"My injury is a combination of circumstances"

For the third season, Severstal Cherepovets has become one of the most prominent KHL teams. Under head coach Andrey Kozyrev, she plays combination hockey and regularly confidently makes the playoffs with a minimal budget. And in the current regular season, the club is completely leading in the Western Conference, although two thirds of the tournament has already been played.

This week, Severstal played another spectacular match. She lost 1-4 away to Dynamo Moscow in the middle of the third period, but equalized and avoided defeat in regular time. As a result, Cherepovets lost in shootouts, but earned an important point. One of the goals in that game was scored by striker Kirill Tankov, who joined the club before this season.

He became famous in September 2022 due to a serious injury sustained in the Major Hockey League (VHL). At that time, the 23-year-old hockey player played for SKA-Neva, the St. Petersburg SKA farm club, and suffered a fractured neck as a result of a collision with a Dynamo St. Petersburg player. A year later, after a long rehabilitation, Kirill returned to the ice. In an interview with Izvestia, Tankov told how he survived that injury, explained the secret of Severstal's success, dispelled the myth that Kozyrev forbids players to do power moves, and shared his memories from working with former SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg.

— What makes Severstal able to bounce back like it did in the match against Dynamo?

— This is what everyone loves about hockey, for its unpredictability. Maybe things didn't work out for us at the beginning and in the middle of the game. But then we got together, realized our moments and still turned the game around.

— Do you somehow adjust the game in such situations? Or are you pushing your line in the expectation that the original plan will work over the distance?

— The coach tells us that we need to bend our line. We try to do what brings us results. It doesn't always work out well, especially if the opponent defends well, as Dynamo did against us. But in the end, we managed to win back and earn one point in a difficult exit.

— You are spending your first season at Severstal, but you already crossed paths with Andrey Kozyrev in St. Petersburg when he was in charge of SKA-Neva in the VHL. Did something new in his style appear in Cherepovets?

— Within the framework of hockey, the combination style that Andrei Leonidovich promotes, the game has improved and improved. Many details that were not completely good in the VHL have now been tweaked and improved.

— How true is the stereotype that Kozyrev forbids force techniques?

— There is no ban on force techniques. But we have a system in which we actively play with clubs. And before we do a power move, we definitely go to the joint with the stick — we knock out the puck, and then we play into the body. And since we are already so good at playing with sticks and knocking the puck out at the junction, most of the time we don't even have to bump into someone else's player. You played a stick in the joint, took the puck — why would you bump into someone?

— So there is no prohibition of force techniques, but the game system itself minimizes the need to use them? No indication, just a recommendation?

— There is not even a recommendation. Just setting up to play with clubs as a top priority on the ice. It's more effective than playing body games right away. We use what is more effective.

— Was it the same in the VHL under Kozyrev?

— Yes, everything was based on playing with a stick.

"Non—hockey matters are not my responsibility"

Adam Lishka, a player of the Slovak national team and Severstal, talks about getting to the Olympics and why his performance in Russia did not prevent this.

— What makes you the leader in the KHL Western Conference this season, having already played two thirds of the regular season?

— I think we have a great team. Plus, everyone is playing to the maximum, for the best result. This is all a common merit — all Severstal's victories are absolutely team-based with the common contribution of all players, coaches and staff. We can do it because everyone is trying.

— Could you have imagined a couple of seasons ago that a club with a budget at the salary floor would be in the lead and it would be perceived as extremely casual?

"Probably not. When I watched the KHL a few years ago, there was a certain division between the participants in terms of results according to their capabilities. Although every year the difference in class decreased. The league is becoming more even, and hockey has become more interesting. We have a very high density in the table in the West.

Although two or three years ago, when I wasn't at Severstal yet, I looked at it and other teams with small budgets clinging to places in the playoff zone and above, I already had the idea that they would soon catch up to the leaders. Of course, I haven't thought about the first place yet, but now it has become a reality.

Actually, it's really cool that we're at the top. Perhaps we are now being empathized with by fans not only from Cherepovets, but also by people who watch hockey in general.

— Have you completely overcome the consequences of your serious injury in the VHL psychologically?

— Yes, I overcame it — I'm playing in the KHL here and now, and I'm enjoying this opportunity. Everything is fine with me now. Thank God, I'm alive, healthy, and in one piece. There are no consequences.

— Isn't it even psychologically scary to go out on the ice?

"Not right now.

— And for the first time after returning?

— There wasn't much like that at first. But then everything fell into place. That's why I can play my own game.

— What was the most difficult part of the treatment and recovery process?

— The main thing is the prohibition of physical activity as such. When you injure your arm, you can practice with your legs. When you injure your leg, you can, on the contrary, exercise with your hands and generally with the upper body. If you have a neck injury, you can't hold any more or less heavy weights. There was a big pause in terms of physical activity — it slowed down my development. But now I can fully work on myself.

— How did the injury affect your life?

— It was easier with that. Except that at first I couldn't turn my head. But then the muscles recovered, everything became overgrown.

— Is there a grudge against Artyom Maltsev, who pushed you then, resulting in an injury?

— It was a combination of circumstances — I'll answer briefly. It just happened that way.

— What are your memories from working with Roman Rotenberg?

— Good positive emotions. I am grateful to him for the support he gave me after the injury, for all the help in my recovery. In general, I can only say good things about my work at SKA and with Roman Borisovich specifically. It was a very useful period in terms of my development.

— Roman Rotenberg left SKA last year, and is now involved in the youth training system at Dynamo Moscow. Can you also imagine him as the head coach of the KHL team?

"Why not?" Everything is possible.