In a telephone conversation with the team’s trainer, Vyacheslav Bykov, and director of the Federal Agency for Physical Culture and Sports, Vyacheslav Fetisov, Mr Medvedev congratulated the players, trainers and fans on the victory and wished future success. The President said that this victory would not have been possible without the determination and dedicated effort of the Russian players. He also noted that Russia’s successful development over these last years has contributed to the country’s recent victories in football, ice hockey and other sports.
This is the second time Russia’s ice hockey team has won the World Championship. The first time was in 1993. The Soviet Union’s national ice hockey team won the event 20 times.