Famous sports manager Kamil Gadjiev in an interview with , he explained the phenomenon of Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo in the KHL championship and noted the effective play of the team’s young forward Vasily Atanasov .
Torpedo leads the Western Conference. Igor Larionov’s team suffered only one defeat in six matches. 20-year-old Atanasov, who was not selected by anyone in the NHL draft, is third on the list of top scorers in the KHL, scoring 9 (5+4) points in five games.
— Explain, as a promoter and former manager of the Admiral, what is the phenomenon of the Nizhny Novgorod torpedo? A year ago they took a young player from the MHL Vasily Atanasov. He is now the third scorer in the KHL. Is it that simple?
— It is very important that Torpedo retained Igor Larionov. After last season, it must be admitted, many had the idea that Larionov could be invited to a big club. But he remained, and from that moment on, Nizhny Novgorod residents began to develop hockey with renewed energy. It became clear what kind of person this case could be built on.
Nobody is putting pressure on Larionov from the point of view of the market situation. You can’t tell him who to put where. He himself knows how to do it. I saw the boy and gave him a chance. In addition, “Torpedo” is still limited by the budget. And I know this for myself: the less money you have, the better your fantasy works.
Yes, Torpedo is experimenting. But what is the risk here? If Atanasov hadn’t played, they wouldn’t have even noticed. But he started playing! So it’s possible. And the paradigm that everyone has been talking about for a long time is starting to work: we must give young people a chance.
Well, they gave it to me, put it in the right links and allowed me to open up. And everything went well. Because it was done by a competent specialist. And we know what motivation is in sport. Everyone started writing about Atanasov from the start of the season. The guy reads this, or they tell him about it. He wants to be even more handsome. And it is not a lethargic seal with a salary of 100 million a year, whose life is good, and the contract with you cannot be terminated so easily. And you must eat away at the earth.
And now everything works. To be honest, the guys see themselves in the NHL one day. There is something to prove. Additionally, Atanasov was undrafted and can choose his own team. Many factors interact. What is important is that people from Nizhny attend hockey matches. They get high through hockey. They will have a new arena in 2025. Believe me, everything will be fine there,” Gadzhiev said for .
Watch Fonbet matches of the KHL championship on the channels of the Match holding company, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
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.
