Next year the 80th Ice Hockey World Championship will take place in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Russia will welcome the World Championship for the third time after the championships in 2000 and 2007. Four world championships were held in Moscow during the Soviet period (1957, 1973, 1979 and 1986).
However, the Fifth all-Russian Festival of Ice Hockey among amateur teams and the Festival of Night Hockey League Champions will be held in October 6th - 7th in Sochi. On October 6th, Centurion from Chelyabinsk, Kazan Dragons, Neoplan from Yekaterinburg, and Nevsky Legion will play there… On October 7th a gala-match between the Team of Champions of the NHL and the Team of the Board of the NHL will be held.
Alexander Yakushev, two-time Olympic champion and seven-time World champion, President of the NHL, is very satisfied with the progress of the movement of Russian amateur hockey: “Not only is the number of players and the number of teams increasing, but the most gratifying thing is that at the same time the skill level and playing of the teams is increasing. Although we do not necessarily have the task of educating the players of the Russian team for the Olympic Games or the World Championships, nevertheless, it is still a fact which we are very pleased to note. The holding of the qualifying games and the festival, which will be held in Sochi for the 4th time, are also held at a very high level. We all hope that this fifth tournament, which will be attended by the winners of the four previous championships, will be held at a high level as well.”
Georgy Kabanov, deputy head of the department of physical culture and sports of the Ministry of Sports of Russia, points out that the number of people involved in hockey has almost doubled over the past five years, and now it is about 400 thousand people. “The number of indoor facilities with artificial ice constructed and commissioned has increased by 209 units over the past five years. Our citizens are actively involved in hockey. The main tasks are the involvement of the various sectors of the population in the systematic playing of hockey, physical education, a healthy lifestyle. The annual recruitment into the ranks of the Night Hockey League of people from 18 years of age, and as far as I know, we've got 60-year-old guys playing, is pleasing,” Kabanov said.
