When did you join?

I started to work in the organizing committee in June 2010. When I started to work I was the only one responsible for the hockey complex with the Bolshoy Ice Dome, Shayba Arena and the practice venue. Then I invited a good team to share the responsibilities for the arenas. Last year we had several events like the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship in April and I was happy to work with this team.

When you heard many years ago that Russia would apply for the Olympic Winter Games with Sochi, what did you think? It was probably not the most typical venue for hockey you had heard of as a player.

I thought at that moment that I would maybe have the opportunity to see the games. I didn’t think about the possibility of working for the Olympics and now I’m having the best time of my life.

What can you say about the arenas?

When I came here I was only able to see the walls where the Bolshoy Ice Dome is and nothing at the place where you can see the Shayba Arena now. I had only the papers. These two arenas are like my babies for me. I spent a lot of time on the corridors and to plan where the dressing rooms should be, how far from the ice, where to locate the warm-up area, the laundry and so on. Just like everybody loves their babies so I love the arenas. The Bolshoy Ice Dome is the best hockey arena in Russia right now, that’s for sure.

What characterizes the arenas that look so special and shiny from outside?

The Bolshoy Ice Dome is very beautiful, it looks like a drop near the sea. If you compare this arena with other arenas in Russia you can say it’s very huge, it has a lot of space, we have a road wide like a real road within the arena for the buses so all athletes can go inside the arena by bus. The length of the road is around 700 metres. Certainly there are a lot of new technical devices that were used.

How was hockey as a new sport in this city received by the local population?

Hockey is really a new kind of sport for the region, that’s why it was important for the local people to invite them for hockey so that they understand what is hockey and what is a hockey arena. During the U18 Worlds I was shocked a little bit because after the first game when Russia won against the United States 4-3 we had thousands of people who wanted to buy tickets. So by the end of the tournament we had like 7,000 people for each Russian game. The people started to become hockey-crazy and they like the arena.

What can you say about the second hockey venue, Shayba Arena?

It’s smaller but it’s specially built for hockey while the Bolshoy Ice Dome is a multifunctional venue you can use for concerts or other sports.

Can you say something about ticket sales for the ice hockey tournaments?

Certainly ice hockey is the most popular winter sport in Russia and second overall after football. All Russia is waiting for the game between Russia and Canada, that’s no secret. After Vancouver 2010 all Russia wants to see this game. I can say we have no problem with selling tickets for hockey. If you want to buy tickets, they’ll be very tough to find.

How about the women’s hockey tournament?

It’s going well. Russia won the bronze medal at the last IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship. That was a real success for Russian women’s hockey. Everybody was surprised about the progress the team has made and people are really interested. I think the arena will be full too during the women’s tournament for Russia’s games and they would like to see Canada and the United States too.

What does the event mean for Russian people?

We didn’t have such an event like this for many years. The last Olympics were the Summer Games in 1980 in the Soviet Union. It’s something very special for all Russia. There are many people who don’t know much about the Olympics and want to see it.

What will the Olympic Park be like for fans?

The concept is very good and comfortable for spectators because you can come to the park for a whole day and see a variety of events in the costal cluster because the venues are in walking distance from each other. If you have tickets for figure skating, short track, speed skating, curling or hockey you can see many events in one day. It’s very comfortable for spectators. If you want to go to the mountains it will take you 40 minutes to get to Krasnaya Polyana by train.

If you’re not fortunate enough to have tickets there will be public viewing and a food court in the Olympic Park and many activities for the fans.

What can the players expect from the hockey venues?

The first special feature is that the Bolshoy Ice Dome is maybe one of very few in the world with 12 permanent dressing rooms near the ice. Usually organizers have to create temporary dressing rooms because normal venues have six to eight dressing rooms and here they have 12 for all teams who participate in the men’s tournament and there are 10 dressing rooms at Shayba Arena for the women’s teams. We also have the practice arena at Bolshoy Ice Dome just 15 metres away from the dressing room. It’s not always that comfortable for players but here it is.

All the necessary zones for the athletes are very close to each other like the dressing rooms, sport zone, athletes’ lounge, information room, medical centre, anti-doping centre, rooms for skate sharpening and uniform repair and a big gym and warm-up area.

I think we have everything we need. The press zone is really huge, the mixed zone was designed especially for the Olympics, like with the whole venue. The location is very comfortable. Players don’t have to go long ways to the media and then to the dressing room while at the same time the ways for the media are short too.

Can you say something about the athletes’ village?

The athletes will live 500 metres from the arena at the sea. They can basically walk or take a bicycle. Everything is very close – that’s the concept.

There were many site visits. How was that for you?

It’s always very useful for us to have the IIHF and other partners here who give us very good advices and show us what to change, adjust and how to make everything better for the athletes, media and everybody. It’s really important to have good relationships, get inputs and be ready for questions. We certainly identified some operational issues and had enough time to make adjustments. I think at the Olympics everybody will be happy.

Did anything change since the tests event like the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship last April?

The level of operation is very different. There was not so many media and broadcasters there so we had to build a special compound in both arenas for the Olympics, we needed additional storage, increased electricity capacity. But in the sport zone the adjustments were minor details. But it’s very important to have such test events for the Olympics to identify possible issues which you can’t identify during the planning stage.

What will be different is the additional practice surfaces with a third building.

Right now we have five ice surfaces within 200 metres from each other. No team will have a problem with the practice schedule. This is also something that will be very comfortable for the teams.

What were the last things that were being worked on around the hockey rink and in general in the last few weeks?

The majority of the things were already done. In the Olympic Park there were workers who cleaned the venues, planted trees and grass. Mostly it’s preparing for operating the venues like dividing the zones. The venue owner normally doesn’t use the venue the same way the organizing committee will use it during the Olympics. We needed to mark zones, put signage and fences, separate client groups, create dedicated entrances. That’s the final preparation. Around the Olympic Park the final roads were built although most of them have been ready for a while.

In June the agreement with the NHL and NHLPA was signed. What did this change for you and your team?

I’m really happy that this decision was made in summer. I really appreciate all the partners who made this decision. It was the main goal of the Games to have the best athletes from the world play for their countries. I want to say thank you to all the people who worked on this. I know the decision wasn’t easy but they found an agreement.

Some things changed but from the very beginning we were ready for the NHL players to participate in the Games. This didn’t create any organizational issues. We just had to say thank you and sit together with them to know their needs and to deliver.

What do you think about the tournaments? Who will win?

(Laughs.) The only thing I can say is that we really welcome all the teams who participate in the men’s and women’s ice hockey tournaments. We are waiting for all the teams but of course the majority of the Russians wait for the game between Russia and Canada.

What’s the plan with the arenas after the Olympics?

The plan is right now that Shayba Arena and the two practice rinks will be used for ice hockey and camps for teams from all over the country and local teams. And the Bolshoy Ice Dome will be used as a multifunctional venue for different kinds of sports also tennis, basketball, boxing or concerts. After the Games there will be a Formula 1 race and I guess all buildings will be used in some way and the central stadium will be a venue for the Football World Cup in 2018.

There are also rumours a KHL team with the name “Delfin” (Dolphin) could play here next season.

That would be the best solution. The local people start to understand what hockey is and they love it as we saw during the U18 World Championship. They like the game and the passion and I’m sure if we have a KHL team here the tribunes will be full. I don’t know whether it will happen and it’s not so easy to build a team. Maybe somebody will make the decision to relocate a team.

During the Olympics you will have people from Korea, the next host country for the Olympic Winter Games, here. What would you recommend them in terms of ice hockey since they will also need to build new venues from scratch in PyeongChang?

I can work for them as an advisor and share all my knowledge (laughs). Seriously, I know some people from Korea will come. We are very open for them and it’s very important to understand what games are, to feel it and create something with your own hands because the majority of our team in the organizing committee didn’t know all the sports. We were observers of the previous Games and these will be our first Games we organize ourselves. I’ll be really glad to show the organizers from Korea what we do here. I can tell them everything about mistakes we did so they won’t do them.