Representative of Russia to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Pavel Bure told that he was waiting for the moment when the Russian national team would again be allowed to participate in the world championships.
On Monday, the IIHF published a new team ranking taking into account the World Championships concluded in the Czech Republic. Russian team climbs into second position, ahead of the Finnish team. The Canadians are at the top of the rankings.
— What do you think about the fact that the Russian team rose to second place in the IIHF rankings, even though we have been suspended from international competitions for three years?
— I will say that Russia’s position in the international ranking is determined not by the ceiling, but based on the weighted average of our team’s performances over the past years. There were semi-finals, medals and victories. A lot of work has gone into these results.
But for me the most important thing is that under certain conditions we will be able to participate in the world championships again. Is second place in the IIHF rankings like reaching the final? So I would like to reach the final of an international tournament, and not of a mathematical table. It will be interesting for the public.
For example, the World Cup loses a lot due to the fact that the whole world does not see the Russia-Canada matches. But such games happen quite often and each of them goes down in history. It’s a very exciting sight! Two schools meet. There are always a lot of stars in the queues. Such matches are very interesting to watch. And moving away from that, the World Cup seems to be getting poorer,” Bure said in an interview with .
By decision of the IIHF, the Russian team was suspended from three world championships (2022-2024) and will miss the fourth, which will take place in Sweden and Denmark in 2025.
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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.
