The main Russian hockey team is now suspended from all major international competitions. But global isolation is no reason to stop playing the best hockey players in the country in one team.

Already in December, the Russian team will have the opportunity to test their strength with the friendly teams of Belarus and Kazakhstan. But to increase the spectacle of the tournament, the FHR made an elegant decision, giving Roman Rotenberg the right to lead the Russian team.

“There will be another team”

Historically, the Tournament in Russia was held as part of the Eurotour, in which the teams of Finland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic took part. The host of the tournament was a team from Russia. But due to the current situation in the world, European teams do not want to participate in this event. The FHR quickly invited the teams of Belarus and Kazakhstan to replace the retired teams. One seat remains vacant.

The organizers of the tournament decided to gather another team of Russian players under the banner of the national team. Initially, it was planned to call hockey players no older than 25 years old to participate in the tournament, but then the concept of the FHR changed.

– There will be another team that fans have already seen in Sochi – a team of young stars from our country. We gave her the name “Russia 25”. It will feature young players with the prospect of becoming the face of our hockey, getting to the 2026 Olympic Games. At first we called this team Russia U25, thus limiting the age of its participants, but then we decided not to tie the composition criterion to age. It is clear that the main backbone of this team is the youth. The number 25 is, on the one hand, a symbol of youth, on the other hand, this age in hockey is already associated with a strong player who has the prospect of becoming a mature master, a real star, ”Vyacheslav Tretiak quotes the official website of the FHR.

Rotenberg is the best choice

Until recently, it was not clear who would become the head coach of the new Russian team. But today the president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation announced that Roman Rotenberg, who is now head of the St. Petersburg SKA, will become it. At the same time, even a day before the appointment, the specialist, answering questions from journalists, did not know that he would head Russia 25.

Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

For many, the choice of head coach raised certain questions, but Roman Borisovich is now really an ideal candidate for appointment to this post. Even at the end of last season, the specialist found many ill-wishers who were skeptical about the fact that he led the army team from the Northern capital. But Rothenberg immediately proved he could lead a big team, taking SKA to the Western Conference Finals.

This season, spiteful critics also expected the “soldiers” to drop in results after the departure of many foreign leaders who determined the team’s game. But even here Roman Borisovich put the skeptics to shame. After three weeks of the regular season, the team single-handedly leads the standings of the entire league without suffering a single defeat.

At the same time, you need to understand that the St. Petersburg team has enough young and talented players, many of whom will definitely be in the new Russian team, and Roman Borisovich is doing a good job with their development.

Some point out that the SKA coach lacks much experience as a coach and as a hockey player. Indeed, the mentor did not play at a high level and had practically no coaching experience in professional clubs. But as the head of the coaching staff, he shows himself to be an excellent specialist who, from the very first days, built an effective coaching process in SKA, which regularly gives results.

That being said, many might say that with strong players, anyone can win regularly. But the same Oleg Znarok, who has Kagarlitsky, Shipachyov and Radulov in his lineup, stalled at the start of the regular season. CSKA with Fedorov in general may soon be outside the playoff zone.

Now the main thing is that Rotenberg and his coaching team give good results and instill good hockey in the players. These figures meet the requirements of the FHR and spectators. The rest is secondary.