Press conference with head coaches Ilya Vorobyov and Bill Peters, and also players Grigory Dronov and Stanislav Bocharov

PRESS CONFERENCE

Ilya Vorobyov, Metallurg head coach:

– Heavy defeat. The first two goals we brought ourselves, funny ones, we don't usually make such mistakes. And then we had chances, but nothing worked out, we didn't have enough emotions or strength.

– Can you say that you didn't choose the right goalie today? Maybe mentally Juho is already gone to the national team and somehow was too adventurous at the beginning.

– Juho played great last game, so he was chosen. I wouldn't blame everything on Juho right now.

– Suddenly all shots at already empty goals and a lot of other things stopped resulting. You didn't log in to the game as you should have, and then you just couldn't switch, did you?

– There are several reasons. Curious goals that moved us in the bad mood, and the fact that this is the fourth game in seven days with top opponents, with flights. The strength is not unlimited.

– Rasmussen's penalty. Did you have any complaints about it, as it seemed? Rasmussen didn't even see the opponent there, and Golyshev crashed into him. Did you try to debate it?

– I did. But it was useless.

– What happened when the team got a penalty for throwing a foreign object on the surface of the ice.

– There was a whistle, and Vasya was given water. According to the fresh rules, which came out in the summer, it is no longer possible to transfer it as it was before.

– A water bottle was thrown over the ice?

– Yes. One person seems to forget that we had discussed all this in the summer.

– Given that so many players at once head to national teams, how do you plan to work during the break?

– We have one and a half microcycles that we have planned, and there is nothing we can do. We will work with those who remain.

Bill Peters, Avtomobilist head coach:

– It's good that we immediately managed to seize the advantage. Today, the power play team did a great job, Jakub made key saves, helped to earn a shutout. It was a very important victory before the break for international matches, so we are very happy that it ended like this.

– The last game the whole team didn't do very well, including Kovarj. You quickly replaced him, but today you put him in the net again. Is the level of trust so high?

– Sure, we trust him, he is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, and he does a great job. Now there will be a pause and we hope that we can do a lot of work on the mistakes, remove some things, and this will also help Yakub continue to play at a great level.

– Even after 10 defeats, you are still the best team in the league according to the power play parameter, but your shorthanded play is not so rosy. In general, what is the reason?

– The next 7-8 days will be very important for us, we will work on both. We got Shumakov, who needs to be included in the game system, but he hasn't quite managed to adapt yet. As for shorthanded play, we should improve it. It all depends on how it goes. Today, the first penalty was well killed off, we even managed to score. The team began to feel much more confident, believe in ourselves, and don't be afraid to make mistakes. And then everything went on as planned. Much depends on the mood. We will work on it as well in the pause.

***

Grigory Dronov, Metallurg defender:

– There are such things, such days. When luck isn't on your side. Everything was not on our side today.

– Usually, you don't mind joining the attack, but today it seemed that you were intended to attack out of desperation. Was there such a mood, since nothing is possible ahead of the partners?

– Yes, somewhere I tried to take the initiative and lead the team. But it almost didn't work out.

– There was much talk that Avtomobilist shouldn't be underestimated, but at the beginning of the game, you seemed to be exactly unprepared.

– Not so much readiness, but chances... a couple of mistakes are a couple of goals. It is difficult to keep high in this situation, especially when the opponent raises. We shouldn't have made mistakes at the beginning.

– You had injuries, bad moments this season for you. How is your health now, is it normal?

– Not completely, there are certain problems. But I need to play, there is no time to rest now.

Stanislav Bocharov, Avtomobilist forward:

– It's good that the black streak has passed. We won before the pause. We need to take a breath and prepare for the next stage.

– Did you want to use the opponent's mistakes?

– No. We had a meeting before the game, where we were told to play our own hockey, bend our own line. Well, that worked out.

– Was it difficult to play after so many losses in a row?

– Of course, it's difficult. We think about it, the whole team thinks about it. It's easy to advise to abstract from this. But we really tried not to think about it, to go out and play from scratch, try to win.

– Did you try to help Kovarj, which is also a difficult period?

– Say so. Magnitogorsk had dangerous moments. And Jakub played well today. We are a team, we try to help each other and play with one fist. Today it worked out.

– Do you feel pressure from the fans or do they show patience and understanding?

– If you take me personally, I try not to read the Internet. I understand how people react to everything. I want to say a huge thank you that the fans support us despite the difficult period. Thank you for your support!