Roman Rotenberg: “SKA doesn’t have many players – only 39 people. Washington actually had 70.”

Now everyone is wondering how SKA will distribute the 39 players who started training at the pre-season training camp. And now information has appeared that the 40th hockey player, experienced offensive right-handed defenseman Anthony DiAngelo, could come to St. Petersburg.

There is no smoke without fire. And that is exactly what the dialogue with Romain Rotenberg when the press arrived in Novogorsk for an open day.

— Roman Borisovich, should we expect more new arrivals?

— In any profession, you have to strive to achieve the best every day. We can’t predict. Of course, we do everything we can to build the strongest team. Today, we are 99.9% staffed. Do you recommend anyone?

— You still have four places for the legionnaires.

“We could probably use another right-handed defenseman,” Rotenberg said.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see DiAngelo at the Puchkov tournament in St. Petersburg in late August.

“The city was also practiced by Anatoly Tarasov”

— SKA has passed the first stage of preparation, which you call “city”. Unique technique?

“But this comes from Soviet times,” Rotenberg said in an interview with . — At one time, Anatoly Tarasov practiced such “cities”, when athletes moved between bases performing different exercises. I talked with Vyacheslav Anisin, a participant in the Super Series 72, and he told me that Tarasov’s practice was already ahead of its time. He collected the most modern advanced techniques, and as a result Anatoly Vladimirovich became a great coach.

“Gorodok” is the basis of the preparation of the USSR national team. Then Vladimir Yurzinov applied it and we are in touch with him daily. The question is not even in the name itself, but what exercises to use. This is the most difficult thing. Previously, there were situations when coaches overdid their tasks and, as a result, players got injured. You can’t overload hockey players! There must be a balance in everything – in the composition, exercises and preparation. When there is balance, the team plays successfully.

— As football coach Konstantin Beskov said, “it is important to gather players and place them correctly.” You have 39 hockey players in training camp, but 22 are on the list for the match. What to do?

– This is our good puzzle. We are happy to have so many strong players. You ask Evgeny Kuznetsov how many hockey players were present at the training camp in Washington. And he will tell you that 70 people came there. Twice as many.

We don’t have many players, but it can be much more impressive. For example, the Capitals have 70 people – this affects the training process, when there are more units, simulators and coaches. It would be more difficult for them to create a “city” as dynamic as ours. People would wait between exercises, there would be more breaks.

We are very pleased that we made such a selection. We worked very hard and I am grateful to the coaching staff, the SKA leadership, the entire office and personally Alexey Borisovich Miller and Gazprom PJSC for the fact that we have the opportunity to have such a team. Ice will show what will happen next. But in every exercise, in every training, we learn something new.

“Will Nichushkin end up at SKA? Anything is possible”

— Kuznetsov has recently been lost in the NHL, relegated to secondary roles. It seems to me that you deliberately put him in the spotlight so that he would be inspired and become one of the main stars of the KHL.

— I am very glad that Evgeny chose our club. We are starting to work together. But for me, achieving results with Kuznetsov is even more valuable. This is the most important thing.

And in terms of media exposure, Evgeniy has always been number one. And even when he was in the KHL, and when he left for North America. He is such an artistic person, but acting is also necessary in hockey.

And these players are gathered at SKA. Even Sergei Tolchinsky acted as a journalist at the open day. I asked Nikita Zaitsev what he would have for dinner and introduced myself, saying that he works for the Gorodok publication.

This is acting, improvisation, it is necessary in hockey. Since there are no robots on the ice, it is a creative game. Maybe we will come up with something new, we will talk to Evgeniy. But the most important thing is our result. And we will work seriously on it, both on clay and on ice. This is our priority.

— You have already reached out to Kuznetsov. And if Valery Nichushkin is expelled from the NHL, will you be interested in this player?

— I talked to Nichushkin. We are on very good terms with him, we talked with him in the spring. Will he end up at SKA? Wait and see. Anything is possible.

But today, from what I understand from Nichushkin himself, he remains in the NHL. Colorado is counting on him, despite all his problems. And he himself wants to play there. He is the strongest player in the playoffs, a Stanley Cup winner. We all understand who Nichushkin is. I am sure that any NHL club will take Valery. He is a strong hockey player when he plays on the spot. But that is where the goals come from, that is the key element.

To win, you need goals. To score a goal, you need to go to the place. To go there, you need a player like Nichushkin. So it’s simple. But we will teach the players to act every penny, like Nichushkin. It is also possible, it is our job.

“Sometimes it is difficult to talk about the Olympics without harsh language”

— These days, the Olympic Games are taking place in Paris. How do you feel?

— The Russian team and I won gold in Pyeongchang in 2018. When you’ve already experienced the Olympics in your life, it won’t leave you indifferent. But I’m not watching the Olympics in Paris. Given the prices, I don’t have time and doesn’t broadcast it. So why am I going to click on pirated links?

I can watch some moments of the recording; various videos are circulating on social networks. I am interested in the sport itself as a phenomenon. We can learn some things by using SKA in preparation. For example, at the training camp we are coached by the world judo champion Arman Adamyan. I always say that a coach must develop and learn something every day.

If we consider the Olympics as a sport, eliminating politics, we will certainly study some aspects. Another thing is that politics has greatly interfered with the Olympic movement. It is difficult for me to comment on some controversial episodes without using harsh language. That is why I will refrain from being rude.

— Many of us were not allowed to attend these Olympics. What should we do?

– Then we will play in the national championship. It will be better for us. But I am sure that everything must change. I hope that soon all this nonsense will be a thing of the past.

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