “Metallurg”. But for this you need to remove unnecessary ambitions and make this principle the most important.
The most interesting thing is that this principle makes it possible to win. And you remember when NHL clubs came into the league in the early 90s, they paid about $50 million in fees. How much did Vegas pay to join the NHL? $450 million. Moreover, “Seattle” has already paid 650 million dollars. Now they are discussing a new club and talking about a sum of around one billion. In other words, people know how to count money. They have invested a lot, but they will do it, give it back and win from above. There is a sporting principle, equal opportunities, fantastic competition. All this allows the sports business to develop.
I think it’s time for our hockey to consider all these points. And especially in this situation in which we find ourselves. And the regions will have the opportunity to compete with Moscow and St. Petersburg. Just for us, the principles of the National Hockey League in these conditions can be very correct. You have to return the draft and not be able to drag a hockey player who played on another team. This is the foundation of the NHL, which continues to progress rapidly today.
When I came to America, the hockey league was in the top ten in terms of popularity, commerce on the continent. And now the NHL is number one or two. That says a lot.
– The International Ice Hockey Federation, praising Vegas for its social media, listed players from four countries – Canada, the United States, Sweden and even Latvia – who play for the Golden Knights. But I forgot about Russia – our representatives there are Ivan Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeev. How do you react to such petty meanness from the IIHF?
“Forget this organization! By the way, here in the city of St. Petersburg we chose this moron – the new president of the IIHF …
—Luc Tardif.
– But who cares who he is – Late or not Late? He is a person who does not understand the meaning of everything that is happening. Hockey at one time was big politics. It’s the Super Series, and everything related to the NHL.
The National Hockey League isn’t canceling the Russians, is it? Therefore, we simply chose the wrong person to be the IIHF President. They haven’t invested in it. Although I know that we bet on another. That is to say, we have lost our influence in hockey. I don’t know how René Fasel would have behaved in this situation if he had remained president of the IIHF. But it would certainly have been different.
It’s interesting that these IIHF folks will start talking when things get back to normal. And on the photos in social networks, let them draw whatever they want. It is their problem and their business. They organized a kind of cartoon world championship in Finland and Latvia. I haven’t watched a single minute of a match in this tournament. I think that would be a betrayal. We were kicked out of there and we were arguing over who was playing there. It’s just unfortunate.
– Recently, in St. Petersburg, I met goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov, who will soon complete his military service. Are you interested in this story? Can Fedotov return to the top level?
“People come back after serious injuries and nothing. A loud story happened to Fedotov. I would like to wish him a return. If he wants to come back. If he thinks about it, nothing terrible happened – skills can be quickly developed again. The main thing is to have a desire, then everything will be fine.
– You just played in the same team with the players – Roman Shirokov, Alexander Mostovoy, Yuri Zhirkov are excellent skaters. Are you interested in Russian football?
– I haven’t been to football for a hundred years! I don’t even know what’s going on there.
– The sport itself does not cling?
“That’s not the point. In fact, I played good football. And now I can go out and play. But there’s just no time for that.
Gazprom-Media Holding is the general media partner of SPIEF-2023.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
