Happy New Year, hockey fans!
With the coming of the New Year, the directors of the KHL would to send their best wishes to all hockey fans and to everyone for whom hockey is more than just a game.
Gennady Timchenko, Chairman of the KHL Board of Directors:
Dear friends, I would like to congratulate all of you ahead of the New Year holidays.
We are coming to the end of 2018. For all of us, this will be remembered for special reasons. For the KHL, the year confirmed the progress we are making towards the objectives outlined in our seven-year strategy and brought many exciting and unforgettable events.
For all fans, I am sure that the Winter Olympics will live long in the memory. In PyeongChang, the Russian team overcame many difficulties – not all of them related to hockey – to win the gold. The champion team was entirely composed of players from the KHL and our league did everything it could to help deliver the victory.
A few weeks before that, January brought another festival of our favorite game when the Week of Hockey Stars came to Kazakhstan. Then, in the spring, Ak Bars wrapped up the 10th anniversary season of KHL hockey by lifting the Gagarin Cup, making history when it won our biggest prize for the third time.
This fall saw the launch of the KHL World Games, a new project intended to promote our League across Europe. Regular season KHL games were staged in Vienna and Zurich, sparking interest in our competition and highlighting the skill levels in our tournament. This is only the first step on our journey towards Europe.
Just over a week ago, we continued our tradition of special games when SKA and CSKA played in a football and proved that our top clubs can attract huge crowds. Nearly 70,000 fans watched the battle between the Army teams. Now we are in the thick of our 11thseason and once again the action is as intense, unpredictable and exciting as ever. This is the kind of thrill that only hockey can give us.
With a few hours to go until the start of 2019, I would like to wish everyone health, happiness, prosperity and the fulfilment of your ambitions. We’re looking forward to seeing you soon at our games.
Live for hockey!
Dmitry Chernyshenko, KHL President:
Dear friends, dear hockey fans,
Soon the clock will strike midnight and another year will be over. In these final moments of 2018, it’s appropriate to reflect on the events of the previous 365 days.
The league has entered its second decade and is successfully implementing the objectives of our seven-year strategy. Few believed that plan was attainable but we can now say that we have met all our targets so far and are on course to deliver all our goals in due course.
We will continue to drive the development of the KHL and, as the bells chime tonight, you can confidently wish for your boldest hockey ambitions.
But that’s all for the future in 2019. For now, I hope everyone can enjoy this holiday in the company of their nearest and dearest. I wish success for you and your favorite teams. Enjoy the game, live for hockey … and we will definitely surprise you!
Happy New Year!
