Happy New Year! Greetings from the KHL management
The Directors of the KHL would like to wish a Happy New Year to all hockey fans, and everyone for whom the sport is far more than just a game.
Gennady Timchenko, Chairman of the KHL Board of Directors
Dear Friends,
2019 is coming to an end. It has been full of memorable moments, of joy and disappointment, success and misfortune. But now, as the new year approaches, I’d like to look back at some of the moments for 2019 will long be remembered in the KHL.
The year started with the traditional All-Star Week. This time it was staged in Tatarstan and, without doubt, left a string of bright memories among everyone who was involved. The Republic of Tatarstan did everything it could to make it a special event and I’d like to thank the authorities and everyone who helped to put on such a lavish, large-scale show. Once again, Tatarstan proved that hockey is its favorite game – not just among organizers and administrators, but most importantly among the regular fans who filled the arenas in Almetyevsk, Nizhnekamsk and Kazan.
In the spring we saw CSKA lift the Gagarin Cup. The Army Club, the most titled in the history of Russian hockey, finally achieved the summit of the KHL. It was a long road, with the team getting steadily stronger year on year. The club drew inspiration from its successes and learned from its failures and, after all that work, was rewarded with the KHL’s top trophy. CSKA joined the ranks of Gagarin Cup winners and then in May it provided six players for Russia’s World Championship roster, which won bronze in Bratislava.
September brought the start of the 12th KHL season and, according to the stats, it is the closest and most exciting in the history of the competition. Right now, nobody could confidently identify all of the teams that will make the playoffs, let alone who might go all the way and lift the cup. With unpredictable games and a wide open race for the playoffs, more fans than ever are coming to the arenas and experiencing the KHL for themselves.
In 2019 we continued two important new initiatives and we can already say that taking regular season games on tour to Europe and staging an open-air Russian Classic have become KHL traditions. In St. Petersburg we had more than 60,000 fans at the game between SKA and CSKA on Dec. 19. Then, a few days later, one of the league’s top rivalries, the Green Derby, went to Davos Switzerland, where Salavat Yulaev edged Ak Bars in a thrilling game in one of Europe’s most historic hockey venues.
Friends, with just a few moments left before the midnight chimes ring in the start of 2020, I’d like to wish you all the best for the year ahead. Happiness, good fortune, success in realizing your dreams, health to all of you and your families!
Happy New Year!
Dmitry Chernyshenko, KHL President
Dear hockey lovers,
We’re all looking forward to a big holiday, which everybody loves to celebrate according to their own traditions. For some, it’s a time for family, for others a time to gather with a boisterous circle of friends; some like to stay home, others head off on vacation. But for everyone, the New Year is a time that brings us together and overcomes the barriers between people.
Similarly, hockey helps to build those bridges. Those who love this game share a common language. When we get on the ice, we can forget about everything except the heat of the battle and the desire to win. And that is the KHL’s most important role: bringing people together through the best game in the world.
In 2019 we continued to implement our seven-year plan, taking several important steps forward and implementing large-scale projects that are enabling us to make the KHL even more competitive and thus more attractive to fans and commercial partners alike.
In summing up the year, I can say that the league is financially stable. We have extended our agreements with our key partners, who include many big companies that lead the world in their fields of expertise.
2019 saw the KHL climb to a new level of technological sophistication. In September, at the start of the season, we implemented our ‘smart puck’ system of sporting data. The KHL is the first pro league in the world to roll out a big data system on this scale. ‘Smart pucks’ enable us to create a unique, wide-ranging statistical database in a way that was never previously possible. And it’s just the start – we’re expecting even more in future – but even now we can see how it is helping clubs refine their tactics and giving fans a new insight into their favorite sport.
Also in 2019 the KHL started working with tech company SAP to create a unified database of all hockey fans. This will enable us to communicate directly with each individual KHL fan and provide offers and services tailored to everyone’s personal needs and wishes. Once again, the KHL is taking the lead with this initiative: no other league in the world has any comparable database about fans from all its clubs.
We’re delighted to see that interest in the KHL continues to grow. At present, we are enjoying the most competitive tournament in the league’s history and are rewarded with the highest attendances ever at our games. And that proves that we are on the right path.
We are always ready to change and develop in response to the latest trends, without abandoning our great hockey history. Another big KHL project in 2019 was the establishment of a complete statistical record of every ice hockey championship in Russia and the Soviet Union since 1946. In December we signed an agreement with the Russian State Library to support this work, but the task can never be accomplished without the help of our fans. And I’m delighted to see how many people have responded to this campaign and shared their records with the KHL. Together, we can fill in all the remaining blanks in the history of hockey in our country.
Dear friends! We are looking forward to continuing with these great efforts in 2020. And, as well as keeping up with the work that we have started, we are eager to start new plans, relying on your support, enthusiasm and love for hockey.
Allow me to wish all of you health, happiness and peace in the coming year. We look forward to welcoming you to our games soon. Live hockey!
