Aaron Vickers
FCHockey
Talked to Filatov after the game. He was very elusive, for the most part, on what he though led to the demise of the Russians at the 2010 World Junior Championship.
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Lead by the notoriously tough Vladimir Plyuschkev, the Russians finished sixth in the tournament after dropping the battle for fifth place with Finland Monday night.
Did Filatov think the team turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to some coaching they disagreed with?
“No comment,†he said. “I’m not going to say anything about it.â€
After given the media’s take on what they saw, Filatov opened up a little.
“If it looked like this probably you’re right.â€
“Probably no one expected us to be sixth in this tournament,†a frustrated Filatov said after losing to the Finns 4-3.
“I’m not going to say anything about coaches decision or about tactics or about players who can be playing. I’ve got my own opinion. Everybody should know if Russia is in the sixth place for the World Juniors, something really strange, so something was wrong probably.â€
So should this serve as an eye-opener for the Russian Hockey Federation?
“Yeah I think so,†he said, again declining further comment.
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