The head coach of the Armenian national team shared his thoughts following the team’s second match at the World Championship against Uzbekistan (3:2 SO), and also spoke about the upcoming game against Kuwait.
— This was the most incredible game I’ve ever been part of. I’m extremely proud of the team, proud of the coaching staff. Today, we saw the effort of absolutely every player — how seriously they approached the preparation, how they treated every single moment. We saw the work done on the bench by the captain, the assistants, the leaders.
We saw the work of goalie coach Mikhail Ivanovich, we saw the performance of Tyoma Putulyan — and honestly, saying he stood on his head wouldn’t even come close to describing it. And we saw the contribution of every single athlete.
We’ve come a long way to understanding that hockey is not about highlights, not just about the beautiful moments that make it into the reels. We’ve come to understand and accept that hockey is about the hard, gritty work — and that’s something to be proud of. And today, I’m very proud of the guys.
They went out there to work for each other — without thinking about ice time, results, or positions. Each of them dug deep and found that extra one percent — and that made the difference.
— There are still three games ahead, but everyone was calling this one the final of the World Championship. Right now, it’s important to remind the guys that the tournament isn’t over — we still have three full games to play.
— Absolutely. This is where the real coaching work kicks in. For now, we’re being careful in how we talk about it, but for the guys, it really was a kind of positive shock. Our job now is to help them reset — to let off some steam, give them a few hours to breathe.
After that, it’s back to the schedule — practice sessions, video analysis of Kuwait. That’s a very serious team with top-quality players — very unpredictable.
— To be honest, we celebrated the win over Uzbekistan like we had already won it all. The guys were crying, emotions were running wild. What were you feeling in those moments?
— After the final shootout, I cried too. I really cried. But what I especially want to point out is that today, we truly felt the sixth player on the ice. In my opinion, when the opponent came out to take their shot, the fans literally blew the puck off the blade — in the most literal sense. We saw it happen on one of the attempts. And of course, that kind of pressure gets to you.
And today, at those very moments when it seemed like we were starting to slip, when the game was drifting away from us — the stands came alive, they stood up like an extra defender, a third one. They absorbed those shots, bought us a few extra seconds, and pushed us forward. That’s why this is an absolutely incredible arena — an absolutely incredible atmosphere.
But I also really want to ask the fans to remember — we’re not even at the halfway point yet.
We all need to reset and move forward. The fans too. They’ve now set a very high standard — and I’ll be sincerely grateful if they can maintain it and push it even further.
And one last question about the opponent. After all, this was a tough, powerful team — the one everyone called the main favorite of the tournament.
— What did Uzbekistan show today, and what was Armenia able to neutralize in their game?
— A very strong team — with an absolutely insane level of skill. They’ve got great young players and some very experienced ones too. They move the puck extremely well and are excellent at spotting positional mistakes.
Their centers especially — even though we had studied situations where the center hides behind the blue line and then breaks through — they still managed to catch us. We analyzed their power play thoroughly.
But at times, our guys were practically crawling on their knees — that’s how intense it was. Some of those moments were like a masterclass in positional offense and puck control.
These are talented players with a huge future in hockey — and a very real present, as we see from their involvement in the Tashkent clubs and “Humo.” So we’re very grateful for the game, and very grateful for the experience they gave us. I’m confident that both this team and every one of their players have a great future ahead.
We saw the work of goalie coach Mikhail Ivanovich, we saw the performance of Tyoma Putulyan — and honestly, saying he stood on his head wouldn’t even come close to describing it. And we saw the contribution of every single athlete.
We’ve come a long way to understanding that hockey is not about highlights, not just about the beautiful moments that make it into the reels. We’ve come to understand and accept that hockey is about the hard, gritty work — and that’s something to be proud of. And today, I’m very proud of the guys.
They went out there to work for each other — without thinking about ice time, results, or positions. Each of them dug deep and found that extra one percent — and that made the difference.
— There are still three games ahead, but everyone was calling this one the final of the World Championship. Right now, it’s important to remind the guys that the tournament isn’t over — we still have three full games to play.
— Absolutely. This is where the real coaching work kicks in. For now, we’re being careful in how we talk about it, but for the guys, it really was a kind of positive shock. Our job now is to help them reset — to let off some steam, give them a few hours to breathe.
After that, it’s back to the schedule — practice sessions, video analysis of Kuwait. That’s a very serious team with top-quality players — very unpredictable.
— To be honest, we celebrated the win over Uzbekistan like we had already won it all. The guys were crying, emotions were running wild. What were you feeling in those moments?
— After the final shootout, I cried too. I really cried. But what I especially want to point out is that today, we truly felt the sixth player on the ice. In my opinion, when the opponent came out to take their shot, the fans literally blew the puck off the blade — in the most literal sense. We saw it happen on one of the attempts. And of course, that kind of pressure gets to you.
And today, at those very moments when it seemed like we were starting to slip, when the game was drifting away from us — the stands came alive, they stood up like an extra defender, a third one. They absorbed those shots, bought us a few extra seconds, and pushed us forward. That’s why this is an absolutely incredible arena — an absolutely incredible atmosphere.
But I also really want to ask the fans to remember — we’re not even at the halfway point yet.
We all need to reset and move forward. The fans too. They’ve now set a very high standard — and I’ll be sincerely grateful if they can maintain it and push it even further.
And one last question about the opponent. After all, this was a tough, powerful team — the one everyone called the main favorite of the tournament.
— What did Uzbekistan show today, and what was Armenia able to neutralize in their game?
— A very strong team — with an absolutely insane level of skill. They’ve got great young players and some very experienced ones too. They move the puck extremely well and are excellent at spotting positional mistakes.
Their centers especially — even though we had studied situations where the center hides behind the blue line and then breaks through — they still managed to catch us. We analyzed their power play thoroughly.
But at times, our guys were practically crawling on their knees — that’s how intense it was. Some of those moments were like a masterclass in positional offense and puck control.
These are talented players with a huge future in hockey — and a very real present, as we see from their involvement in the Tashkent clubs and “Humo.” So we’re very grateful for the game, and very grateful for the experience they gave us. I’m confident that both this team and every one of their players have a great future ahead.