Former head coach of the Russian national hockey team Vyacheslav Bykov told he was ready to appoint Romain Rotenberg leading SKA a nice coach if the St. Petersburg team wins the Gagarin Cup.
SKA leads 3-1 in the first round playoff series of the Fonbet KHL Championship with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. The fifth match will take place on March 9 in St. Petersburg.
— What do you think of the prospects of SKA?
— First of all, I am fascinated by the SKA Arena. It is enormous! I am glad that such a spatial structure appeared in St. Petersburg. There were 24,000 spectators for the last match, right? The city really loves hockey, we still see it. The fans there are great and SKA has done a great job settling into the new arena.
The interaction between the audience and the team has a big impact on the result. Therefore, I am not surprised that SKA is playing strong, even though the team has undergone restructuring.
— Is Rotenberg progressing as SKA head coach?
— I think he’s an established leader. I cannot give an assessment of his coaching activities, because I cannot know the distribution of functions that exists at SKA. There is a very experienced and qualified coaching staff there. But you also need to be able to build such a vertical structure in a team, distribute responsibilities, create a spirit. This vertical has been built and rebuilt since the days when Igor Zakharkin and I worked at SKA. This is not an immediate success, but many years of work, which led to the fact that SKA from year to year is the favorite in the fight for the Gagarin Cup.
— I will ask differently: if SKA becomes champion, would you say Rotenberg is cool? Or are they all helpers?
– I will definitely, definitely say it! Creating and leading is not easy. It takes courage, talent, knowledge. And the faith of others in what you do. Setting a goal and moving towards it is a joint effort that requires a lot of energy. Analysis of the work, search for approaches, options and proposals, risk assessment, all this is done by the manager who constitutes the team. If you became the best in the KHL, what questions might you ask yourself? You are cool!
— Many people hate SKA, especially in the playoffs. There is a lot of hatred towards the club and more particularly against Rotenberg. How to manage this? You were also hated after the Vancouver Olympics.
— It’s the internal work of the technical staff and the head of the club, which motivates the guys. There is simply the desire that some people succeed and others not. There are other reasons. But guys get these wins because of their play. It’s not like something is happening under the table. Everything is fair.
In general, when such a cup battle takes place, you should read the press less. Yes, now everything is on phones and Telegram. But if you are a professional athlete, you are obliged to preserve and accumulate emotions for the cause to which you have devoted your life. But this hatred takes away your energy. This is where mastery lies, when you focus on work, on team activities and are not distracted by noise. You just need to go towards your goal,” Bykov told .
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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.
