Pavel Franz: «I feel at home In the new ice Palace»

On February 17, the head coach of the Russian men's national bandy team Pavel Frants visited the Baikal ice arena, which is being completed in Irkutsk. This is where the XL world Cup matches will take place in the spring, where our national team will have to defend the title of the strongest on the planet.

Pavel Franz was given a tour of the ice Palace by Vladimir matienko, President of the bandy Federation of the Irkutsk region, head of the world championship Directorate, and Maxim Nikolaev, General Director of SDS-Stroy. The coach of the national team carefully studied the infrastructure of the arena, starting from the locker rooms and ending with a concrete base for the ice field. By the way, the test cooking of ice will begin on February 17. The changing rooms are spacious and equipped with the latest technology. Each even has an infrared sauna. Note that the eight teams that play in the strongest group A will have personal locker rooms during the world Cup.

Paul Franz, the head coach of the national team of Russia on hockey:

– To be honest, what I saw today is fascinating. This is a beautiful ice Palace, and we should be happy for Irkutsk. Adults and children can play ball hockey and speed skating here all year round. If you Express all the impressions in one word – great!

– You have seen more than one indoor skating rink and in more than one country in the world. What do you remember today?

– This is a truly multi-functional arena. there are a lot of spacious changing rooms, separate for ball hockey and other sports, game rooms, two huge multimedia boards. As for the locker room of the Russian national team, it is excellent. After all, the world Cup is a special tournament in which you need to fully focus on the game, so I would not like to meet with opponents before the match. You come to Baikal from a hotel, and you have a separate entrance to your locker room, where I already feel at home.

– What can I say about the Russian team for the world Cup in Irkutsk? How close is the composition of the national team in the Three Nations tournament in Finland to the optimal one?

– It's probably too early to talk about it now. Although we have determined the composition of the team by eighty percent. Let's not forget that the season in the Russian championship is still underway, the playoffs begin, and the matches begin, in which a lot is demanded of the guys. So questions about the composition remain. Unfortunately, we probably lost Janis Befus, the main player of the national team. He has a knee injury, and although the situation is not clear yet, the news is not very good for us.

– If we talk about the «Three Nations» tournament, then a complete change in the defensive order of the Russian team is an experiment or a trend?

– There is always a time when someone comes, someone leaves. I think that there was a question of updating the national team. But the update should not be like this when you have removed eleven people and taken as many new ones. The people who made up the core of the team should still stay. But young hockey players need to be allowed to join the main team, give them playing time, and trust them.

– When will the Russian team arrive in Irkutsk?

– This issue has not been discussed yet. But I think that on March 22-23 we will fly to Irkutsk and a week before the start of the world Cup we will start preparing for the tournament here.

I know that Irkutsk loves bandy. This was shown to everyone by the Sibskan team and the last home game of Baikal-Energia. I take this opportunity to invite sports fans to ball hockey and world Cup matches. Come and cheer for the Russian national team and for beautiful hockey!

Photo by Tatyana Glyuk

Press center of the V girls world championship U-17