Dynamo Moscow head coach Leonid Tambiev has stated that the quality of the Ice Hockey World Championship has dropped due to the absence of teams from Russia and Belarus, arguing that weaker squads now fill the void.
When asked whether his experience as an assistant coach for Kazakhstan’s national team last year could be applied to his role with Dynamo, Tambiev explained that the IIHF has introduced new rules—such as allowing coaches to stand behind the net and starting power plays from the offensive zone. He noted that he brought a few of those concepts to Admiral Vladivostok.
However, he added: “Honestly, without Russia and Belarus, there are some clearly weak teams in international hockey. The World Championship now is only worth watching from the playoffs. As for Dynamo, I don’t think that experience will be useful.”
Tambiev continued: “The rules in the KHL are different, and the World Championship is a short tournament—a sprint with seven group games followed by the playoffs. It would be interesting to watch now, but there are obviously weak teams, and the level is dropping. I don’t know which teams will bring their best players, but with the Olympics coming up, I think many NHL players won’t come. The overall level of the tournament, I believe, will not be very high.”
