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| Vladimir Yurzinov: You Can't Avoid Fighting in Hockey |
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Vladimir Yurzinov (head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl)
By Evgeni Nifanov (gazeta.ru)
Translated by Sergei Balashov of RusHockey.com
Vladimir Yurzinov is the head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and one of the coaches of the Russian Olympic team. He told us about the reasons behind the setback in his team's performance and the difficulties the national team coaches have to face when inviting players to the team.
Q: Lokomotiv got on a winning streak at the start of the season but after losing to Sibir, which is coached by your son, and to some of the leaders such as Metallurg Mg, Dynamo and Avangard your team dropped down to the 4th spot. What are the reasons behind it?
V. Yurzinov: In my honest opinion, things aren't that bad. Everything's okay. There was an emotional lift among our players which is quite natural for the start of the season, so that was the reason behind our winning streak. Now we've got to rely on our skills. And let's see what players left the team. Let me give you the whole list: Karpovtsev, Ryazantsev, Yashin, Antropov, Samylin and Korolev. Who has joined us? Taratukhin and Churilov. Did you know about these players before? You didn't. Even if you did, you didn't know a whole lot. We got a lot of young players on the team, very many. It means there's too much of work to do. Our rivals are more experienced and better skilled.
Q: You said that you've had to play Santa Claus lately. How many more presents have you got in your sack?
V. Yurzinov: I think there's enough. I was just joking, of course. We knew it'd be hard to play against Avangard. Valery Belousov's coaching skill was a factor. But we're hoping to return the favor.
Q: It's hard to believe that you're going to accept losses as a given thing, even when they come against better skilled opponents.
V. Yurzinov: I am not going to accept that. It's impossible to grow when you don't win. When you're a head coach, the results matter more than anything. I comfort myself with the fact that we have the potential to improve. Maybe we'll sign some experienced players during the free agent signing period. And we've got to start to work harder. Our team's name is Locomotive so you can say that we have to grind the tools and throw more firewood into the furnace. I think that the team can play better. However, I can't understand why we get called more than our opponents when we play with the leaders, whether it's in Moscow, Magnitogorsk or in Omsk. Or is it just that there is some 'road system' in Russia which implies the away team getting more penalties than the home team? However, same happens when we play at home. The refs are hard on us no matter where we play.
Q: I've heard you were charmed by 'Arena-Lokomotiv-2000', Lokomotiv's home arena.
V. Yurzinov: That's right. We got to have more such arenas in the country. Avangard, as the European Champions Cup winner, has to move to a better arena.
Q: The foundation of the new arena has already been placed on the left bank of Omsk.
V. Yurzinov: Everything's been placed, the front and lots of other things have been placed
Q: It wasn't hard to notice that you were nervous during the game against Avangard. You were rebuking your players on every occasion. Is it your new style?
V. Yurzinov: No, it's not my style. But I had to do that.
Q: You are a respected coach, the players have got to listen to what you have to say. So why yell at them?
V. Yurzinov: You know I'm on same footing with the players when we prepare for the games and when we play. Ranks and age difference shouldn't be felt on the bench and on the ice. Yes, I did rebuke our players when they were getting called when they didn't have the right to. You have to be demanding so the players improve professionally.
Q: Do you see the future of Russian hockey?
V. Yurzinov: The hockey is very good. I see the fans like it, too. Lokomotiv has good attendance in Yaroslavl.
Q: Don't you think that the league became less entertaining after so many players departed back to the NHL?
V. Yurzinov: The NHLers boosted the development of our hockey and that was their prime merit. Hockey started getting more attention. I hadn't seen the kind of coverage our hockey was getting from the mass media last season. There was enough attention, the players just had to play the game. This kind of attention has to be matched by the quality of the game. I am waiting to see more names emerge this season.
Q: You're a coach of the Russian Olympic team, so did you like any Avangard players that you could maybe invite to the national team?
V. Yurzinov: They won so I didn't like any of their players (laughs). Seriously, I do such things when I watch the replays. Valeri Belousov could give me some advice on that. I'd like to talk about inviting players to the national team in a more detailed way. I spent the whole last season in the national team and I got to see how things are done. As regards Avangard, there were no problems with the team management, they were acting properly. To tell you the truth, teams tend to hide players. It's like putting them in their pockets and saying 'It's mine.' It's no secret how many players didn't make the national team because of that. There were people that were explaining the players how they had to play and what coaches they had to play for. They tend to forget that hockey is the most important thing. Hockey allowed so many players earn some good money, feed their families, just get what they have to pay off. On one hand, their attitude is understandable, but on the other hand they have to realize they have to help our hockey develop. It's hard to accomplish something on the international level and Russian hockey can fade if we don't achieve anything. Just look at what we have now: there isn't a lot of Russians in the NHL and there are no Russians in Europe, we've been driven out of everywhere. It's hard to live in isolation. Just take a look at the situation, Czechs play everywhere, teams stand in line to get Finnish players, we just look at it and feel happy because everything is so great over here. But it's not great, it couldn't be worse than it is.
Q: New rules have been implemented in the NHL. There are no ties, the red line has become obsolete. What do you think it will cause, progress or regress of hockey?
V. Yurzinov: It'll make it progress. But we can't be so certain about it. The game is changing so drastically. There is no more contact-free hockey. They don't play the way we play in Russia anymore. The hockey gets speedier. The game doesn't have to become too rough. Rough is when huge players skate on the ice and hit you in the head. That's not how it's got to be. There are enough small-sized players that are skilled enough and that show some good results. These changes are for the better if we're talking about saving combinational hockey. But how can hockey exist without fighting? You can't avoid that.
Q: Let's get back to the Russian league. Every round can bring unexpected results. Is there anything that surprises you?
V. Yurzinov: Let's say that I'm learning a lot of new things. The teams differ in style. Avangard play their kind of hockey, Dynamo play a different kind, Metallurg Mg play another kind of hockey.
Q: Has this tournament disappointed you so far?
V. Yurzinov: Oh, not at all! I like it all so far. We'll see what happens. However, it's hard to surprise me. I just want to work for development; I want to achieve some results in Russia. I want to be satisfied with my work.
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