All that glitters... All the winners. KHL-10 Closing Ceremony
Red carpets and stars of hockey, politics, and show business, with trophies and medals glittering under the glare of the spotlight, limelight, and flash photography, elegant ladies in eye-popping outfits, and last, but by no means least, more than two dozen awards for the greatest players and all the other heroes whose exploits made the jubilee season of the KHL Championship such a roaring success.
KHL.ru looks back on the Closing Ceremony of the tenth season of the KHL.
Photo: 23.05.18. 23.05.18. Official 2017/2018 KHL season сlosing сeremony
The foyer of the Barvikha Luxury Village hotel was adorned with images from previous Championships, including a picture of Alexei Morozov with the real-life version standing nearby, and when the illustrious guests were all seated, a giant screen showed them more reminders of the KHL's short-but-glorious history, before the curtain was raised and the gala evening officially got underway in the already traditional manner - with a welcoming speech from the Chairman of the League's Board of Directors, Gennady Timchenko.
”The most important thing I would like to say is that we believe a strong League means a strong national team, and in this – our tenth anniversary season, Russia won Olympic gold with a team of players drawn solely from the Kontinental Hockey League. We waited 26 years for this triumph, and when we welcome onto this stage the heroes of the 10th KHL season, some of them will be Olympic Champions. I would like to congratulate all the teams, coaches, players, veterans, our legions of fans and all who who love hockey. And I would like to thank them also. Happy anniversary! Live for hockey!”
By now, all the awards and prizes had been handed out, but there was one more event to go, and for this the hosts invited all the winners back to the stage.
Last year, the KHL dreamed up a wonderful surprise for the undisputed hero of that season, Magnitka marksman Sergei Mozyakin, by tracking down the record-breaking forward's childhood coach, Gennady Khaletsky, to the closing ceremony where he could present his former pupil with one of his many awards. And for the Super Six who received the Golden Helmet for being selected in the Team of the Season, the organizers resurrected last year's feature, to the delight of all the players and everyone in attendance.
Taking the stage were Gennady Kurdin (Nikita Gusev's first coach), Alexander Kovalevsky (Konstantin Barulin), Alexander Mikolenko (Bogdan Kiselevich), Sergei Demenshin (Nikita Tryamkin) and Igor Znarok (Vitaly Kravtsov).
These mentor-coaches took their rightful place among the heroes of the evening, and the tenth anniversary season of the KHL officially reached The End.
