Advisor to the Managing Director for the development of Lada Igor Grigorenko spoke about the great interest in hockey in the Samara region, as well as how he agreed to enter the structure of the Togliatti club.
In the 2023/24 season, Lada returned to the Kontinental Hockey League after five years. In the first three matches of the new season, the team suffered three defeats.
— More recently, you became the CEO’s Development Advisor. What was your reaction when you received the offer?
— Of course, the reaction was positive. It is not a club that is foreign to me and it gave me the path of life. This offseason, I received an offer that I accepted with pleasure. Hockey is my life, my element. And I’m very happy to work in my home club, my hometown. Now Lada is on the rise, has returned to the KHL, and we will revive the traditions of Togliatti hockey.
– How long have you thought about the proposal?
No, I made a quick decision.
What will your responsibilities be?
– I am engaged in development, I start with children’s and youth hockey. I interact with the CSK Air Force team with which we have a cooperation agreement. And of course I pay attention to the first team. We are moving towards the same goal, for our young people to grow up to be worthy of the first team.
– The club’s return to the KHL was supported by President Putin. Can we assume that it was the initiative of the president that influenced the return of the Lada?
– Of course, President Putin’s words influenced the club’s return to the KHL. The governor of the Samara region also spoke about the fact that the region and the city live from hockey. You look at the attendance of the first matches of Lada, and everything will become clear to you. People are calling asking for tickets because the hype is such that it’s impossible to get tickets. And above all, our children go to hockey.
– You doubted before the season that Lada would be able to compete in the KHL. What has changed now?
– When I expressed my opinion, the team was completely empty. There were no transfers, the team was understaffed. At that time, the composition was of the VHL level. I don’t want to say anything bad about the VHL, but in the end we got into the KHL and the team should be worth it. But now it’s a completely different team, good players have been added,” Grigorenko told Sport24.
Watch the matches of the FONBET KHL Championship on the Match holding channels, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.
Sport24
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.
