"I don't recall any Chinese being spoken in the locker room."

In recent weeks, one of the biggest sensations in the KHL has been the record-breaking winning streak of China's Kunlun Red Star, which has played its home games in Mytishchi since 2020. Mikhail Kravets' charges have won seven straight. This has allowed the team to enter the playoff race - they are two points away from the top eight of the Western Conference with one game in hand on their nearest rival, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. If Kunlun makes the playoffs, it will be the first time since 2017, when the club played its first season in the KHL. One of the creators of recent successes has been forward Alexander Sharov, who joined the team in late December after a surprise swap from Chelyabinsk's Traktor.

In an interview with Izvestia, the 29-year-old hockey player explained the reasons for such a winning streak, assessed his chances of making the playoffs, talked about the language spoken in the locker room, shared his opinion on the reasons for the unexpectedly high attendance at the Chinese club's games in the Moscow region, and also commented on his departure from Tractor.

- What is the reason for such a successful series of Kunlun in the KHL?

- Probably just the attitude and desire to win. The desire to get into the playoffs.

- In January, "Kunlun" matches in Mytishchi began to be attended by 2-3 thousand spectators, which was almost never before after the club moved from China to the Moscow region. Does it affect the team?

- Of course! It's always more interesting when a lot of people come to watch you. In principle, I played only one game for Kunlun with a small number of spectators - it was against Barys at the end of December. For the rest of the games in Mytishchi I had quite a lot of people in the stands. I don't know what it had to do with. Maybe it was the fact that we played against teams that are in the neighborhood of Mytishchi - Spartak, Vityaz and CSKA. Or maybe our winning streak had an impact. After all, people are drawn to teams that win.

- The attendance of the match with Vityaz on January 3 was attributed to the fact that there were no more KHL matches in the Moscow region during the holidays. Do you think you can convince people with your game to continue to go to your matches, which are not the most high-profile in terms of signage?

- Of course, victories will help. If we keep winning, people will keep coming.

- Proximity to the playoff zone adds motivation for such victories?

- Basically, from the first day I joined the team, I see that the goal is the same - to reach the playoffs. We are getting closer to it - we need to keep working and do everything to succeed.

- What are the reasons for these victories in recent weeks?

- Probably due to reliable play on defense. We help the goalkeepers well enough, but they are also good - they pull us up in every game when it's hard. Plus there are performers in front among the guys who will always score when they have an opportunity. All these factors add up together, and we get a good game.

- What is the most popular language in the Kunlun locker room?

- English, of course. We still don't have many Russian-speaking people on the team - three or four players and two coaches. There are a lot of Americans, Canadians, English-speaking Chinese, three Slovaks. That's why all meetings are in English, as well as all communication during breaks, on the bench. We speak Russian only if we have individual conversations with the head coach.

- Is it difficult for you in this regard?

- Yes, I'm slowly getting into English speech. In principle, I have always known English at a basic level. So there are no difficulties with it. I can not explain myself, but in general I understand the guys. I communicate with everyone normally a little bit. So I feel comfortable.

- In such situations there is no division into groups by language?

- We definitely don't have that in Kunlun. Everyone more or less communicates with each other. In the locker room we sit apart - not so that Russians only sit next to Russians, Canadians only next to Canadians, and Chinese only with Chinese. There's no separation. There is no such thing that Russian guys communicate only with each other, English-speakers with each other, or the Chinese are separated from the rest. Maybe only in everyday life there is a little bit of that, but not in the locker room and not on the ice.

- Most of the Chinese from Kunlun were born or raised in Canada and the United States, so they mostly speak English. But at least sometimes you hear Chinese speech in the locker room?

- No, I don't remember that yet.

- Was the trade from Traktor unexpected for you?

- Yes, everything happened quickly and unexpectedly. That's why I don't even want to be sad and don't have time for it. We traded and traded - that's life.

- Did Tractor general manager Alexei Volkov explain it somehow?

- No, but it's clear: the club needed a defenseman, so they decided to trade me. The managers wished me luck, thanked me for my work last year, when we won bronze medals in the playoffs. I thanked them and went to the new team.

- What do you think of Traktor's chances of winning the Gagarin Cup this season?

- I don't know... They have a good team, so we'll see how it works out in the spring. Time will tell. "Traktor" is now in first place in the East, so there are chances for success. But everything is unpredictable in the playoffs, so it's too early to make any predictions.

- Alexei Volkov has made several non-obvious personnel decisions over the past year: the departure of head coach Alexei Zavarukhin after the spring bronze medal in the playoffs, and the parting of ways with one of the team's leaders of recent years, Anton Burdasov. Can we say that all of this will be justified only by winning the Gagarin Cup?

- In "Traktor" the goal has always been the same - the Gagarin Cup. I can say this for sure as a native of Chelyabinsk, who played almost his entire career there. It doesn't matter what's going on in the club - they only want first place. I think it's like that in any serious club. In Kunlun we also have maximum responsibility - we have to win every game. If we don't succeed, no one is interested in the reasons why. Therefore, in the case of Tractor, they will demand the trophy in any case, just like in other seasons. Regardless of what personnel changes were made by the management last year.

- When was the last time you were confused with another hockey player Alexander Sharov, who was also born in 1995 and played in the KHL at about the same time as you?

- I don't think we've ever been confused since we've both been playing in the KHL. The last time it happened was when we were kids, when we played for our schools in competitions. And at the adult level it definitely never happened.

- At the same time, at the end of December you were traded from your clubs almost simultaneously - and his departure from Salavat Yulaev to Avtomobilist was also quite unexpected.

- Yes, sometimes such coincidences are funny, but I can only wish him good luck in Ekaterinburg. We'll see how well our transitions will affect us. In any case, we need to work in new clubs to make things work out. So far things are going well for me at Kunlun, but we need to do even better. We haven't made the playoffs yet, but that's the goal.

- What do you think of our chances of making the playoffs?

- Good chances. If we keep playing the way we're playing now, we can do it. We want to win all the remaining games.

- Is that possible?

- Everything is possible in this life (smiles).