Vladimir Putin watched a scheduled ice hockey game between Goznak (Krasnokamsk) and Gaiva (Perm).

Following the game, the prime minister talked with the players. "I was very impressed by the game," he said.

A Goznak player complained that his city, Krasnokamsk, lacked an ice arena of its own. "This is the only team that plays league games without a rink of its own," he said. RAIHL's Vyacheslav Fetisov promised that Krasnokamsk would have an arena within two years.

"I'll learn to skate, and we'll come and play you," said Putin.

He described the establishment of the Russian Amateur Ice Hockey League as a useful development. "I think we'll have a good tournament in Moscow, when all 100 teams come," he said.

After the talk, he posed for a photograph with the players and gave autographs to the fans.

* * *

The Russian Amateur Ice Hockey League (RAIHL) was established in January 2012 with the prime minister's support. Merited Master of Sport and two time Olympic champion, Alexander Yakushev, is the RAIHL president.

The league's players are 40 and older and have never played professionally or attended specialized ice hockey schools. The league's competitions are held in two stages: stage one is regional competitions (January 5 to April 15, 2012), and stage two is the National Tournament of Amateur Teams (May 3 to 9).

* * *

Transcript of the meeting with the League leaders and players:

Vladimir Putin: I think we have started something very good here. In any case, they know that they have been noticed and they cannot just knock the puck around somewhere. They have the opportunity to express their potential, to improve their skills and perhaps even travel to Moscow. I understand that you were planning 100 teams for Moscow. That's my first point. The second thing I have to say is, I would like to appeal to you, the stars of Soviet and Russian hockey, legends, without exaggeration, and to thank you for taking on this additional social task. I think you have felt this for yourselves. Just the fact that you come to this or that region means a lot for sports fans and of course for ice hockey fans. Ice hockey is one of the most beloved sports in this country. And this is a very good and useful initiative. Mr Yakushev, how do you propose organising this work, what zones will you form, and what will be the stages of this work?

Alexander Yakushev (President of the Russian Amateur Ice Hockey League): Teams in 73 regions have agreed to take part. The championship is already underway in more than half of them, and other regions are following suit: according to their schedule, it will take place in March and April. They will hold regional competitions over the course of two months and the best teams will move on to the finals. There are 2,000 amateur teams, and there are 800 teams in this age group. The potential for expanding the League lies in bringing in the remaining 1,200 teams, so as not to exclude them. They would take part in our competition under the aegis of our league. I think we should give this some thought. It is a debatable issue: introducing an additional age group, for example from 20 to 40, so that the other guys who are not covered by the current scheme could also take part in our competitions.

Vladimir Putin: They do not take part, but they do play.

Alexander Yakushev: They play, but not under our aegis.

Vladimir Putin: They won’t come to Moscow to battle it out.

Alexander Yakushev: Yes, they will be left out of the competition for such a good prize and they feel sore about it.

Vladimir Putin: I am sorry too. But we needed to start somewhere.

Alexander Yakushev: Well, we decided to do it like this at the first stage, otherwise we would simply have been choked by too many teams. But we will take note of all the remarks that will be made and we will correct things. Next year we may bring in the other teams.

Vladimir Putin: How did you divide the responsibility for regions among your colleagues; who is responsible for what region? And in general what is the situation with specific people?

Alexander Yakushev: Vyacheslav Fetisov and Mogilny (Alexander Mogilny) are responsible for the Khabarovsk Territory.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: It starts with the Far East. Mr Putin, the tournament of amateur teams, the final part, concluded today in Vladivostok. It’s a tournament of members of the security and military services, guys who have been playing hockey for ten years. They always hold this tournament to commemorate their comrade who died in the line of duty; families come over. It has become a tradition. They rang me up today to say that they have held this tournament… In short, ice hockey is alive, and our goal now is to make the most of the local opportunities and to come to Moscow in the spring. I think that will make hockey still more popular. There are no arenas, we must build them. Incidentally, today we asked the local minister to build 10 arenas instead of three in the next three years (the governor does not yet know about this). The minister has agreed to do it, so it has been made public: there will be 10 ice arenas in the Primorye Territory.

Vladimir Putin: Who specifically is organising this in the regions?

Vyacheslav Fetisov: You mean the construction?

Vladimir Putin: No, the competitions.

Vyacheslav: They were held, let's say, by mutual agreement. For now the local sports committees have taken them under their wing, they pay rent for the arena, which relieves the burden on people who come and split the cost of using the ice. And they organise the entire process, the referees, transportation.

Vladimir Putin: Just like here.…

Vyacheslav Fetisov: ...and transportation to Moscow if the whole process is paid for by sponsors who will be involved along with the federal agencies. In other words, it is a serious programme.

Vladimir Putin: You need to accommodate 100 teams. How many people will come?

Remark: About 2,000.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: You need several arenas. Only a city with an adequate infrastructure can host this many teams, and Moscow has such an infrastructure.

Remark: There are enough ice arenas, and the Izmailovo hotel complex…

Vyacheslav Fetisov: Perm, if it builds 10 arenas soon, will be quite capable of hosting them. We have 30 arenas (32) in Tatarstan, they can host as well. In general, we must build another 300 arenas over the next five years. We built 300 arenas during your presidency. I think if we build another 300, the hockey problem will be solved. The Soviet Union built about 30 hockey arenas, which means that ten times more arenas were built in the last four years than in the whole history of the Soviet Union.

Vladimir Putin: But as it turns out, that is not enough.

Remark: No, it isn't. This year we had 16 people, and today we have 72. The same is happening in Moscow: there are so many sports arenas in Moscow and still there are not enough: Moscow already has 200 teams…

Remark:  No, the Moscow Region has more than 300 teams already.

Remark: Already 300, but that includes the Moscow Region. 

Vyacheslav Fetisov: The last games finish at 2 a.m.

Remark: At present there are 65 teams, there has been a slight delay in Moscow. We will start from around the middle of February… But we have facilities with two arenas. It makes more sense to have two arenas: you skate on one…

Remark:  It is more economical to build a palace. 

Vyacheslav Fetisov: Building a palace would be more economical.

Remark: That is the best option.

Remark: Yes, the cooling plants that cool the ice are very efficient.

Vladimir Putin: They are very powerful.

Remark: We are putting together five teams. We are a little behind schedule, because we had 200 teams, close to 300. They were supposed to be formed because some teams had professionals on them. We will start veterans games around the 15^th.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: Imagine how motivated a person has to be, Mr Putin, to play at 2 a.m. and then go to work at 6 a.m.

Remark: But they do it. They come with their children. It’s so nice to see so many children there.

Vladimir Putin: It would be better to increase the number of arenas rather than stretching out the time… and playing at night… This kind of construction is fairly profitable, it is not too costly.

Remark: Many private businesses are going to be involved.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: We have a businessman in Vladivostok who built an arena. He says the payback period is 3.5-4 years. He is prepared to go on building, but the local authorities need to help by allocating land, making the arena open to the public, that is, when everybody is working, to invite schoolchildren from the children’s sport school during this time, and to begin charging a fee starting at 5 p.m. The model has been worked out. If you build yourself, it turns out to be good business too.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Golikov, what region are you in charge of?

Vladimir Golikov: The North-Western Region. The games will begin there shortly. There are also many teams willing to take part. There are some in Kaliningrad.

Remark: It started from scratch.

Vladimir Putin: In Kaliningrad? They started from scratch there?

Response: Yes, as it turned out, we did not have hockey, we had no ice arenas at all. We have built four arenas. We already have twelve teams and we are prepared to add other age groups because six teams…

Vladimir Putin: That has been agreed already. Of course we will extend the age bracket. Only we must make sure that there are no professional players.

Remark: They are not professionals, they don't know how to play.

Remark: That’s discrimination.

Remark: We can have professionals that are older than 50.

Vladimir Putin: No, no, no. I’ve seen how you skate after sixty. No, that won't do.

Remark: But the guys would get a kick out of beating us, Mr Putin.

Vladimir Putin: No, no, it is one thing to just go out onto the rink and do some demonstrations and play with them a bit, but it's another thing to take part in these competitions.

S.P. Babinov: Perhaps we should have a separate group for professionals? A division. Because we cut off the 20 year olds. They finish school at 18-20, and they want to play, they get together…

Remark: We should form student leagues.

Vladimir Putin: What region are your responsible for?

S.P.Babinov: The Central Region: Moscow and the Moscow Region.

Vladimir Putin: I see. 300 teams in all, yes?

S.P.Babinov: Three hundred, including the Moscow Region, perhaps a little more now…Teams are being organised, some do not yet take part in championships, but they form groups of 15-20 people and train.

Remark: If each team works out for an hour, with 300 teams that makes 300 hours a week, that’s a lot of time.

S.P.Babinov: There are 15 in the Moscow Region. Just think of how much demand there is. It’s a business.

Vladimir Putin: How many rinks are there in Moscow and the Moscow Region?

S.P.Babinov: There are 40 rinks in Moscow and 60 in the region.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Gromov (Boris Gromov, Governor of the Moscow Region) is doing a lot of construction there.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: Yes, I believe he has built 30 arenas.

S.P.Babinov: And still there are not enough, Mr Putin. They have opened one in Podolsk and right away there are 16 teams playing already…

Vladimir Putin: Mr Myshkin, did you like the goalkeeper’s play?

Vladimir Myshkin: Yes, very much. I noticed back in Tomsk that amateur teams have very strong goalkeepers. The goalkeepers are playing, they don't just stand in the goal because, even though they missed some shots, some of the moves were simply superb…

Vladimir Putin: Like the butterfly?

Vladimir Myshkin: Yes, a more classical style actually…

Remark: The style is called "matryoshka."

Vladimir Myshkin: Well, anyway, it’s our classical Soviet style, so it was interesting and pleasant to watch.

Vladimir Putin: By the way, do they play on their own or do they have coaches?

Response: Of course they all have coaches. All the teams have their own coaches, everyone who has ever played is taking part. They have an incentive to share their experience.

Remark: So, there is someone who is responsible for the puck.

Remark: Yes of course. And they have a financial incentive…

Remark: At least somebody is responsible for the puck.

Vladimir Putin: Have you been skating long?

Response: For 15 years.

Vladimir Putin: And how long have you been skating?

Response: All my life.

Vladimir Putin: It's so frustrating for me, I'm so clumsy! But if you’ve been skating all your life I think that all right, it's not so bad after all. 

Vyacheslav Fetisov: The skates used to be different. The sticks are different. They have modern sticks. Young people today would have nothing to do with the sticks we played with.

Vladimir Putin: So, you are even better than you seem to be. Vladimir Myshkin praises the goalkeepers; he says they are very good.

Do you also have a coach? Or do you just come and play? Or perhaps you have a playing coach?

Response: We usually do.

Vladimir Putin: Who is your playing coach? Is he here?

Response: Yes, he is.

Vladimir Putin: Where is he?

Response: Yevgeny Krasnov.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Krasnov, will you tell us how you formed the team? Where are the players from? When was it formed?

Yevgeny Krasnov: The team was formed in the 1990s, if I'm not mistaken. But our coach was Alexander Ryabov (he isn’t here), he got us back on our skates when we were already of a mature age.

Remark: He started the veterans’ movement, it was his initiative.

Vladimir Putin: How did you recruit players? These people, I understand, have been recruited from all over the country.

Remark: The kids played from childhood. They grew up on ice hockey rinks.

Vladimir Putin: In courtyards.

Remark: In courtyards, they started playing in these box-like rinks wearing felt boots. No skates, they started just like that.

Remark: But they probably had the “snegurki” skates?

Remark: What they had was tremendous enthusiasm.

Vladimir Putin: Fetisov tried to stir our pity -- he said, “We had very heavy sticks,” and now we hear that people skated in their felt boots.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: I also skated wearing my felt boots.

Vladimir Putin: That was probably after…

Remark: Everybody started like this.

Remark: Everybody went through this.

Yevgeny Krasnov: That was in the 1970s. Later the driving spirit was Alexander Ryabov, and he created the veterans team. But special thanks are due to the Goznak paper factory, which finances us. The team has been playing in the regional championship for ten years. We couldn’t have done it without financial input.

Vladimir Putin: So it’s an enterprise team?

Yevgeny Krasnov: Yes, it is a team of the Goznak paper factory.

Vladimir Putin: An amateur team?

Yevgeny Krasnov: An amateur team which…

Remark: Like in the good old days.

Remark: Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer such enterprises.

Yevgeny Krasnov: The important thing is that the team has played good hockey, the guys gave the game everything they had. I think the crowd loved it: the palace was full. The crowd enjoyed it because it was beautiful combination hockey with lots of scoring. We tried our best, but we had no luck. What can I say as a coach? Luck was not on our side and you know that luck means a lot in hockey.

Remark: There are no losers today in any case.

Remark: And especially since Mr Putin said that… We have brought up this theme of an ice hockey arena, Krasnokamsk is in dire need of one. It has a glorious sporting tradition.

Vladimir Putin: We did not speak about an ice palace. You want a palace, a pyramid…

Remark: A palace of ice hockey. I'm not speaking for myself, I'm speaking on behalf of the people of Krasnokamsk. It has a population of a little over 50,000. It has sporting traditions, it has a sambo fighting school. We built a sports and fitness complex under the federal programme. Some of our pupils have become world champions, the results are there, but we need an ice palace. We very much hope that…

Vladimir Putin: Mr Yakushev thoroughly liked your game, didn't you?

Alexander Yakushev: Yes.

Remark: They played according to the 1-4 scheme. Anyway, they did their best. 100%!

Vladimir Putin: They tried hard.

Remark: Most importantly, the fans loved it. The arena was packed, that is the main thing. And there were lots of children in the crowd.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, there were a lot of children.

Remark: Sometimes professionals show less commitment than you showed today. You could feel it.

Vladimir Putin: It was beautiful.

Remark: Dedication and drive. The skating technique could do with some improvement, but instead…

Vladimir Putin: You played a beautiful game today.

Remark: The main thing is that the players’ eyes were shining.

Vladimir Putin: I would like to say again that Mr Myshkin praised your goalkeeper and he asked every time who had let the opposing team strike?

Remark: But the goalkeeper made many saves…

Vladimir Putin: Yes of course.

Remark: I shook his hand and thanked him.

Vladimir Putin: You have a permanent team, yes?

Response: Yes, a permanent team that has been around for many years. Our bid lists 20 field players and two goalkeepers. 

Vladimir Putin: You played a great game, well done. Beautiful game.

Remark: It’s a veterans’ team, but it was created with players from all over the place.

Vladimir Putin: What do you mean by all over the place? Where do the players come from?

Response: Most of the players are from our district, the Ordzhonikidze District of the city of Perm.

Vladimir Putin: But you are not all from the same enterprise?

Remark: A third of the players come from the enterprise. Mr Krasnov was just saying that their main funding comes from the paper factory. Vyacheslav Tyrin must take most of the credit for creating this team.

Vladimir Putin: He supports you.

Remark: He does. He is a businessman.

Vladimir Putin: What is your enterprise? What's your business?

Response: It is automotive business. Peugeot.

Vladimir Putin: You sell them?

Vyacheslav Tyrin: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: So what you do is pure charity. You support the team? How much does it cost, may I ask?

Vyacheslav Tyrin: A million a year.

Vladimir Putin: Per year?

Vyacheslav Tyrin: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: What competitions do you play in?

Remark: We play in city and regional competitions, the regional cup.

Vladimir Putin: What do you spend the money on?

Vyacheslav Tyrin: Uniforms, gear, I also pay for the ice.

Remark: Travel.

Vyacheslav Tyrin: Yes, transfers. 

Remark: Our Law “On Charity” is of such a standard…

Vladimir Putin: Every time they mention the Law “On Charity,” they're looking for charity to come from the non-taxable base, but he's doing this out of his own profits. 

Vyacheslav Tyrin: Out of my own pocket, yes.  

Vladimir Putin: From his own money. That is true charity. So Mr Tyrin, just like the plant… 

Remark: Goznak.

Vladimir Putin: …Goznak deserves thanks. And thanks to you, Mr Tyrin and your partners.

Vyacheslav Tyrin: Thank you.

Remark: May I point something out?

Vladimir Putin: Yes.

Remark:  The thing about this tournament is that there are restrictions: only people older than 40 and non-professionals are allowed. Why? For instance, I played hockey from the first through the sixth grades at school. And somebody else did not. So I have been invited and given this opportunity… We grew up together, so Vyacheslav called me and said, “Do you want to play?” I replied: “I'm not ready, you are all professionals there.” He said: “No, this is an amateur league. You can try your hand.” It's good that you have a chance to play before a crowd like this, because if it weren't for this tournament… I cannot play in the regional tournament because there are kids 20 years younger than me and they all are eager to play, and you have no chance to get picked. And here, it’s all, be my guest, the region wants you...

Vladimir Putin: You win because of your skill. 

Remark: Skill and tactics.

Remark: Yes, we can see things, but we are not so quick on our feet any more.

Remark: You know that the puck travels faster than a human being.

Remark: You pass and close up, you fail to pass, you close up. 

Remark: I think I have a future…

Vladimir Putin: You certainly do. But anyway I understand that this tournament and the opportunity to go to Moscow are also an incentive for the guys.

Remark: Absolutely.

Remark: Remember your youth… To me it conjures up The Golden Puck for people over 40’s.

Vladimir Putin: For real men.

Remark: As they say if you revert to childhood a little bit it makes you feel younger, it cheers you up. Why get old before your time?

Vladimir Putin: You are absolutely right. That is true.

Remark: It also gives you discipline.

Remark:  I didn’t mean dementia, but childhood in the good sense of the word.

Vladimir Putin: Well, if you don’t play sports we will all quickly become senile and if we want to postpone that wonderful time we had better play sports, including hockey. Incidentally, I think several women’s team entered their bids, am I right, Mr Yakushev?

Alexander Yakushev: Yes, there will be 20 women’s teams in Moscow.

Vladimir Putin: In the finals, yes?

Alexander Yakushev: There will be a separate tournament for women within our tournament.

Vladimir Putin: Twenty teams is a good number. Are international women’s competitions being held? 

Response: Yes.

Remark: World championships and the Olympics. Women play hockey. We have already had six Olympiads. We placed fifth or sixth. Canadians and Americans share the first and second places because they play at universities.

Remark: World championships have been held among juniors and adult women’s teams for the last twenty years, that’s for sure.

Vladimir Putin: I would like to ask you, Mr Yakushev, and I address this question to our famous masters and to amateurs: the project is already under way, do you already have experience and in this regard do you have any remarks or wishes?

Alexander Yakushev: Only one wish: more ice arenas.

Vladimir Putin: That goes without saying.

Alexander Yakushev: In general, the goal has been set.

Remark: Mr Putin, look, in Tatarstan they have about 60 sports palaces.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: Thirty two.

Remark:  Not sports palaces, but simply indoor boxes.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: Thirty two indoor skating rinks.

Remark: There are 3 million people in the Perm Region and the entire region has just two normal sports palaces: Molot and the palace for oilmen. There is one inflatable tent and the Orlyonok arena which is more dead than alive and will soon have to be demolished – and that’s it. For 3 million people. The Perm Region is a large territory. As large as Switzerland and Denmark combined. And it is hockey country. The infrastructure that exists simply does not permit kids to…

Vladimir Putin: I will reveal a terrible secret: I have decided to support what you do as a hobby partly in order to draw the attention of the federal, but especially of regional authorities, and to induce them to invest more money in these movements and in these facilities. Mr Fetisov and I were just talking about the fact that 300 indoor ice arenas were built in the country in the previous four years. That is about as many as were built during the whole Soviet period. But judging from what you say this is not enough. Part of the reason is that more and more people are playing sports. These two movements must take place in parallel: the building of new facilities and encouraging people to engage in physical culture and sports. We have a corresponding programme and in the near future I think, Mr Fetisov, what is the number?

Vyacheslav Fetisov: Four thousand.

Vladimir Putin: Four thousand sporting facilities.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: About 50 per region.

Vladimir Putin: Yes. The skating rinks must receive their share of attention. We will encourage the regional governments to invest money in these necessary things. 

Remark:  When we were little there was a hockey rink in practically every courtyard. There were about 30-40 such rinks in Krasnokamsk, a city of 50,000 people. Today only three rinks remain in Krasnokamsk. Children have nowhere to skate.

Vladimir Putin: Now these boxes are history. 

Remark: In the Urals the winter lasts for six months, we have temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius for two or three months. Indoor arenas are all well and good, but they are expensive. We still need these primitive box rinks.

Vladimir Putin: What’s the temperature today, minus 20?

Response: Minus 20.

Vladimir Putin: You can't play for long in weather like this.

Remark: We're used to it. Veterans play in minus 40 degree weather, we play four periods. 

Remark: Children today don’t want to play in this weather. We need to build indoor arenas.

Vladimir Putin: We will. You're right, there are not enough of them and we must build more. I would like to repeat that one of my motives is to support what you are doing in order to attract the attention first of all of the regional authorities to the need for this. You see, we are discussing all this now, but that is not where the story ends.

Remark: It all depends on the governor. If the governor in Chelyabinsk is a hockey player, then the game is promoted in Chelyabinsk.

Remark: If the Omsk governor is a hockey player, hockey develops there. We in the Perm Region are not so lucky: our governor is not a hockey player or a football or a basketball player.

Vladimir Putin: It's not an issue of who does what sports. It's about priorities, as I have said many times. Sport is very important for people of your age and of mine – it is extremely important. Over the past year, life expectancy in Russia has increased by 1.5 years, a rare occurrence. An increase in life expectancy by 1.5 years in a single year is exceptional for any country. It has happened here – the average lifespan is already 70.03 years, which meets the standard for a civilized country. What is the reason for this? It has to do with the improved situation in the area of healthcare, reduction of deaths on the roads, occupational accidents and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including sports. It is a series of measures. Infant mortality has gone down… It is the lowest it has been in the last 19 years. Mortality overall has dropped by 5.6 times, so of course…

You know, demographers have an ugly word, dozhitiye (which translates roughly as “living out one’s days”). It refers to when a person retires and leaves this world, and moves on to another, this is called dozhitiye. This period is the same in this country as it is in developed market economies in Europe. But the overall lifespan is shorter in this country because middle-aged men who are still of working age die in large numbers. Why? Alcohol, narcotics, smoking, all sorts of road accidents and industrial accidents. That is one of the reasons why our population is declining. So care for men in our age groups (with no offense meant to the women), encouraging them to play sports and creating conditions for this is very important, it is a national task.

That is why I have supported what you are doing here. This is not my idea, it is your idea, I supported it when I saw it on the Internet. Shoigu told me about it. I was skeptical. I asked him, “How many teams?” He told me that there were 200 teams in Moscow. I said: “Listen, let’s support these guys, they should be encouraged and let’s bring in stars, who are cherished and remembered in this country. Many have grown up with such names as Fetisov, Demarin and Yakushev. Sports enthusiasts keep them in their minds. And I appeal to them and ask them to support us. I think if we all do it together, it will benefit not only those who are engaged in it today, but also future generations. You must have noticed how many children were sitting on terraces and how keenly they were watching and willing you on. Mr Yakushev, there was a kid sitting next to you, what was he saying to you?

 

Alexander Yakushev: Some very professional remarks.

Remark: Actually he said that they skate with straight legs. They don’t bend their legs.

Vladimir Putin: He criticised you, he said you skate on your straight legs.

Remark: We have another charge coming our way – we had eleven foreign teams that have asked to take part. They got word of it and without much ceremony, eleven teams applied to take part. The Canadians are asking to participate.

Remark: Out of competition.

Vladimir Putin: Okay. In this very league?

Response: Yes. In the Moscow playoff part. The Byelorussians, Ukrainians and now Canadians want to join. 

Remark: There is a team called the Kremlins in Toronto, and they are eager…

Vladimir Putin: Won’t they bring in professionals?

Response: It's possible. But it’s a pity we cannot check on that.

Remark: What do you mean? We will check on them.

Remark: They had no professionals in their team. It’s a normal team, with no professionals.

Vladimir Putin: As a rule, they do not cheat. I think it is possible. I don’t know, I’ll have to talk with the guys.

Remark: Only out of competition.

Remark: We won’t build a skating rink.

Remark: A skating rink is needed.

Vladimir Putin: Actually they have enough skating rinks. Mr Fetisov, how many do they have?

Vyacheslav Fetisov: The figures vary, but I know for a fact that there are about 2,000 skating rinks in Canada.

Remark: A bit more.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: America has 1,500.

Remark: Canada has 1,718. I have spoken with the Federation president.

Vladimir Putin: Well, 1,700… About 1,500.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: If we build 300 more we will have about 700, that’s a substantial amount.

Vladimir Putin: So we still don’t have enough.

Vyacheslav Fetisov: Our Youth League is working on that. We have teams where the boys have a goal to work towards, they want to make it onto the junior team, and that is the future of our hockey. That is a great advantage; we already have about 50 teams in the junior league. Just think that four years ago we held competitions for 17-, 18-, 19-year-olds. We packed them up and took them to North America to sell. Now they have their own tournament and they get written about in newspapers. So, the kids have something to work for here at home. Of course it involves a whole complex of things: our veterans, amateurs and juniors and children – a whole hockey family. 

Vladimir Putin: Yes, of course. In fact we have revived The Golden Puck. You know that 300,000 kids play in the Golden Puck tournament.

Remark: There were a million in the Soviet Union.

Vladimir Putin: But 300,000 is not bad either. The Soviet Union had a population of more than 200 million.

Remark: There are 18 student teams in Moscow. That is a separate story. Eighteen teams have been formed by the students themselves.

Vladimir Putin: And in the Leather Ball tournament already 600,000 children play football. These are impressive figures.

Remark: We should also encourage bandy. That’s where it all started.

Vladimir Putin: It's no coincidence that it's called “Russian hockey.”

Remark: A terrific game.

Vladimir Putin: The Swedes always win.

Remark: No, we have made it to the finals, they have Lomanov the son.

Vladimir Putin: All right. I am told that there is an important occasion to celebrate: it is Mr Lapin’s birthday. We have a present for you from all of us.

Igor Lapin: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: We wish success to both teams and we look forward to seeing you in Moscow. Thank you.

Remark:  Thank you.