Kirill Kabanov: I want to apologize in front of all Russian hockey fans

New York Islanders forward Kirill Kabanov has apologised to the Russian fans for the critical statements he used to make about Russia and its hockey.

«Switching focus to the Russian National Team, a year ago you said no matter what, you would never go back to to play in Russia. Have you changed your mind at all about that? Would you consider playing for a team in the KHL or playing for the Russian National Team if they asked you to?»

«Well I still love my country. I am a patriot of my country. I said some bad things about it before but I was too young to understand what I was saying, so I just wanted to apologize in front of all Russian fans and KHL fans.

«I don’t know if I would go to play in the KHL because I want to try to make my career in the NHL, but if something will go wrong, I will always be happy to come back to play for the Russian National Team. But now I will do anything it takes to become an NHL player because it has been my dream since childhood,» Kabanov stated in his interview with The Hockey Writers.