Ivan Feneš: We have great ambitions with this team, but we need to talk about them less and show them more – ŠPORT.sk

We are not going to the championship only with the vision of the quarterfinals

On Saturday, you start preparing for the world championship by camping in Piešťany. Will all European players be available?

“We are still dealing with their arrivals, because the clubs have to officially release them for us on December 13, but we want to get them sooner. We have a huge problem with that, but when I look at Canada starting on December 9, the Russians are two days earlier and all players are free of problems, sometimes I’m amazed at the reluctance of the clubs to give the boys a chance to prepare for the World Cup. We know what can happen to us and how we can endanger the whole championship with similar steps. I do not understand that.”

The biggest scarecrow is definitely covid. Will you isolate the players if, unfortunately, someone positive comes and infects others?

“The protocol is clear for all teams. The first ticket on board the plane to Canada is two negative tests, the second an immediate test at the airport after arrival, which we will undergo on the evening of December 15. Then we stay in the rooms for two days, each alone. The last test is the seventeenth and when we are negative, we start training. ”

It will be the first big championship for you in the role of head coach, you will lead a very good generation. Do you feel that you will experience the greatest pressure in your coaching career?

“It has always been a great privilege and honor for me. I know that it will be developed for me, as well as for the entire implementation team. But I’m looking forward to it, as are the players. I don’t feel like I should go there with respect. It will be my seventh championship, although the first in the position of head coach. We go there with humility and a clear head, but to succeed. ”

You’ve added a new assistant and analyst to the team, 32-year-old American Scott Moser. What were the conversations like and what do you expect from him?

“The debate has been very fruitful. Martin Štrbák and I dealt with things about our game system. He has one friend, a very good coach with experience from both the NHL and the international forum. He recommended a young boy who does the same things at university. We also had a video meeting with Mir Šatan, where he presented his work. We also managed to get it with all the software used by NHL teams, for free. It is a great prestige for these people to be at the World Cup. I have seen his work and what kind of service he can provide us opens up great opportunities for us. I confirmed again that we still have a lot to learn. ”

When did you get it and scout your opponents now?

“The first contact was in November, immediately after the tournament in Norway. He had already come to the meeting ready with an analysis of the Swiss. I was shocked at how detailed they were and what little things he focused on. It was a huge challenge for me and I immediately said I wanted him on the team. ”

Are you a junior trainer, open to advanced statistics and analytics software?

“It worked for me in the summer at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. We had Igor Andrejkovic there. I like it very much, when you say something to players, it is much better for them when they see it. When you show a player over one-third of a video, one or two videos are much better received and visualized about what we’re talking about than when he gets twenty sentences and often doesn’t even know what I’m talking about. ”

How difficult is it for you to combine working for a team under the age of 20 with an eighteen, of which you are still the head coach and you lead it in premier league matches?

“Much more challenging than I expected. Mainly transitions, switch heads from the project, where we work with 15-year-old boys who play men’s hockey. They have been without hockey for a year, so it is extremely difficult to move them up to a certain level. Then the phone rings, I have to switch and solve twenty again, completely different problems, worries and joys. But from now on, I’m turning off, I’m focusing purely on the under-20 team, and I’ll be ready for the World Cup in my head. ”

There has been a lot of interest in the under-20 national team in recent years. Did you receive a lot of phone calls about player nominations?

“Every decision I made in the nomination was a priority for the benefit of the team. The debates that always have to be have been constructive. Some harder, others less, but I like to listen to the opinions of others. However, they must always decide arguments and performance. ”

There are plenty of overseas players in the squad. Is it a reaction to the failed November tournament in Norway, where you finished last with the European team?

“I wouldn’t say it’s a reaction to the tournament, but rather a reaction to their performance.”

The goalkeeper has always made a significant contribution to every Slovak success at the Junior World Championships. We will mention, for example, Jaroslav Janus in fourth place in 2009 or Denis Godla in third place in 2015. Šimon Latkóczy did very well last year, he picked up a clean sheet in the first match with the Swiss. It seems to be a clear unit, do you perceive it that way?

“We have a strategy and plans. There will be a debate about this, not only with Simon, but also with Rasta Staň, who is primarily responsible for it. We will try to set it up to be the best for the team. If Simon is set to catch all the matches, he will catch them. It can happen. Maybe he’ll only catch one, maybe two, time will tell. I think we have adequate compensation ready. ”

Rastislav Eliaš, who made a significant contribution to silver at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, also received a nomination. However, he has bad statistics in the USHL. What decided for him?

“I’m not interested in his current numbers, he’s a guy who will be well prepared. He has a difficult position in his team. He is by far the youngest goalkeeper in the league. I’ll pull out a few goalkeepers from the past who have had catastrophic numbers, unworthy of the World Cup. Roman Durný, Denis Godla, Jaro Janus were not good either, but they gained confidence and showed that they are great goalkeepers at the championship. ”

The team looks very offensive and offensive. Do you want to play pressure hockey, or do you have to slow down the players a bit so that our game doesn’t open?

“The deciding factor will be how the guys prepared from the clubs come. However, as you mentioned, if we keep the puck on the hockey sticks, we will be able to create opportunities and score. If not, our opponents will put us under pressure. I definitely prefer the offensive pressure on the opponent and not give him space to pass, but today we see most of the teams actively defending the middle zone. We will try to prepare a mix, the golden mean, to be effective. We certainly can’t go with the same tactics on all our opponents, something different will apply to everyone. ”

The long-term problem of Slovak hockey is the lack of quality centers, but you will probably have an overpressure. These are probably nice worries for you, aren’t they?

“Yes. I’m looking forward, because they are great hockey players, to work with them. ”

We were waiting for one of the most productive players of the I. league, Richard Nemec, in the nomination for the tournament in November, where he did not reach in the end, nevertheless he is in the wider nomination for the MSJ. What can you say to him?

“She has the same starting line as the others. It will only be up to him whether he gets to the championship. ”

Jakub Demek is a positive product of your work in the project of the eighteenth. You are probably pleased that he was drafted from Slovakia and he plays well in the overseas WHL.

“I had expectations of how his career in America would develop, as he had spent his entire hockey life in Slovakia so far. But he does great. He gives great performances and I know he enjoys it there. ”

Just after the last Junior World Championships, you reminded us that you expect a 16-year-old player in the future as well. How do you see the chances of Dalibor Dvorský and Maxim Štrbák?

“I am convinced that they have a huge chance to be in the final nomination. If we are able to raise players like them every year, in five years we have something to look forward to. We also had others who I’m sorry they won’t get a chance because we are limited in number. ”

People solve that Ján Lašák and Oliver Stümpel, sons of very famous fathers, are in the broad nomination. What are your arguments for their nomination?

“They both give excellent performances. I got reports from different people on them, I saw a few matches. The name he has on his back will never be important to me, but what he has on the front of his chest. That’s important to us. ”

Apart from the pair Samuel Kňažko – Martin Chromiak, the most perceived names are perhaps three hopes for the first round of the next draft in the NHL – Juraj Slafkovský, Šimon Nemec and Filip Mešár. They are still only seventeen, but they have all played in the senior national team. Can I handle the role of leaders?

“It simply came to our notice then. Not only them, when the whole team gets together, we will have extreme strength in the locker room and on the ice. I look forward to it.”

In the past, it was always said before the tournament that they were mainly about one match. However, several players suggest that the quarterfinals may be a failure this time and this generation wants a medal. How do you feel about it?

“Everyone sees success completely differently. Our goals are clearly set. We know very well that we have not won many medals in recent years. Going to the World Cup and saying we’re only going to do the quarterfinals is not our style robots. We want to be as successful as possible. But when the tournament shows how far we can go. ”

Is the advantage that you are in a much more demanding group and you can have a lighter opponent in the quarterfinals?

“There is no easy opponent at the World Cup. It doesn’t matter who you have in the group. We cannot afford to relinquish our performance in any meeting for a second. It must be four performance eruptions in five days. ”

Finally, the world championships will be played in front of the spectators. Can they pull you hard, because overseas, they tend to take us for an underestimated team that they support against the favorite?

“Yes, Canada likes stories. I believe we will write another one. I have once experienced what it is like to conquer America on Canadian soil and it was a very pleasant experience. If we stick to a good result in the match for a long time, our fighting spirit and teamwork can be a decisive factor. ”

Will you say the word medal aloud before the World Cup, or do you avoid it?

“We can try … A medal is always a nice word and even nicer when it’s on your neck. It is necessary to have dreams, who does not have them, is hampered. Dreams and ambitions have no boundaries, they are limitless. We have great ambitions, but we need to talk about them less and do more, because other teams besides us are also fully prepared. Therefore, the entire concentration must go to the preparations for the championship. ”