Defender of the East and “Auto” team Pavel Kovalchuk in an interview with , he explained how working with former center forward Pavel Datsyuk helped him.
On Sunday, the meeting for the MHL Challenge Cup ended in Tula. The Western team defeated the Eastern team with a score of 5: 3, and the best players who received the right to participate in the 2023 Fonbet KHL All-Star Game were Sergei Kolesnikov (Tolpar) , Vladimir Mikhalev (Siberian Snipers), Matvey Polyakov (SKA -1946) and Igor Chernyshov (MHC Dynamo Moscow).
— It’s a shame we lost in the MHL Challenge Cup, but overall it was a good bone-to-bone fighting match.
— Are you often asked about your namesake Ilya Kovalchuk?
— As a child, Ilya was always my idol, I admired him. And guys were constantly teasing me about whether I was related to him. As I got older, I stopped noticing these jokes. But I wish Ilya good luck. I heard he was coming back to big hockey.
—Have your paths crossed before?
— I would really like to meet Ilya. Unfortunately, there was no chance yet. I just moved to Auto this year and have not yet met Kovalchuk in Yekaterinburg.
— But Pavel Datsyuk works with you.
– Yes, he trains young people. He comes and tells you everything. How to correctly position the skate, how to throw. He has a lot of experience, so many years in hockey. I still listen to it. He works with the centers on how to play on throw-ins.
— Is a new arena being built in Yekaterinburg?
— Yes, and it is said that from next season, the matches will take place there. As I heard, our youth team seems to be moving to Verkhnyaya Pyshma to the VHL club. I can’t say for sure, but I heard it. Young people will thus be encouraged to climb the ladder to stay in Yekaterinburg and play with the men in the new palace.
— What can you say about the wave of young Russian hockey players? Is this because the KHL limit was reduced from five foreigners to three?
– No, I think the fact is that young people are taking over jobs. Many play so well that they are promoted to the base. They prove that they deserve it,” Kovalchuk said for .
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.
