Interviews on SHL Players

Big Interviews today coming from a few of the biggest players some of the old timers, and the younger stars.

Pietra Volkova Interview:

Alright well after hearing that you are hanging up the Skates. If you could go back over your career what would you say are the bright spots over the career you have had?

Well, my gold medal with Team Russia in S38 was certainly one of them. I've spent over ten seasons in my career as one of the federation heads for Team Russia, and it was just such an amazing experience to get to win gold with my team, many of whom I had been really close friends with basically from the moment I joined the site. Going first overall in the SHL draft was definitely another, it was a really humbling experience. My Four Star Cup my rookie season... An eighth-seed into the playoffs (at the time, there were only 8 teams in juniors) and we stormed to win it all, with an amazing locker room and a team that was just so super close... Honestly, I was never much of an award-winner, but I had a nice career, all things considered.

So over the 15 Seasons from when you were prospect up to now have you grown as a person you would say? Has it changed you? Helped you become more mature of a person? God, I feel so old now that you've pointed out how long it's been, lol. Yeah, I'd say so. I've had a roller coaster of experiences on the site, to be sure. Lot of ups, some downs, you know. But I've grown, and I've gotten to learn a lot from the people around me. Teammates, friends, etc. It's been nice. You meet some really cool people over the course of a career on this site. If you could have changed anything along the experience, would you?

There are a lot of things I wish I could change, most of which I would honestly prefer not to comment on? The one thing I will say is that at times, I wish I had prioritized how I was feeling and how things were affecting me in certain situations over what I thought people would think of me for them, and I didn't. But oh, well. You can't change the past.

Yes, very much so, but over your legendary career would you say that being a woman would change any of that? You have been among the best. For a very long time, but did Men think of you differently in the locker room, on the ice, off the ice?

Not the men whose opinions mattered to me, ultimately, let's put it that way.

Last Thing for you. Hearing News of Friends Savoli Tankovic, and Sergi Volchenkov making huge starts to their career this week, and are becoming big rivals in trash talking. Can you comment on what you think the future holds between these 2, and what your opinion is on the skill of each of them? The beauty of this league is that you get out what you put into it. So if the two of them start to nip at each other’s heels and put the work in, they’re going to go a very long way in this league. As for their skill level, well... That remains to be , they’re young. I’ll be scouting Volchenkov in my routine with Russia, so I do look forward to seeing both his and Tankovic’s progress. No further questions were asked of, but I did get to ask her after the interview what were her future plans after retirement. She was very kind in the manner of answering this question. Well, she finally gets to settle down with her husband (former SHL goaltender Olli O’Koivu) for some stability. It’s hard, living that jetset life of an athlete. Both of their kids are in juniors now, so they get to just live a normal life for once. And Volks will keep running Russia as a federation head during IIHF season, same way she has been doing since S30. Sad to see a League Legend leave the game, but after a 15 Years, she will be guaranteeing that she is calling it a career. Pietra Valkova one of the greats players to play in the SHL. Goodbye PK41.