Players of the hockey club “Ak Bars” were honored in the Kazan Kremlin

(KZN.RU, May 30). Today, the honoring of the hockey club “Ak Bars”, the owner of the Gagarin Cup-2018, took place in the Cannon Court of the Kazan Kremlin. Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the RT, gave the champions of the KHL the state awards of the RT and noted the merits of the team in the popularization of hockey.

Asgat Safarov, the head of the Presidential Administration of the RT, Ilsur Metshin , the Mayor of Kazan, Vladimir Leonov, the minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Vladislav Tretiak, the president of the Russian Hockey Federation, Dmitry Chernyshenko, the chairman of the Board and the president of the KHL, Nail Maganov, the president of the Hockey Club “Ak Bars” and the Federation of Hockey of the RT, as well as players, coaches, and employees of the Kazan club took part in the event.

Rustam Minnikhanov noted that thanks to the high achievements of the Kazan club, hockey is becoming more popular in the country. “Over 30 thousand people are engaged in this kind of sport. About 9 thousand children and adolescents visit 50 departments of the Children's Sports School. There are about 200 amateur hockey teams in the republic, in which 2500 sports fans are involved”, said the President of the RT. He added that today all the necessary conditions have been created for hockey in the republic. There are more than 40 ice palaces and 665 open ice boxes in Tatarstan.

R. Minnikhanov presented the state awards of the RT to the champions of the Continental Hockey League. So, Vladislav Tretiak, the President of the Russian Hockey Federation, thanked Rustam Minnikhanov for his contribution to the development of hockey in Tatarstan and noted that “Ak Bars” demonstrated a stable game throughout the season and rightfully won the Gagarin Cup, reports the press service of the President of the RT.

“This victory will remain in the history of hockey”, marked Dmitry Chernyshenko, the chairman of the KHL board. “You took the first cup, now anniversary one. But in general, this is the third cup for the team. Tatarstan raises the level higher, to which all the others should strive”.

On April 22, the Kazan “Ak Bars” took the Gagarin Cup, winning in the fifth match of the finals in CSKA. The team became the three-time holders of the main hockey trophy of the Old World for the first time in world sports history, becoming the five-time champion of Russia.