The Olympic champion invited Russia to organize the Eurasia Tour with the Super Cup in Sochi

The 1992 Olympic champion Andrei Kovalenko advocated holding alternative tournaments after the decision of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to remove the national teams of Russia and Belarus from participation in international competitions.

Earlier it became known that the Swiss national team will replace the Russian team in the Eurotour for the next two years. The Russian stage is traditionally held in December, in 2023 and 2024 the competition will be organized by Switzerland.

— The veterans of our hockey have already said in the press that it is necessary to organize their own version of the Eurotour — with the participation of the national teams of Belarus and Kazakhstan, possibly China, — quotes Kovalenko Russia-Hockey.ru. – It would be a kind of Eurasiatour, to which it makes sense to involve the youth and Olympic teams of Russia.

In fact, we have a lot of talented young people who could use European sanctions to their advantage. Look, for example, at Yaroslavl, where two teams from the Lokomotiv school already played in the MHL last season. Four teams in the MHL from Moscow, three from St. Petersburg. If the strongest representatives of the JHL are admitted to the Eurasian Tour, then their transition to adult hockey will become less difficult.

In the meantime, this is one of our main problems – we are losing entire generations at the exit from the MHL. This is due to not yet the highest level of the Youth League, and the fact that not all KHL clubs trust the youth.

– Next week another World Championship starts in Finland – and for the first time without our participation.

— I think the fans will have a certain nostalgia. And feelings because of such injustice. After all, everyone is used to seeing national hockey in May.

Yes, this season we will not have time to rebuild, but in a year it would be great to compensate for the loss of another world championship with our Super Bowl. May, Sochi, big hockey – why not?

The Russian team was not allowed to participate in the last two stages of the Eurotour this season. The winner of the tournament was the Swedish team.