"Our hockey is interesting and beautiful — I believe in it and get high from it"

The Russian national ice hockey team holds a series of friendly matches during the May holidays as part of its tour. The day before, she beat Kazakhstan in Astana (4:1), and then lost to Belarus (2:4), with whom she will play three more times next week — twice in Tolyatti and once in Minsk. Defender Timofey Davydov took part in the last two games.

A native of Omsk, he spent the last two years with Severstal Cherepovets, which, under the leadership of head coach Andrey Kozyrev, became one of the most spectacular KHL teams thanks to its vibrant attacking hockey. She confidently reached the playoffs twice, but in both cases she lost after five matches of the series to Spartak Moscow (1-4). In an interview with Izvestia, Timofey Davydov shared his emotions about being called up to the national team, explained why he stopped running his Telegram channel, and also appreciated his performance in the last KHL season and responded to the opinion that with Severstal's style of play, it is impossible to successfully compete in the playoffs.

— How would you rate your performance and that of the whole team in the two matches in Astana?

— It's too early to assess this. I'll do it after all the games. Now it is only necessary to analyze and correct the mistakes that have been made.

— What was the reason for the defeat by Belarus?

— They realized their chances, but we didn't.

— Will the games with them in Tolyatti and Minsk be as difficult?

— Yes, meetings with Belarusians always take place in a stubborn struggle, it is interesting to play with them.

— Is it important now, based on the results of four face-to-face matches with Belarus, to win more victories than they did, having won this unofficial series against them?

— Our overall goal for each game is to win. We're not looking at the series.

— How did you react to the call-up to the national team for the May matches?

— The call was a pleasant surprise for me — I was sitting at home, and my friends wrote and sent me a list in which I was present. I was happy and continued to work on schedule.

— Why was the call unexpected?

— I don't know, it's hard to say. I just hadn't thought about it. The KHL season with Severstal ended, and somehow I did not plan to be in the national team.

— What were your plans for the May holidays that were disrupted after you joined the national team?

— Yes, nothing went wrong in fact. I have everything according to the schedule of an ordinary student — I will come back home, continue studying, close the session and spend time with my family and friends. There was no such thing that I was going to leave somewhere, and it had to be canceled due to a call-up to the national team. I was going to be at home at that time, so I went to the national team without any problems when I received a call.

"I achieved the desired effect by taking a bottle of Serebryakov"

Metallurg hockey player Nikita Kamalov — about shocking behavior in the KHL playoff series with Avangard, scandals at Barys and the death of coach Andrey Martemyanov

— What is your current course?

— The first year of the master's degree.

— Your second season at Severstal is over. How would you rate your game? Is it better or worse than in the first season?

— I think this season has been a good experience for me. I've been in difficult situations that have given me further movement and thoughts that I need to focus on and think about what I need to work on next. Difficult situations immediately show where you are weak. You have to draw conclusions and move on. Statistically speaking, this season is certainly worse than the previous one. But every season means different circumstances, so there's no point in comparing.

— It feels like you've been even less widely heard compared to the first season due to the fact that you stopped running your Telegram channel.

— I don't think that last season everything looked brighter for me because of the Telegram channel. I didn't cover my game in it — I talked more about what was happening around me, what was happening in the locker room, at training camps or during my studies. But there wasn't much about the game itself.

— Why did you stop running the Telegram channel?

— There are reasons for this. I can't remember when or since when I haven't seen him. I tried not to remember this date.

— Why couldn't we get past the first round in the playoffs for the second season in a row and lost to Spartak again?

— I think the banal things are that we simply didn't realize our moments. It is clear that our opponent was strong, but he won because he realized more chances than we did, and therefore passed on. You just need to score more — here the recipe is simple.

— After this setback in the series, there was a lot of discussion in the media about whether it was possible to achieve success in the playoffs with Severstal's style of play. In your opinion, will the team need to change somehow, or is it necessary to continue to bend its line?

— What do you mean by success in the playoffs?

— To begin with, go to the second round.

— I think it's real. You can safely go through with the hockey that Severstal plays under Kozyrev. I mentioned the recipe — just to realize your chances and scoring situations, to come out of them victorious. Our hockey is interesting and beautiful — I believe in it and enjoy it. I believe that we did not pass Spartak not because of the fact that we have such hockey, but precisely because of the unrealization of moments.

— Is there any pride in the fact that we spent most of the regular season at the top of the Western Conference table and eventually outperformed SKA?

— To be honest, I had no idea that we should directly bypass SKA. I didn't feel that way. We were just playing. And we had a goal for every match to win it. And above whom to be in the table — I don't remember that we were given such tasks.