Striker Dmitrij Yaškin (pictured on December 11, 2019).
Moscow – Czech forward Dmitrij Jaškin believes that he will present himself at the hockey world championships in Prague and Ostrava next year. The 30-year-old lost his chance to represent after signing a contract in the Kontinental League a year ago. The management of the Czech Ice Hockey Association (ČSLH) has decided that hockey players from this competition will not be invited to the national team due to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. Jaškin will continue to play in the KHL, last week he signed a three-year contract with Kazan.
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“I hope that something will change by the next World Cup and I will have the opportunity to play for the Czech national team. Unfortunately, this matter is not in my hands,” said Jaškin in a comprehensive interview for the website sport-express.ru, in which he also explained the reasons why he left St. Petersburg for Kazan after a year.
The native of Omsk was the most productive KHL player and the best scorer with 62 points and 40 goals in the regular season. But in the playoffs, St. Petersburg lost to CSKA Moscow and did not confirm the position of the main favorite. In the fight for the Gagarin Cup, Jaškin added five goals and two assists in 14 games, but finished the season injured. He was limited by knee problems.
Jaškin has started at the World Championship and the World Cup, and has played over 300 games in the NHL. He is currently not in contact with anyone from the management of the national team.
“Before the World Cup, one of the coaches asked the top management (ČSLH) if the situation had changed. But everything remains the same – players from the KHL are not called,” said Jaškin. The president of the hockey association Alois Hadamczik confirmed the decision not to call up players from the KHL before the championship.
The most valuable player of the competition in the past season previously played in the NHL for St. Louis with the general manager of the Czech national team, Martin Havlát. “It would be easy to find a common ground with him. But there was no point in calling me and asking me how I'm doing,” said Jaškin.
Three Czech hockey players finished the last year of the KHL – in addition to Jaškin, defender Libor Šulák and striker Rudolf Červený. Yaškin claims that more of them would like to go to Russian clubs, but he is afraid that they will drop out of the national team. “Guys who play in the Czech Republic or Switzerland often write to me and ask about the situation. I am sure that many Czech hockey players would like to return to Russia. But next year the World Cup will be in Prague and many of them want to play there, ” he stated.
