Robert Rooba, the striker of the Estonian hockey team and who played in the ranks of the Cherpovets Severstal of the KHL club, went to ETV to talk about the arrival and status of KHL from Russia. They also looked back on the journey of becoming the best hockey player in Estonia.
Rooba, who was the first Estonian to join KHL last year, came from Russia a few days ago, because like the whole world, his club heard about the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
"When the news came, everyone was in such a terrified state. I was consuming European and Western media, I was getting the right information. The distortion started later, as things progressed. "In fact, the most intense days for me were the following days, when my moral compass started working and I started to think that I didn't have a chance to go to the square. It wouldn't be right to go to the square in KHL in that situation," said Rooba. decided to leave the club.
"There were a lot of things that moved me to one side or the other, but in the end I made that decision and I don't remember if it was 27 or 28 when I went to the club management and let me know my decision or my position. "They emphasized that it will be over immediately and then you can play again. But I also realized that it will not end in two or three days," said Rooba.
He added that the players in the club have very different media fields. "I can't blame my teammates for being born in Russia and living in this media for a lifetime."
The best hockey player in front of him said that the future of KHL does not look bright. "As Russia is a very big hockey country and we say a country that has a great influence on world hockey, in the current situation, where Russia is somewhat isolated from all kinds of sports, including hockey, I think it will change a lot of what is happening in European hockey in particular. At the moment, there may be a slight vacuum in the player market that no one knows for sure exactly what will happen next. It may not be next year, and everyone knows where this money is coming from for this league, how big the link is with the Russian state's economic situation in this league. "commented Rooba, who therefore has questions about his future.
"I think my future will continue somewhere in Europe. It's hard to speculate about the exact country right now, whether it's Finland, it's Sweden, it's Germany or Switzerland. There are strong leagues in Europe and I'm ready to take on a new challenge."