"We need to put away our "I", work for the team"

A year and a half ago, Anton Slepyshev, a famous Russian hockey player and the silver medalist of the 2022 Olympic Games, joined Dynamo Moscow from CSKA Moscow, with whom he won three Gagarin Cups (2019, 2022, 2023). But due to health problems, he missed a significant part of last season and is only fully playing for the blue and white this season. His team got off to a tough start in the regular season, winning only half of the last 10 matches.

In an interview with Izvestia, Slepyshev commented on the team's results, suggested what needs to be done to overcome the recession, and also spoke about his form after missing part of the season last year and explained how the return of majority coach Vyacheslav Kozlov, who left Dynamo at the beginning of the summer and took over as head coach, affected the team."Sochi", but was quickly dismissed after the change of the club's management, and in September returned to the headquarters of the blue and white.

— What happened at the end of the match with Traktor?

— The puck was controlled incorrectly. When you have the majority at the end of regular time and the score is 2-0 in your favor, you just need to control the puck. But we didn't do that, and we also overlooked the moment when Traktor released the fifth player instead of the goalkeeper. We had four forwards on the ice at that moment, and we didn't figure out who was responsible for what.

— Last week, Dynamo seemed to be getting out of the crisis, having successfully traveled to the Far East with two victories over Admiral (4:3 B) and Amur (3:1), then won at home against Shanghai Dragons (3:2 OT). But this week we lost at home to Neftekhimik (2:3) and almost missed the victory over Traktor. When can I expect a full climb up?

— We continue to get out. We have drawn some conclusions — we are improving something, something is failing again. Nevertheless, work is underway. And I think we're about to get to the game we want to show.

— Do these September failures have any parallels with last season, when Dynamo also failed the first month of the regular season?

— There are different reasons for failures, both then and now. Yes, it was hard a year ago. We tried to avoid this now, but it didn't work out. Again, we need to get out of this situation. I'm sure everything will be fine with us.

— What should I do to get out of this situation?

— I think we should put away our "I" and work for the team. And getting out through such work, hard work, when something doesn't work out, something doesn't go well, when we all make mistakes - in such situations, we all need to support each other in the team. And through such hard work and support, permanent victories will come.

— A year ago, a difficult start was attributed to the fact that the coaching staff changed the training plan in the summer due to the fact that the KHL shortened the preseason. Is it a similar story now that not everyone managed to get out from under the load?

— I would not say that it's about stress. Enough time has already passed since the pre—season - everyone got out from under the strain, rolled into the season. I think, first of all, we just need to put our heads in place and put the team result first. And give yourself to the game in every match. Right now our league is very tight — all the teams are beating each other. And you need to give 100% in every game.

— You already had a difficult start to the season at CSKA, in Sergey Fedorov's first year as head coach, when you lost 1-5 at home to Amur back in October 2022. But in the end, you got in shape for the playoffs and won the Gagarin Cup. What should Dynamo do now to repeat that story?

"We need to find stability and win matches more regularly"

Traktor hockey player Mikhail Grigorenko — about the team's results at the start of the KHL season and Kuznetsov's transfer to Metallurg

— It's just that we didn't lose heart then, but calmly searched for the reasons for the failures. No one gave up, neither the coaching staff nor the players. As a result, at some point they rallied, stopped mumbling and getting upset. And everyone started doing all the small details, playing for the team, and that's where the result came from. In my experience, this is how you should react to a situation like this.

— What do you mean, "they stopped mumbling"?

"That's what it means. They stopped mumbling at each other. And before that, when something didn't work out for us, we got upset. And then at some point we decided that everyone should start with the small things on the ice and give themselves completely.

— Now Dynamo is on the border of the Western playoff zone. Is it important to climb as high as possible? Or in the current KHL, it doesn't matter from which place to enter the playoffs, is it possible to qualify from the eighth?

— We're not thinking about that right now. But, of course, you need to climb as high as possible. A club like Dynamo should enter the playoffs from the first place. And start the series at home.

— How would you rate your form? Are the consequences of missing a significant part of last season still affecting?

— Of course, that season turned out to be a mess. There was little game practice. Therefore, so far it is affecting. I'm glad that I'm playing at all, that my condition is stable and the coaching staff trusts me — thanks to him for that. And the guys are encouraging. I'm happy with what I have so far. And I hope I'll keep adding to it.

"Sprong has one of the most accurate and powerful throws"

CSKA hockey player Dmitry Buchelnikov — about the star rookie of the Army, the interrupted scoring drought in the KHL and the settlement of the Vityaz debt issue

— How did the return of Vyacheslav Kozlov, who is responsible for the majority, affect the coaching staff? Did his absence affect the pre-season and the beginning of the season?

— We continued to work and, let's just say, followed his advice last year. But there are problems in most cases. And, of course, his arrival cheered him up a bit. We've been refreshing our memories of last season and what we did back then. Vyacheslav Anatolyevich brought a certain positive, fresh blood. We know him well, so it was nice to see him back in the team.

— What was the difference between the requirements of Ilnar Gizatullin, who replaced Kozlov in the summer? And why didn't they work?

— He also had normal requirements and good advice. He dealt with it all with us. But I think the team as a whole, not just the majority, didn't play well at the beginning of the season. I think it's just a combination of circumstances.