Representative of Russia to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Pavel Bure during the opening of the All-Russian Hockey Day at VDNH, in an interview with , he spoke about the prospects for participation Russian national team in international tournaments.
On December 1, VDNKh organized the opening ceremony of the All-Russian Hockey Day with the participation of legends, managers and players of HC CSKA. The event took place in the presence of Pavel Bure, Boris Mikhailov, Sergei Fedorov and other representatives of the Moscow army.
— Are you watching a lot of CSKA matches this season? The team, after two championships, is only sixth in the West.
— Of course, I watch the matches, I go to the arena. I understand that it is difficult to win the Gagarin Cup for the first time. Doing this a second time in a row is difficult, and a third time is usually incredibly difficult. But CSKA is the most successful team in the country, if not the world. There is great experience and great spirit there. And CSKA must do everything possible to continue winning.
— Recently, in St. Petersburg, the SKA Arena was opened for 21,500 spectators. That’s not cool ?
– It’s super cool. And that says that our hockey is popular, that a lot of people play it, of all ages. And amateurs play, and the Night Hockey League, and professionals. I am glad that in our country there are people capable of building the largest hockey palace in Europe. I welcome it, I am proud of it. I’m sure it will be a full house there.
— And the Russian national team can compete there.
— Hockey players play above all for the fans. There are political things that do not depend on us. But we do what we can. And people will continue to come and watch hockey. Because we are a hockey country, there is enormous support for sports fans.
— Is there any hope that the Russian team can participate in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy? They are not yet allowed to attend the world championships.
– Everything is interconnected. The situation in the world is currently difficult. Unfortunately, this affects hockey and sports in general. Hopefully everything will resume in the near future,” Bure told .
The Russian team won silver at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, losing in the final to the Finnish team (1:2).
The IIHF suspended the Russian and Belarusian teams from participation in competitions under its auspices at the end of February 2022. Earlier it became known that the IIHF provisionally included the Russian team among the participants in the group stage of the Olympic Games of 2026, which will take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy).
Watch live broadcasts of the Fonbet KHL championship matches on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.
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.
