Today, the 14th of August, Kontinental Hockey League President Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev celebrates his 59th birthday.

Dear Alexander Ivanovich,

This is the seventh birthday you have enjoyed in your role as KHL President, and each time your employees, the team in whom you have entrusted the care of the League, offers the most sincere congratulations and wishes you the very best in both your personal and professional life. Of course, these things we wish you – good health, good cheer, boundless energy and optimism – are the keys to success in all areas of life, including hockey, with which you have enjoyed such a long and fruitful relationship.

And we must add another traditional wish: may the forthcoming KHL Championship be the finest in its history. This has come true in all six previous years, as each successive season was widely acclaimed to have been even better than the one before, and we can see no reason why the coming campaign should fail to uphold this wonderful tradition.

Indeed, let it continue to be so, forever.

Happy birthday, Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev!