The head coach S.K.A. Romain Rotenberg reported that the newcomers club Brendan Leipsik expressed a desire to accept Russian citizenship and wrote a letter to the President of Russia Vladimir Poutine .
The Canadian joined SKA in June 2023. His contract with the army is for two seasons and will be valid until April 30, 2025.
– Very soon our team will have one more Russian citizen. SKA newcomer Brendan Leipsik has expressed a desire to take Russian citizenship and has written a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In football it is quite common practice, more recently Zenit players Malcolm and Claudinho received Russian passports, and Brazil in football is like Canada in hockey. Now we need to strengthen our championship as much as possible, and if such a strong hockey player as Brendan receives Russian citizenship, it will only strengthen his desire to play in the KHL.
Brendan has lived in Russia for three years, now he will play in St. Petersburg for SKA, and during this time he traveled all over Russia, he became his own here. It’s no secret that in North America he suffered prejudice and injustice, while in Russia all these years he felt only the support of fans, coaches and partners. His favorite player is Alexander Ovechkin, and in Canada he grew up with the game of our great hockey players, like Pavel Bure. Maybe Brendan himself will one day play in the form of the Russian national team.
For SKA and all of our hockey, this is an important story. We will do our best to help Brendan fulfill his desire and obtain Russian citizenship. This is a bold and responsible step on his part, which can only be welcomed,” Rotenberg wrote in his telegram channel .
Leipsik played in the NHL from 2016 to 2020, where he played for Toronto, Vegas, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Washington.
Since 2020, the Canadian has been playing in the KHL, in the league he played for CSKA and Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Twice with his teams, Leipsik reached the final of the Gagarin Cup and scored a total of 142 (54+88) points in 204 regular season and playoff games.
Last season, 29-year-old Leipsik scored 44 (11+33) points in 65 regular season appearances for Magnitogorsk and scored 11 (2+9) points in 11 Gagarin Cup games.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
