Oleksandr Panchenko, coach of SDYUSSHOR-2002 Kharkov, Champions of U16 Carpathian Junior Hockey League for season 2017/2018...

Few weeks ago, CJHL season finished. Team under your coaching dominated. Was you expecting such a course when the season started?

Honestly speaking, the victory was expected. At least, we were ready for this, we'd been preparing.

How would you evaluate this season? Did the combats in CJHL match your expectations?

It was great experience for the team but the next year I expect for the increase in sports skills in the tournament participants.

Your players dominated over the league individual statistics, too. What is the secret of your success?

The team's success is based on a game discipline. This helped our players to show their best individual skills that lead to strong performance of our team as a whole. Summing up, our pride is our team discipline.

Serhii Poimanov became the absolute and intrepid statistic leader. He scored more goals than the second and the third best League shooters together. Is he a natural shooter or do you devote special time and attention to his shooting during the workouts?

I cannot but have to acknowledge Serhi's natural talent of the shooter. All the while, it is a known fact that only hard work make us who we are. I hope he will continue to develop his skills day after day.

Your team won all games in the first three rounds, nevertheless they lost 4 points in the final round. Was there the lack of concentration behind as the first place was sure?

My goal for the final round was to keep my boys motivated. It was harder than in three previous rounds even more after the first win over a Slovakian team in the fourth round. It is a challenge for any team coach to keep the heads cool and it's a part of the game.

You had to travel almost 6000km going to and from four CJHL rounds.... 

We should remember that Ukraine is one of the largest European countries and we've traveled that much for domestic competitions. But still sometimes it was harder than usual, we lived with it.

How did you travel? How did the boys pass those long journeys?

Most commonly, we traveled through Ukraine by train changing to a bus to complete our journeys in the host countries. The boys spent time as all travelling people do enjoying views from the window, having fun. There is nothing special about it.

What will the preparation for new season look like in Kharkov?

At the end of May we'll start our one-and-a-half-month holidays spending this time of our own, renewing and relaxing. In the mid of July we'll meet to have our plans for the season, to undergo health checks, to start introducing trainings.

There is usually no much time between just ended season and the preparation for the new one. What are your plans for these rest moments? Any vacation?

Each of us will have rest in their own way. The principal task of rest is to rest. So let's do it right!

(the interview was provided in English and is published without any corrections)