Kirill Stolyarov: "The most difficult games are coming at the end of the regular season"
26.02.2025
In this interview, we talked to the talented forward, who last season became the youngest player on the team, debuting in the JHL at the age of 15. Now, playing his second season, Kirill Stolyarov shares his impressions of progress and self-confidence.
- The team returned from a very important trip along the Kurgan-Perm route. Are you happy with the outcome of these four matches?
- Overall, the impression from the games was positive. In the second game with the Tyumen Legion, we looked at the mistakes and drew conclusions. In Perm, although there were very difficult matches, it is great to pull out such games. The trip was a success, but not 100%. After the last two matches, the team is on an emotional high, everything is great in the team.
- A difficult end of the regular season is ahead. How are you preparing for these games?
- Yes. Probably the most difficult games are coming at the end of the regular season. And all the guys and the coaching staff understand that there will be tension in these matches. Therefore, the coaches are trying, on the contrary, to cool our ardor, so that we do not go out to these games wound up, but calmly, confidently. Probably, special attention will be focused on the Tatarstan derby from both the fans and the league.
- Now you have a goal - not just to get to the play-in, but a much more important task - to get to the gold division. What does the fulfillment of these tasks depend on?
- We must not only get to the play-in, but also get to the playoffs. But, to do this, we need to achieve good results in the remaining eight matches of the "regular season". Here everything depends on the unity of the team, the spirit within the team.
- Last year you were the youngest player on the team, you came to play at 15. Now you are playing your second season in the JHL. Are there any differences for you?
- I have more confidence in my abilities and trust from the coaching staff. At the beginning of last season, I thought I was lost in this league. Now I am gaining confidence and trying to find my game, points are definitely needed, but not now. The core of the team has remained, we have great guys and an atmosphere. And in terms of seniority, nothing has changed much on the team, I remain the youngest player today, with the exception of Artem Berezina.
- You scored your first goal in the MHL when you were 15 years, 9 months and 2 days old - in this rating among the "youngest" goals, at that time, you had the ninth result in the entire history of the league. Did you know about it?
- No, I did not know, very unexpectedly and joyfully. - Right now you have 17 points in your statistics. Are you happy with this result?
- I failed at the beginning of the season. Somewhere in the middle I found my game, now I’m more or less starting to score points. It doesn’t affect everything much. The main thing is what benefit you bring to the team, how the coaches evaluate you. You need to fulfill your role on the court, be useful to the team and prove yourself.
- You still have time to prove yourself…
- I have three full seasons ahead of me. I want to grow into a team leader, I think everything will work out.
- I have more confidence in my abilities and trust from the coaching staff. At the beginning of last season, I thought I was lost in this league. Now I am gaining confidence and trying to find my game, points are definitely needed, but not now. The core of the team has remained, we have great guys and an atmosphere. And in terms of seniority, nothing has changed much on the team, I remain the youngest player today, with the exception of Artem Berezina.
- You scored your first goal in the MHL when you were 15 years, 9 months and 2 days old - in this rating among the "youngest" goals, at that time, you had the ninth result in the entire history of the league. Did you know about it?
- No, I did not know, very unexpectedly and joyfully. - Right now you have 17 points in your statistics. Are you happy with this result?
- I failed at the beginning of the season. Somewhere in the middle I found my game, now I’m more or less starting to score points. It doesn’t affect everything much. The main thing is what benefit you bring to the team, how the coaches evaluate you. You need to fulfill your role on the court, be useful to the team and prove yourself.
- You still have time to prove yourself…
- I have three full seasons ahead of me. I want to grow into a team leader, I think everything will work out.
- You still have some time to prove yourself...
- I have three full seasons ahead of me. I want to grow to become a team leader, I think everything will work out.
- You are a graduate of the Nizhnekamsk Youth Sports School "Neftekhimik", and you managed to get a place in the youth team even before graduating from school. Are you proud that you are moving up the club's hierarchy?
- We entered the same year with Amir Gizyatov, besides him, Reaktor has graduates of our Youth Sports School Artem Berezina, Vsevolod Favrichnikov, Ilyas Sirazetdinov. We also have Aleksandr Kolymaev on our team, although he is not a full-fledged graduate of "Neftekhimik", but he graduated here in Nizhnekamsk. Of course, it is pleasant to move up the hockey hierarchy of "Neftekhimik", I will not hide it. At the same time, I will mention the coaching staff of our school with a kind word. We had many coaches in our school team, thank you very much to all of them. All I could do was absorb what they said, listen to their advice.
- Did any of the coaches at the Youth Sports School become a key figure for you?
- All of them contributed something equally. There were four coaches, Oleg Aleksandrovich Pisarev, Roman Sergeevich Agafonov, Ilya Sergeevich Susloparov and Evgeny Sergeevich Eremenko. Thank you for everything.
- You and Amir Gizyatov joined the team at the same time, and extended your contract with the club at the same time. You both play as forwards. Is there any rivalry between you?
- We have been playing in different positions in the same line for the second season in a row. Even at the Youth Sports School, we sometimes played in the same line. There is no rivalry. On the contrary, we try to be useful to each other in the game. And last year it was important to have a familiar person in the new team. This year, Kondrat Reshetnikov plays with us most often; in the past, the wingers often changed.
- You are one of the few in Reaktor who lives at home, in their hometown. Do you think it is a significant factor for players to live and play hockey without leaving their families at the early stage of professional sports?
- When you come to practice at the Ice Palace, you don’t think about anything else. Of course, living at home removes a number of responsibilities, but the support of parents will be felt in any case, even from a distance. I don’t think that this factor would affect my game.
- I have three full seasons ahead of me. I want to grow to become a team leader, I think everything will work out.
- You are a graduate of the Nizhnekamsk Youth Sports School "Neftekhimik", and you managed to get a place in the youth team even before graduating from school. Are you proud that you are moving up the club's hierarchy?
- We entered the same year with Amir Gizyatov, besides him, Reaktor has graduates of our Youth Sports School Artem Berezina, Vsevolod Favrichnikov, Ilyas Sirazetdinov. We also have Aleksandr Kolymaev on our team, although he is not a full-fledged graduate of "Neftekhimik", but he graduated here in Nizhnekamsk. Of course, it is pleasant to move up the hockey hierarchy of "Neftekhimik", I will not hide it. At the same time, I will mention the coaching staff of our school with a kind word. We had many coaches in our school team, thank you very much to all of them. All I could do was absorb what they said, listen to their advice.
- Did any of the coaches at the Youth Sports School become a key figure for you?
- All of them contributed something equally. There were four coaches, Oleg Aleksandrovich Pisarev, Roman Sergeevich Agafonov, Ilya Sergeevich Susloparov and Evgeny Sergeevich Eremenko. Thank you for everything.
- You and Amir Gizyatov joined the team at the same time, and extended your contract with the club at the same time. You both play as forwards. Is there any rivalry between you?
- We have been playing in different positions in the same line for the second season in a row. Even at the Youth Sports School, we sometimes played in the same line. There is no rivalry. On the contrary, we try to be useful to each other in the game. And last year it was important to have a familiar person in the new team. This year, Kondrat Reshetnikov plays with us most often; in the past, the wingers often changed.
- You are one of the few in Reaktor who lives at home, in their hometown. Do you think it is a significant factor for players to live and play hockey without leaving their families at the early stage of professional sports?
- When you come to practice at the Ice Palace, you don’t think about anything else. Of course, living at home removes a number of responsibilities, but the support of parents will be felt in any case, even from a distance. I don’t think that this factor would affect my game.
- Who supports you most often in the stands during home matches?
- Mom, Dad, and babai always try to attend the games whenever possible. Grandma and godmother sometimes come too. My uncle, Alexander Nikolaevich Andreev, always comes to watch the games, and I consult with him sometimes, because he used to play hockey himself in the past, and now he coaches children at the Neftekhimik Youth Sports School. He can tell me a lot. When I was a kid, my dad wanted to send me to football, because he used to play in the youth football league, and he could even become my mentor. But the choice was made on hockey, as fate would have it. I went to the ice rink, started skating, and gradually started playing hockey, but in the summer I often went to training camps with football players.
- Where are you studying now?
- I study in the 11th grade, in the 29th school. To be honest, we have such a schedule, mostly daytime workouts, plus field trips, and it's almost impossible to attend classes. I try to come to at least 1-2 lessons in order to gain at least some knowledge and close my debts. I study with tutors in specialized subjects in the evenings. I'm preparing for the Unified State Exam.
- Where are you planning to enroll?
- To the Faculty of Economics and Finance at the NTHI, here in Nizhnekamsk.
- An unexpected choice! Most of the time, the athletes come to the coaches. Why did you choose such a specialty?
- Now, in order to study as a coach, you need to pass the Unified State Exam in biology, but I realized that this is not my subject, but more for doctors. For now, I'll get a higher education, and then, as life turns out, maybe I'll go get an education as a coach.
- How do you spend your free time, if you have any?
- I'm still so busy with training, games and studies that I have almost no free time. On weekends, I try to go to the cinema or after training with the guys in a cafe. But this is rare.
- And if you have a free evening on the road, what will you do?
- In this case, I will contact my online tutor and we will conduct a lesson. The main thing now is to pass the Unified State Exam, I didn't just go to grades 10-11. If I behave laxly, I will lose two years, although I could study somewhere in college. We have to approach everything responsibly.
- Is it possible to comply with the regime?
- The main thing for me is to get enough sleep, go to bed early, so that I have a reserve of energy. Because you have to go to school in the morning before training. It happens that after emotional matches it is difficult to fall asleep, you turn around on the bed for hours in your thoughts. Especially after home games – there are fans here, a completely different adrenaline rush. I come home, watch the match, start analyzing my episodes, and think about how I could have done it differently.
- Do they teach you how to deal with emotions?
- Yes, the coaches help us with this, Dmitry Yuryevich Fedorov is a very good psychologist. In the circles before the games, he tries to calm us down and cheer us up. He brought us all stress relief balls from Moscow. He is a strong theorist in both hockey and psychology. A good atmosphere within the team is also an important factor, and this is already the order of the day for us. It happens in other teams that the guys break up into groups, we definitely don't have that.
- Mom, Dad, and babai always try to attend the games whenever possible. Grandma and godmother sometimes come too. My uncle, Alexander Nikolaevich Andreev, always comes to watch the games, and I consult with him sometimes, because he used to play hockey himself in the past, and now he coaches children at the Neftekhimik Youth Sports School. He can tell me a lot. When I was a kid, my dad wanted to send me to football, because he used to play in the youth football league, and he could even become my mentor. But the choice was made on hockey, as fate would have it. I went to the ice rink, started skating, and gradually started playing hockey, but in the summer I often went to training camps with football players.
- Where are you studying now?
- I study in the 11th grade, in the 29th school. To be honest, we have such a schedule, mostly daytime workouts, plus field trips, and it's almost impossible to attend classes. I try to come to at least 1-2 lessons in order to gain at least some knowledge and close my debts. I study with tutors in specialized subjects in the evenings. I'm preparing for the Unified State Exam.
- Where are you planning to enroll?
- To the Faculty of Economics and Finance at the NTHI, here in Nizhnekamsk.
- An unexpected choice! Most of the time, the athletes come to the coaches. Why did you choose such a specialty?
- Now, in order to study as a coach, you need to pass the Unified State Exam in biology, but I realized that this is not my subject, but more for doctors. For now, I'll get a higher education, and then, as life turns out, maybe I'll go get an education as a coach.
- How do you spend your free time, if you have any?
- I'm still so busy with training, games and studies that I have almost no free time. On weekends, I try to go to the cinema or after training with the guys in a cafe. But this is rare.
- And if you have a free evening on the road, what will you do?
- In this case, I will contact my online tutor and we will conduct a lesson. The main thing now is to pass the Unified State Exam, I didn't just go to grades 10-11. If I behave laxly, I will lose two years, although I could study somewhere in college. We have to approach everything responsibly.
- Is it possible to comply with the regime?
- The main thing for me is to get enough sleep, go to bed early, so that I have a reserve of energy. Because you have to go to school in the morning before training. It happens that after emotional matches it is difficult to fall asleep, you turn around on the bed for hours in your thoughts. Especially after home games – there are fans here, a completely different adrenaline rush. I come home, watch the match, start analyzing my episodes, and think about how I could have done it differently.
- Do they teach you how to deal with emotions?
- Yes, the coaches help us with this, Dmitry Yuryevich Fedorov is a very good psychologist. In the circles before the games, he tries to calm us down and cheer us up. He brought us all stress relief balls from Moscow. He is a strong theorist in both hockey and psychology. A good atmosphere within the team is also an important factor, and this is already the order of the day for us. It happens in other teams that the guys break up into groups, we definitely don't have that.
