Kaprizov said he would have come to the Russian national team if she had performed at the 2022 World Cup

The Russian striker of the Minnesota club Kirill Kaprizov said that he would come to the location of the Russian national team if the team were allowed to participate in the 2022 World Cup.

The tournament was held in the Finnish cities of Tampere and Helsinki from 13 to 29 May. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) did not allow the national teams of Russia and Belarus to participate in the World Championship due to the situation in Ukraine. The Finnish team won the tournament.

– I don’t know, I got injured in the playoffs, I had to wait a few days. If the doctors had said that it was possible, then I would have gone, ”Kaprizov said at the Match TV press center. Have you watched the World Cup? Only fragments. Didn’t follow him very closely.

The forward also spoke about the difficulties in negotiations on a new contract with the Wild. Last fall, the Russian entered into a new agreement under which he would earn $45 million over five years.

– There were some shortcomings, something did not suit us a little, “Minnesota” too. I don’t know why it dragged on… or rather I know, but I don’t want to tell. I am glad that everything worked out: in the end, I was satisfied, and the club.

When the season started, I couldn’t score, then everyone constantly wrote about it. I read the news, watched, they said: here, Kaprizov cannot score, the new contract affects him. Tried not to pay attention, stopped reading the news. I understood that there were 70 more games in the championship, I had to forget about everything and start playing hockey. And then it broke,” he said.

Kaprizov in his debut season in the NHL scored 51 points (27 goals +24) in 55 games of the regular season. In the 2021/22 season, the Russian increased his performance – in 81 games he scored 108 points (47 + 61).

– In the first season, I would not say that someone was very impressed. Usually 18-19-year-old boys arrive, they surprise everyone, I’m already 23. This year there is more hype, especially in Minnesota, people recognize in a restaurant, in a mall. They come to take a picture. As for the club media, I don’t give interviews in English yet, so all communication after the matches, there are no big interviews, ”the hockey player said.

He also told how the traditional league rookie dinner went.

“Last year it wasn’t there. Due to the pandemic, it has been postponed to this season. It was fun, they put some red suits on us, we had to walk all evening in them. It was on the road to Tampa. We were 5-6 newbies. Let’s go to a football game in this. I don’t remember how much they chipped in, but not so much. Five thousand, maybe more,” said Kaprizov.