The head coach “Neftekhimika” Oleg Leontiev said that the goalkeeper Emile Garipov hid health problems from club management.
Garipov played 315 games in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), playing for Ak Bars, Avangard, Dynamo Moscow, Traktor and Neftekhimik. On January 25, the Nizhnekamsk club terminated the contract of the 32-year-old goalkeeper.
— How would you evaluate the result of your team? Why didn’t you make the playoffs?
– Everything is on the surface. When you score three points in the first eight matches of the season, you give a huge handicap to other teams. The playoffs for us have already started with the tenth match of the championship. When you’re under pressure all the time and you don’t have the right to make mistakes, it’s very difficult. In such conditions, hockey players cannot relax and fully show their power. In the middle of the season, injuries and fatigue continue to accumulate, and at the end of the championship it’s already the meat grinder. From around 15-20 we were on a good scoring schedule, but in the end it wasn’t enough. This is why, at the start of the season, it is important not to fail and to perform well. But overall we had a satisfactory performance and were a few points short of making the playoffs. Let’s draw conclusions and stop walking on the same ground.
— To what would you attribute such a start to the team?
— Not entirely confident actions of the goalkeepers led to this not-so-good start. When they gave Philip Dolganov a chance, he started showing his fighting spirit and winning matches. The team felt confident, but the results were completely different. But I don’t want to blame the goalkeepers we had at the start of the season. Somehow it didn’t work, they weren’t ready, they didn’t get into the game, but they are professionals and they had to help the team. I don’t want to put a label on anyone, but in the league you have to fight from the first match.
— Did Emil Garipov suffer from serious health problems?
— I have my own opinion about Emil, but I don’t want to express it. Let this remain on his conscience. He had issues we didn’t know existed. He began to treat an old injury and underwent surgery, and in the end we were left without any of the goalkeepers, ”quotes RB Sport Garipov.
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RB Sport
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.
