“Russian hockey players are in great demand”: Vladimir Malakhov on the national team, Kovalchuk and work in the NHL

- For more than a year, you have been working at the New York Islanders. How did you accept the offer to take this post?

- I couldn’t decide on this job for a very long time - I was persuaded for 3-4 years. There is interest in Russian hockey in the USA, but, as it seemed to me, I was not ready. I was able to accept this offer only after talking with Andrey Nikolishin, who worked at Chicago Blackhawks.

- For many, it was a great surprise that you ended up in the Islanders structure after a career in the Rangers. What do you think about that?

“New York Islanders is the first club that opened the way for me to great hockey. I played there a little bit, but he gave me a lot, so there is nothing surprising in this.

- No offense at the former teammates from the Rangers?

- I did not communicate with them about this, but I doubt that they are holding a grudge against me. There are only a few players in the world who have dedicated their entire career to one club. Some kind of rotation is constantly happening - this is normal. Hockey is the same business. The teams have their own interests. I was exchanged a couple of times with another team before the end of the contract in order to get advantages in the draft. This should be treated with understanding.

- Is the involvement and development of Russian hockey players in your responsibilities?

- Yes, but also my task is to work with players taken in the draft. Now I enter the department for the development of hockey players, where the main task is to prepare young people for performance in the NHL.

- You said that in North America they show great interest in Russian hockey. If we make a comparative analysis, what is the place of the “market” of domestic hockey players in comparison with other European countries - Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic?

There are quite a lot of teams in the KHL, there are fewer of them in Sweden. In addition, in comparison with other European championships, the level of the Continental League is higher, and consequently, Russian hockey players are in great demand.

- How can you characterize the attitude towards the Russian players in the National Hockey League?

- It is necessary to understand that the NHL is a big organization. And as in any business, their main task is to entice the best specialists into their company. As elsewhere, Russian hockey was, is and will be young and talented guys. Therefore, in the NHL belong to our country with interest. This is a solid league with over 100 years of history, so it has a lot to offer.

- There is a lot of talk about the fact that there is a shortage of qualified defenders in Russian hockey, and you and Sergei Gonchar still have no decent shift.

- I disagree with that. Qualified defenders are there, but again, such conversations are most likely related to the failure of hockey in the late 90s. Very good guys are growing up now, just have to wait a bit. Moscow, too, was not immediately built.

- Is the situation much better now?

In Russian hockey there was a period of time when there were practically no talented players. This sport in Russia was dying. Now he is reborn, there are promising guys. Now the main question is where they will continue their careers. Decide to go to the best league in the world or stay to win medals in the home arena - it already depends on them.

- Name the top five best Russian defenders at the moment.

- I would not like to single out someone, but I can mention young athletes whose game I like. This is Alexander Elesin from Lokomotiv, Alexander Romanov from CSKA. I do not want to mention Nikita Nesterov and Vladislav Gavrikov, because they already perform at a high level and they have nothing to prove.

- In your opinion, can these guys start playing in the NHL?

- In my opinion, yes, but everything will depend on themselves. Would they want it? If I noted them, I believe that they would have come to the court there.

- You said earlier that Artemy Panarin could hardly have looked so bright in the NHL if he had not played in the same team with Patrick Kane. After the year he spent at Columbus, did your opinion change?

- In the “Columbus” Panarin showed a good game. This season, he was a little unsettled by the current situation with the contract. Okolokhokeynye talk get in the way, you involuntarily think about it. As for his duet with Kane, I can say that Patrick helped Artemy adapt to the league.

- Can we expect that in the future Panarin will play at an even higher level?

- Where is better? It looks good enough. It also plays the role of having good partners. "Columbus" does not have such a high-class composition, as "Chicago", so Artemia has a hard time. Partners must facilitate the work, because we have a team sport. Panarin has to drag the whole team alone.

- Do not you think that Kovalchuk made a mistake when he moved to the "Los Angeles Kings"?

It was the initiative of Ilya, therefore, to argue about whether it is right or not, we have no right. Kovalchuk did a lot for Russian hockey: he honestly fulfilled his contract with SKA, won the Olympics. As far as I know, his goal is to get into the Triple Gold Club. To do this, he had to win the Stanley Cup.

- And for this purpose, he chose "Los Angeles"?

- Perhaps only the choice of the team can be called a mistake. But a change of coach, which has already occurred in the team, can change the situation. The chance of moving to another club always remains. We do not know if he will fit into the new concept that the new mentor has introduced. But Kovalchuk has the right to speak where he wants. If he has a desire to be in Los Angeles, we cannot judge him for that. He did everything for Russian hockey.

- How closely follow the Russian team?

- More or less. I look at something, but you cannot call it steadfast attention.

- Have you watched the Olympic finals in Pyeongchang with the German national team?

- In the US, it was not shown, but I tried to follow. There were some difficulties due to different time zones, but, of course, the match was interesting. It is a pity that NHL players could not come to South Korea.

- Was it boring to watch the tournament without them?

- It seemed to me that something was missing. But I understand that this is a big business. It is very hard to interrupt the championship for such a long time, you can lose a lot of money.

- You criticized the KHL, but now the changes that are carried out in the league, allow it to get closer to the NHL?

- Recently, the KHL has taken the right steps. But do not compare it with the NHL. This is a comparison of the grandfather with the baby - the Continental Hockey League is 10 years old, and the American one is more than 100. Of course, we would like us to catch up with the overseas tournament, but this is not so quick and easy.

- Recently, the coaching staff of the Russian national team announced the composition of the First Channel Cup. 21 out of 29 hockey players stand for CSKA and SKA. Do not you think that the serious problem of Russian hockey lies in the absence of competition?

- What's wrong with this situation? You want the Russian team to take first place in the tournament? Coaches choose the composition, based on the same goal and objective. They can not be condemned for the decision, because they work with these hockey players and know them better. Experimenting at the Channel One Cup would be wrong.