SOCHI, August 10, Andrey Senchenko. President of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) Vladislav Tretiak believes that professionals may be interested in the postponed youth world championship, as it is important to know what kind of hockey the players play against whom the Russians will play after the resumption of performances in the international arena. On Tuesday, the postponed youth world championship started in Canada. At the end of December 2021, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) stopped the tournament, which was held in Red Deer and Edmonton, Canada, due to the spread of coronavirus among the participants in the tournament. «Are we interested in watching a tournament where we do not participate? Professionals, I think, should be interesting. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we will still play against these players, and it is important to know what kind of hockey they show. But for our fans, of course, it is not interesting. As for the empty stands, let the IIHF think about this issue,» Tretyak told reporters. In March, the IIHF announced the suspension of the national teams of Russia and Belarus from all international tournaments due to the situation in Ukraine. The place of the Russian team in the tournament was taken by the Latvian team.
