MINSK, 28 April (BelTA) – The major task is to get the players into top shape ahead of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, head coach of the Belarusian national team Dave Lewis told a press conference on 27 April, BelTA has learned.
The major task I have put in front of the coaching staff is to have every player at the top of his form by the start of the championship. There is no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher. We will travel to Paris to win medals. I have said this many times. One should shoot for the stars and sooner or later, he will succeed if he works hard, the coach said.
When asked on the squad he is going to field for the championship, Dave Lewis praised the progress in defense. We have made great headway in defense. There are strong defensemen on the team and defense will be our strong point in Paris, he said. Nine defensemen will travel to France and eight, as the head coach stressed, will hit the ice.
Dave Lewis agreed with the journalists that the team had problems with offense. “Our offense was not good during the Euro Hockey Challenge in April. We are working on our power play performance. The first three games in Paris will be very difficult for us. We do not have players of Ovechkin's or Crosby's level. Our success is in the coherent team play,” the coach said.
The Belarusian team will play France in the Euro Hockey Challenge on 30 April and 1 May before opening the 2017 IIHF World Championship against Finland on 5 May.
