International Ice Hockey Federation

Interviewing Terglav

Interviewing Terglav

“A good life experience”

Published 15.05.2017 16:18 GMT+2 | Author Eleonore Gombault
Interviewing Terglav
Photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
Edo Terglav, Slovenia’s assistant coach, is in charge of Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups de Grenoble during the season. That’s why these Worlds are special for him.

We recently caught up with Terglav for an interview.

Edo, what do you think of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship’s facilities in general and the AccorHotels Arena in particular?

Well, I've been here a few times already. I came with the clubs of Briançon and Grenoble to play the final of the Coupe de France. But at that time, I couldn’t imagine how the AccorHotels Arena would function on a daily basis over a long period of time. Everything is well-thought out: the changing rooms, the facilities for the players, the ice. There is nothing else to say, it’s really good.

You know this arena from winning the Coupe de France in February 2017 here, with three Slovenian players playing for Grenoble. Was it special to come back here?

Yes, it is, for sure. For me, the AccorHotels Arena is a kind of a "gem", where during my career I was very successful. So, to come here for the World Championship with the Slovenian team, it’s like a dream.

Is it easier to coach players whom you already know, such as David Rodman, Bostjan Golicic and Anze Kuralt?

It's a different team with a different mentality. But it's true that it's easier with these players because we already have a connection and it can be an advantage. However, they are only three of the 25 players on the Slovenian team, so ultimately it doesn’t mean that much.

We’ll assume you’re a little disappointed with your team's results. Can you still take away some positives from these Worlds in Paris? You got a point from the overtime loss to Switzerland and played well in the first two periods against Finland.

Every game against a big nation represents a good life experience in itself. This is something that sometimes only happens once in a career. But yes, I think that the match against Switzerland when we were losing by four goals and then we tied it up was one of the highlights of this World Championship. On the other hand, there have been many negative things, and we are very disappointed about being relegated. That’s the law of sport and we’ve learned a lot. Now we’ve got to move on quickly because we have a game tonight against France and we have to show that even if we go down, we can play a good game and finish on a positive note.

For you, as someone who’s been in France for 13 years, it’s certainly a special game, isn’t it?

Yes, that's for sure! I looked at the calendar ages ago to see when we would play against the French. I have friends who play for the French team, and there are players I played with, so yes, it's going to be very special. Even if today there is no longer any stake for Slovenia, for me personally, it’s important to meet France. So I hope it's going to be a good game!

Despite the relegation, Slovenia has an important task next season with the Olympics. How are you going to approach the Winter Games?

That's another step. It’ll be here soon, but for now, we must look to take away the positives from these Worlds. Afterwards, we will be able to prepare the team specifically during our training camps to arrive at the Olympic Games in good condition, and hopefully we’ll get good results.

 

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