"We need to go out and score points from the first games"

The new KHL season starts next weekend. One of the main intrigues is the performance of the radically renewed St. Petersburg SKA. In the off-season, the club's long-term head and head coach Roman Rotenberg left, as well as a significant part of the players. The team is now headed by Igor Larionov.

One of the newcomers is striker Andrey Loktionov, who left Spartak Moscow. In an interview with Izvestia, the 35-year-old hockey player talked about the style in which SKA will play under Larionov, commented on the transfer of striker Nikolai Goldobin to the St. Petersburg club and announced lofty goals for the season.

— How do you like the first preseason under the leadership of Igor Larionov? Is there anything new compared to your previous teams?

— No, we always have the same thing going on. When there is a gym, when there are game exercises. Individual workouts are slightly different, but overall it's the same. And Igor Nikolaevich's playing system is the same as the one I played in previous seasons at Spartak — short passes, opening up for each other, holding the puck, not being thrown away. Everything is fine with us, we are gradually playing with our teammates. I think we'll be in good condition for the season.

— Was there an option to stay at Spartak?

— We talked with Spartak about a new contract, but we didn't agree. That's why I'm in SKA now.

— Does it feel like SKA has started a new era, and it still takes time for the team to take shape after all the drastic changes in the squad, coaching staff and leadership?

— Getting used to it is still going on. New players join the team, slowly getting used to each other.

"We will only be glad when Ovechkin returns to Dynamo

Roman Rotenberg, head coach of the Russia 25 national team, member of the Board of Directors of Dynamo Moscow, talks about his new job and future

— Have you followed the high—profile events in the KHL this offseason - the constant termination of contracts with hockey players, like the five-year agreement between Avangard and Vladimir Tkachev?

— No, I did not follow.

"Not interested?"

"What can I do?" (he smiles)

— You haven't had long-term contracts with clubs in recent years, but do you admit that this may affect you in the future?

— It can affect anyone. We have such rules.

— Can it ever change?

— I don't know. Maybe it will change, maybe it won't.

— As someone who played in the NHL, do you believe that one day we will be like that in terms of the inviolability of long contracts?

— Most likely, yes. We will come to that.

— When you left Spartak, did you expect Nikolai Goldobin, who is now also in SKA, to follow your route soon?

— It was unexpected for me. But it's a good purchase for SKA. So I'm only looking at his arrival from the positive side.

— Is it possible to expect good hockey from SKA from the first matches? Or will it take time to find your game?

— We need to go out and score points and win from the first games. It's not until the New Year to look for a game and wait for the result (smiles). We're going to play hockey for a reason. And we strive to achieve high goals — to win the Gagarin Cup.

— Have you seen St. Petersburg since moving in?

— Yes, there was time to watch. The children came to me, we went boating with them, and took a walk around the center. We've already seen the city more or less. Very beautiful.