Zhamnov believes that tightening the limit on legionnaires in the KHL will lead to the isolation of Russia from the hockey community

The head coach of the Russian national team Alexei Zhamnov told Sport24 that if the limit on foreign players in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) championship is tightened, Russia will isolate itself from the world hockey community.

Earlier, the Ministry of Sports received a proposal from the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR), according to which the total number of legionnaires declared in the team of the Russian club for the KHL match should be no more than three.

– The other day it became known that the FHR turned to the Ministry of Sports with a request to tighten the limit on legionnaires in the KHL to 3 people. How do you feel about this idea?

— It is not clear why this question has arisen now. Nobody knows how many foreigners there will be next year. Many legionnaires have contracts for next year, and what should clubs do in this situation? This is a hasty decision that needs to be discussed by all parties – the federation, the KHL, the clubs themselves.

– Will the tightened limit create greenhouse conditions for Russian players?

– We, probably, do not always think about why we need legionnaires in clubs. They help level the difference in the class of teams, even out the balance of power in the league itself and, most importantly, they create competition in their clubs, give other players the opportunity to grow and develop, especially young ones. Many of them, especially experienced guys, always try to share their experience.

And these will not only be greenhouse conditions, but, in fact, we will isolate ourselves from the hockey community, sooner or later the Russian national teams will return to international tournaments, and this experience that the players gained by training, playing together or playing against legionnaires, may not enough. Foreign players in the KHL are often involved in their national teams, with whom we then play at the stages of the Euro Tour, the World Championships and the Olympics, so it is important for us to know who to play against.

Currently, Russian clubs can include five foreign players in their application for a match.