Coach of the Ukraine U-18 team: “I will put a minus five to play in the World Cup”

Oleksandr Bobkin, coach of the Ukraine U-18 hockey team, welcomed the World Championship in Division 1B, where the team finished 2nd and failed to improve in the classification.

– Alexander Vasilyevich, how many points would you give your wards for their performance in Italy on a 5-point scale?

– Five minus. Second place in such a strong group with Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Poland is a good result! I think very few people can imagine Ukraine on a pedestal in the conditions of war in the country.

– Besides silver medals, what other local achievements can you be proud of?

– We were the top scorer in the tournament – 30 goals in five matches. Here we should note the coaches who have done a huge job for our success. Trainer Oleg Tsyrkunov trained effectively and hard at the training camp in the Czech Republic. Sometimes it got to the point of nausea, but the guys held on and started winning their battles. My assistant, Ruslan Borisenko, did a great job in the minority brigades as well as the defenders. Surprisingly, at the World Championships, our team did not miss a single puck and played in the numerical minority of 18 tries. It seems to me that this has never happened before in the history of the tournament. Attention should be paid to such details.

– In the fight for the first place, everything was decided in the play-off against Hungary (1:2). Did you manage to find out the reasons for the defeat?

– Above all, Hungary has a strong, well-balanced team in all lanes. In addition, goalkeeper Levente Hegedus organized a stylish tournament and conceded only one goal in four matches. There are also questions to the referee who shot suspicious bullets at our doors after the Hungarian shot. And soon Nikita Sidorenko’s hand is “cut off” in the same one-on-one out, the attacker does not have time to throw, but the referee gives “only” two minutes. Understand, I’m not looking for excuses, the Hungarians really played well in the end but the referee should be consistent in their decisions.