MOSCOW – The Russian Hockey Federation FHR extended the contract with its successful national team coaching staff. This announcement was made at a press conference at the federation's headquarters in Moscow on Monday.
Head coach Vyacheslav Bykov and assistant coach Igor Zakharkin both signed one-year contracts which will automatically be extended through the 2009-2010 season if the team wins a medal in the 2009 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland. The same provision is also in place for the following season.
At the press conference, both Bykov and the FHR announced the desire to work together beyond the contract, not only for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, but also through the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Anatoli Bardin was named the team’s new general manager.
A list with national team candidates for the Euro Hockey Tour was also announced, even though it became overshadowed a few hours hours later when 19-year-old Alexei Cherepanov, one of the candidates, collapsed during a league game in Chekhov and died.
The 46-candidate list:
Goalkeepers: Alexander Yeremenko, Vadim Tarasov (Salavat Yulayev), Mikhail Biryukov (MVD Balashikha), Konstantin Barulin (CSKA Moscow).
Defenders: Evgeni Medvedev, Ilya Nikulin, Grigori Panin (Ak Bars Kazan), Evgeni Varlamov, Vitali Atyushov (Metalurg Magnitogorsk), Konstantin Korneyev, Denis Kulyash (CSKA Moscow), Oleg Tverdovsky, Andrei Kuteykin, Vitali Proshkin, Igor Schadilov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa), Vitali Vishnevsky, Vitali Anikeyenko (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl), Sergei Peretyagin (SKA St. Petersburg), Dmitri Bykov (Atlant Mytishchi), Dmitri Vorobiev (Lada Togliatti), Alexei Zhitnik (Dynamo Moscow).
Forwards: Danis Zaripov, Alexei Morozov, Sergei Zinoviev (Ak Bars Kazan), Alexei Tereshchenko, Alexander Radulov, Andrei Taratuhin, Alexander Perezhogin (Salavat Yulayev Ufa), Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant Mytishchi), Anton Kuryanov, Alexander Svitov (Avangard Omsk), Maxim Sushinsky, Sergei Brylin, Konstantin Gorovikov (SKA St. Petersburg), Alexei Yashin, Alexei Mikhnov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl), Ivan Nepryayev, Maxim Pestushko, Alexei Badyukov (Dynamo Moscow), Anton But, Petr Schastlivy, Oleg Saprykin, Alexander Suglobov, Sergei Shirokov, Denis Parshin (CSKA Moscow), Anton Krysanov (Lada Togliatti).
