Mike Keenan, former head coach of Metallurg and National Hockey League (NHL) clubs, said on The Bob McСown podcast that Russian players want to play in the overseas league.
“Russian players dream of the NHL. They are happy that Putin has established a league, invited many countries and succeeded. This was a brilliant political move that united the country. You may not realize it but there seems to be nine time zones. And until it reaches Croatia, the anthem is heard nine times across the country. Every city is cheering for their team, but it’s all part of Russia,” said Keenan.
The new season in the Continental Hockey League (KHL) started with the match played between CSKA and Ak Bars on 1 September. The match ended with Kazan winning 5:2.
On 29 April, on the centennial anniversary of its founding, CSKA defeated Kazan “Ak Bars” with a score of 3:2 in the seventh game of the final series and won the Gagarin Cup. Among the winners, Anton Slepyshev, Vladislav Kamenev and Darren Dietz scored goals, while Kirill Petrov and Dmitry Voronkov scored for the Kazan team.
Previously reportedIt was stated that CSKA hockey players took the field with the letter Z and the emblem of the Espanyol battalion to warm up before the match.