“I arrived at the repechage committee already shaved. I left my new phone at home. Hockey player Avangard gives advice to Ivan Fedotov

It is worth recalling that 22-year-old Dynamo Moscow striker Vladimir Bryukvin in October 2017 entered the military registration and enlistment office directly from the street. So it’s written in the press. Moreover, the hockey player was in good standing, he played in the second line of the best club in the KHL. And then he went to the army.

And it was not announced. But Bryukvin missed games, and only a week later he was able to return to the team.

How did the hockey player manage to return from the military unit so quickly? This experience could help Ivan Fedotov. The columnist called Bryukvin himself for more details.

“They didn’t catch me on the street, I went to the sports company myself”

– Is Fedotov’s story similar to yours?

– I was completely different. So I studied at Malakhovka (Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture). But at Dynamo an option presented itself and I myself went to the sports company. Passed the “Course of a young fighter”, took the oath. Gone for three weeks.

Then he came back to the team when I was linked to the sports company. And every month, I went there to celebrate.

But when the service was coming to an end, in the sports society they demanded that he come to training camp. It was then that he missed a few KHL games.

“Did they pick you up on the street?”

– Not this way. They just called me and said, “Get ready. It should be evening.” There was no such thing as me being picked up off the street, arrested and escorted away.

– That is, the sports society and the army are superior to any club in the KHL?

– Actually, yes. I didn’t have much choice. I called Dynamo management, explained the situation, and they were like, “Go ahead.”

Do you have to serve in the army for a year?

– Turns out it is. But in most cases, I was only three weeks old.

– And how is it? Do you have to stand on a bedside table? Clean the floor with a toothbrush? Or is there an exception for athletes?

– When I went there for the first time, everything was very serious. I came to the Moscow military registration and enlistment office, to which I was attached in the district, and they assigned me to the Kaluga region.

They took it there. I had already shaved my head. When I entered the unit, I was in shock from everything. And so he did everything according to the charter. Lights out at 10 p.m. God forbid there will be noise. We played Three Squeaks. If the officers hear three times some kind of creaking from the bed in the barracks, then they all get up, we dress again in military uniform – we undress again, go to bed and the game continues.

– Is it true that a mobile phone is taken into the barracks?

‘I took a little old man with me. He was allowed to leave. Did not come with an iPhone. There was a possibility that he could really be taken away. And not necessarily a parts guide.

– Was there a risk that someone would even run over a KHL hockey player?

– I think that in the army, there is no more hazing like before. But you don’t know where you are going. I just decided not to take the risk.

Usually I had three or four people with criminal records in my company. And so the military is its own world with its own laws. For example, you were told: “Go and get out.” You’ve swept the parade ground and figured out that you have to get lost so they don’t give you a new job.

– “Dig from the fence until the sun goes down.”

– Well yes. It’s just a life experience. Someone is passing by.

“Fedotov could partly lose his athletic form”

– What do you think of the situation of Ivan Fedotov?

She’s not quite typical, however.

– Who should inform the hockey player that he has to pay his debt to the Fatherland in the army? Agent?

– It was just a sports company, to which Dynamo was connected, where it was possible to serve an alternative service. And so, I think, people generally understand that they have to solve this problem. They can get a postponement for the duration of their studies, for example, go to an institute with a military department. Or go to serve in the sports business. Or they seek medical justifications for not serving. It seems that Fedotov was diagnosed with gastritis? It would be possible to make a certificate of uselessness.

– In general, do not be frivolous.

I don’t know what his situation is. Therefore, I will not rush to conclusions. Yes, and Vanya himself does not give interviews, he does not explain anything.

– When you are in a unit for a long time, can you lose your fitness?

– Sure. You don’t have ice practice, you don’t train with a fitness coach. And yes, the food is different. I will not say that the food in the army is bad. There is a dining room there. But hockey players eat what they are used to – chicken, pasta. Especially Fedotov, who has gastritis, which means he can even go on a diet.

How do you think this story could end? What if Fedotov also serves three weeks and is sent home?

– You usually take the oath within a month. I hope Ivan will be sent to alternate duty. What if he stays there for a year? I don’t know how they work there. It’s hardly a sporting business, from where Fedotov will return to CSKA in three weeks.

I wish Vanya successful coping with this situation. And don’t lose heart. It’s important when you’re in the army.