“It's time to stop showing off”: Plushev on the election of the head of the FHR, the crisis of personnel in Russia and the education of young people

On Thursday, May 19, the reporting and election conference of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation will take place.

Before the Olympic Games in Beijing, it was announced that instead of Vladislav Tretiak, who turned 70 this year, Pavel Bure would run for the presidency of the organization.

However, the situation in the world deteriorated sharply after the start of the special operation in Ukraine.

It became clear that the national team has no prospects to win trophies in the international arena in the near future.

As a result, those wishing to head the FHR also disappeared.

Thus, the upcoming vote, in fact, turns into a formality, since there are simply no other candidates besides the illustrious goalkeeper.

At the same time, stability in the leadership of the organization does not mean that changes are not needed in this sport.

About what problems exist in Russian hockey and how they need to be solved, RT was told by the former head coach of the Russian national team Vladimir Plushev.

"We need an anti-crisis program"

- You have said more than once that changes are ripe for Russian hockey.

What is the crisis?

Just look at the statistics.

Juniors and youth have not won the world championships for 15 and 11 years, respectively (with eight lost finals. -

).

The first team won the World Cup for the last time in 2014, after the Sochi Games, when the main rivals played non-main teams.

The PyeongChang Olympics also cannot be included in the asset, because there were no NHL players there.

And so we persuade ourselves that we have become silver medalists in Beijing.

But still saw the game.

The minimum advantage of one puck with the Danes and the Swiss, barely beat the Swedes in shootouts.

And this is the power that for decades dictated the fashion in hockey and gave it a direction for development.

“At the same time, a large number of young people are leaving for the leagues in the USA and Canada.

- We have not been preparing such athletes for a long time who would be for analysis and for a break in the NHL.

Over the past few years, one Kirill Kaprizov has attracted attention.

And that is not because of, but in spite of the existing system.

He did not come from the academies that we have now.

Only in Moscow - five, and also in Kazan, Omsk ...

If you count, there are about seven or eight of them on the territory of Russia.

But only Kirill rose to the level that was previously occupied by Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Yashin, Alexander Frolov, and now Alexander Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov.

The current generation is drafted in the third round, tenth overall.

Well, who cares?

PR by Valery Nichushkin and Vasily Podkolzin.

What's the point?

And so it was clear that these were not the stars on which one should pray.

And here the question is not in personalities, but in the training system, and it suffers in our country.

This means that we need to reconsider the positions on which we are obsessed and continue to use.

- Perhaps that is why many people leave, because they cannot get the necessary skills in Russia?

- Certainly.

Even our clubs are not preparing players to join the squad now.

And the youth feel that there is nothing special to catch here and they go to seek their fortune across the ocean.

As soon as the system works in Russia, the guys will leave, but not in the same numbers.

Of the five good ones, two will choose another country, and three will stay because they will be comfortable here.

Hockey players are not stupid now.

They understand: there is a language barrier, and features of the mentality.

Especially considering the current situation.

Therefore, we cannot train mid-level players.

- What do we have to do?

- Our hockey is in a deep crisis, which means we need an anti-crisis program.

It should not only allow the guys to grow, but also, from an organizational point of view, be independent of the FHR and the KHL.

Moreover, Dmitry Chernyshenko has now announced that we will be engaged in the development of sports inside.

Resources freed up.

Well, let's work, but create not fake programs, but normal ones, developed by professionals, and not third-year students.

We will get off the ground when we stop throwing dust in our eyes and saying that everything is great and wonderful for us if we hardly win a medal.

- Elections in the FHR will be held on Thursday.

Have you seen Tretiak's program for the next four years?

- Not yet.

No one has yet said which areas of the president's work will be a priority in the near future.

However, I have not seen or heard the previous programs either.

Except for one thesis: we need to build more ice rinks.

In this we have succeeded.

There are more than 130 artificial ice structures in Moscow alone.

And everywhere the guys play hockey.

But the players are trained not by skating rinks, but by specialists, and we also have problems with them.

“Half of the coaches are uneducated”

- That is, it's not only the system itself, but also the lack of personnel?

—

In the KHL

half of the coaches do not have higher education.

We are based on one thing: if a hockey player performed well on the ice, then he is already a specialist.

And if you have been abroad, then it’s generally excellent.

But it doesn't happen like that.

If you take outstanding players, not everyone has a successful coaching career.

Although on the ice they acted simply incredible.

To teach, you cannot say: do as I do, do better than me.

It is necessary to explain, to bring to the minds of young guys what and how they should do.

But this is not given to everyone.

- And what to do?

- At one time, players who ended their careers and approached the team in their mentality were always told: the first application you write to the club, and the second - to the institute for the correspondence department.

Whether you like it or not, you have to pass the session: open the textbook, read, tell something, defend your diploma.

Forced to learn, improve skills.

And now we have in this direction at least the grass does not grow.

I have never seen that people with poor education could solve some global issues.

At the academy, no one teaches subjects without a special diploma, but in our country this is considered normal.

Therefore, we invite coaches who are not in demand in Europe, and sometimes behave inappropriately at all.

- At the same time, there are practically no new names in the KHL.

- Coaches go in circles around the clubs.

But I don't remember any of them suggesting a plan for, say, three years.

We will do this and become champions.

There's no such thing.

Everyone starts by asking - give me this, give me that.

Buy centre-forwards and I'll win everything.

Well, educate yourself.

You have not only the main team, but also the youth team.

Correct, work.

Anatoly Tarasov in my time, and I was a graduate of CSKA, paid a lot of attention to school, so the army team every year gave out not just players, but two or three great hockey players.

Are the clubs taking a simpler path?

- They think, why suffer with young people, cook for themselves?

It's easier to buy who you need.

Now try this.

Even an average player who can become a star in the KHL cannot be acquired.

And then how will we fill in the gaps?

We need to start educating our daughters-in-law.

At the same time, now we have the KHL, but I would play the medals of the Russian championship, as it was before.

It seems to me that becoming a champion of the country is much more honorable than the owner of the Gagarin Cup, although this is an outstanding person.

Purely my point of view.

But if we are talking about some kind of patriotic education, then it would probably be good to do so.

— But the idea of ​​the KHL is to attract foreign clubs.

- I understand if Montreal or Buffalo would come to the league.

We have teams that we finance ourselves.

With the exception of clubs from the former CIS.

And the rest have to actually "feed".

There have never been outstanding legionnaires either, with the exception of two or three people led by Jaromir Jagr.

All the rest are needed only for PR, to boast: we have a foreigner.

For example, I still don’t understand why the KHL introduced the names “Bunnies”, “Parrots”, etc. to youth teams at one time.

Will a young athlete coming to such a school consider himself a Metallurg hockey player?

Of course not.

And before the guys understood that they were part of a big club.

It’s good that Spartak, CSKA, Dynamo didn’t go for this, I would like to look at their names.

Although there were also "Red Devils".

As a result, children without clan and without tribe do not know their legends, but they can easily list all the players from the NHL.

Changes should go in a complex - starting with cultivating love for your club and country.