Source: www.rucriminal.info
The famous sports journalist Alexey Matveyev talked to hockey legend Valery Kamensky especially for VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info.
- Somehow your CSKA did not look very convincing in the last Gagarin Cup, the army men were eliminated at the distant approaches to the final, already in the first round. Was the opponent from Minsk really so good that it turned out to be impassable for the titled capital club? - I ask the legend of the army club Valery Kamensky.
- CSKA is currently building a new team, half of the team has changed, are you aware of that? - Valery Viktorovich retorts - And in general, out of the last five draws, my young teammates have won the honorary hockey trophy three times (!) . Achievement, you must admit, is significant. Can anyone else boast of such achievements? You won't find any examples.
I repeat, CSKA is building a new team, a new coach has arrived, the foundation is just being laid. It's too early to expect stunning results.
Yes, CSKA always has one goal - first place, the Gagarin Cup. But let's be realistic. After all, CSKA, I remind you again, won three Gagarin Cups, what other results should there be? On the eve of the start of the last season, they took a lot of new, inexperienced guys. It takes time for the so-called "chemistry" between people in the team to develop, you understand? Only time will tell how correct the choice of players was.
- Maybe the not entirely successful performance of your club is due to the dominance of mostly gray, not very skilled players? In my opinion, it's an obvious blunder by the army management...
- I, who have played hockey for so many years and achieved something in it, do not see any frankly weak, as you said, mediocre masters in the army club. It is obvious to me that the youth in CSKA are developing, improving their game, what stagnation are you talking about?
- But the result is obvious, as they say. It is unlikely that the army bosses, and you personally, expected the army team to be eliminated in the first round of the Cup.
- You are so stubborn! I don't think the same team can win a prestigious trophy year after year, the opponents are also developing, improving their skills, and putting up fierce resistance to the recognized leaders of domestic hockey.
What is the main reason for CSKA's relative failure? I'm telling you, half the roster has changed, the team is just being built, it takes time. I very much hope, and not without reason, that in the new season CSKA will fight for the Gagarin Cup again, I see the potential of our hockey players.
- Do you want me to say something bad about CSKA, to criticize, right? But I did evaluate the performance of our team, what else do you need? Moscow clubs retreated, failed, do you think? No!
For example, Dynamo had a hard start to the season, and then shone with their game, stability of results. The same Spartak, thanks to their bright game, invariably gathered full stands. As for CSKA, as I have already said, half of the roster changed, it was impossible to expect bright play, stable results. Don't you agree?
- Let's change the topic of current events in our hockey for a moment. At the end of last year, we published information about the cancelled match of the Hockey Legends with the team of the country's president. Tell us at least a little about the strange behavior of the Kremlin "stars", why the match did not take place? Meanwhile, you and your eminent partners, most of whom are gray-haired, have been sitting at the sports base for several days without leaving...
- They simply announced to us that there would be no match, and that's it. And after your publication, they gathered us together, and everyone tried to figure out where the "journalist got this information from." Actually, that's where we parted...
- I would like to remind the brave security officers about myself: here I am, guys, Alexey Matveyev, a sports journalist who revealed the "terrible secret" of the failed match between the hockey "stars" and the team of the country's president. Leave our famous hockey masters alone, and pester me if you are so eager to take out your anger on someone. I live in a harsh land - the capital's Severnoye Medvedkovo district. A land, I repeat, of harsh but fair people who selflessly love hockey, its famous masters. Have you got your handcuffs ready yet? Come visit me! I'm waiting.
- I have almost no doubt that CSKA will perform better in the new season. All the prerequisites for this are in place, - continues the conversation the legend of the army club Valery Kamensky. - In any case, CSKA will be stronger, - definitely. The contours of the future powerful army squad are already visible.
- They don't let us into major international tournaments? No problem, the guys in the domestic championship are noticeably improving, we are very pleased with the growth of their skills. This is the absolute truth - there is nothing to take away, but there is room to improve.
In my understanding, the season was at a high level. They don't let us into the "world"? We will make more matches within the country, we will attract even more capable, talented guys.
- Do you really think there are no problematic moments in Russian hockey? Everything is so delicate, clean, one might say, sterile? And do you think there are "fixed matches", like in the football championship?
- I don’t see any signs of crime. Do you think I should come up with them? In the times of the USSR, among other things, there were none either. Could CSKA of the times of coach Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov negotiate with anyone? Yes, we were the strongest in the country a priori. Let someone object to me, let's see and argue, if anything.
Throw matches to crooks? Why? To get "left" money? We were already getting it quite well and legally. In my opinion, there is only one problem now: non-participation in international tournaments. We are trying to solve it, as far as possible. I can only say that the aforementioned problem can be successfully resolved at any moment. Work is underway in this direction...
And we have something and someone to present to the world hockey community. After all, the level of the domestic championship is quite high, no matter what anyone says. It is not for nothing that numerous scouts from the National Hockey League come to Moscow and other cities to look at our "stars". This says a lot.
There are still problems, yes. Paradoxically, our children are sometimes poorly provided with sports uniforms and other hockey equipment. This is no good! Some kids, alas, sometimes cannot buy themselves suitable sticks or skates. Well, that's just not right!
... Throw matches for money to sly crooks representing certain teams? This is not a question for me. And I don't think it's relevant for our hockey. The main issue on the agenda now is to return our hockey to the international arena. When will this happen? I can't say. Realistically or not, only time will tell.
You're talking about "throwing" games again, right? This is not a question for me, and I don't think it's for my great hockey friends either. We certainly haven't done anything like that.
- Well, okay, let's talk about pure hockey in conclusion. How would you rate CSKA's season?
- Overall, a "B". I don't know for sure, and therefore I won't take it upon myself to judge unequivocally why our army club was knocked out of the tournament relatively early. A detailed analysis is required, right? On the surface - a change of coach, half of the team was changed. The underlying reasons still need to be analyzed.
Some "shadowy", hockey-related moments? Listen, well, now we are all walking in front of cameras, right? Everything is in plain sight, believe me. But I see and feel that you don't believe me. I am powerless here...
Interviewed by Alexey Matveyev
Source: www.rucriminal.info
