PRESS CONFERENCE «Dinamo Mn-NEFTEKHIMIK» 9/29/2021

29.09.2021


Oleg Leontyev, the head coach of HC Neftekhimik:
- In the first period, our PK unit did a great job. In the second period, the first goal of our opponent stopped us a little bit. We had plenty of goal-scoring chances. Our team fought to the very end and tried to do its best.

- It was third away game for Neftekhimik and the team did not get any points. What prevented Neftekhimik from getting any points during away games?
- Our first rivals were Ufa and Magnitogorsk. They are on a hot-streak now. We have played only the third away game. Therefore, it is too early to speak about loses on away games.

- You spent much time of your hockey play career in Belarus. Was it pleasant to come to Minsk?
- I always come here with good feelings. As you said, I have spent here a lot of time as a player. It is very pleasant that people from Belarus do not forget me. Thank you!

- It is kind of surprise that Libor Hudacek is not in the lineup. Why is he not playing?
- We leaned on Libor as the team leader, but his functional state and not good stats do not meet our expectations. We wanted to see Libor Hudacek, who would score. You know, 7 games and 0 goals scored with 1 assist. It is not what we expected.

- Why did not you call a timeout at the end?
- If you call a timeout then the opponents' can also use this 30 seconds. I decided that our line was fresh enough and that they knew what to do.

Craig Woodcroft, the head coach of HC Dinamo Mn:
- We knew that Neftekhimik was after good game, they are good team, fast and work. There are a lot of different styles inside their play make it challenging for us but I thought that the first period showed that it was a fast-paced one. We controlled them pretty well, we just take advantage of shooting the puck and creating opportunities. We were kind of a sleepy in the first period, we talked about it in the first intermission, we came out in the second.  Kampe’s lines set the tone for the period for us; they had a couple chances and shots and gave us momentum for that period. You saw Suvorov shoot the puck after rush, it was huge. Few minutes later with Usov on own zone play. That gave us some confidence. I think that for the most part we did a great job. Overall, it was good performance for our team in all areas, for sure, there is room to get better, and we know that.

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