There has been no KHL in Khabarovsk for more than six months – since February. After a long away streak at the start of the new season, Amur finally returned home, opening the regular season with a match against Kunlun Red Star. At the match, the correspondent met with the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Mikhail Degtyarev, who explained in detail why next year the period without hockey in the city will be much shorter – Amur is seriously aiming to make noise during the playoffs. Furthermore, the head of the region declared:
— The hockey community rather humorously perceives your ambitious goal with the Gagarin Cup for Love by 2026. How do you feel about this reaction?
— In general, I have a normal attitude towards such a reaction, even positive. It will be all the sweeter for us to see their sad faces. There may be a little provocation here to provoke everyone, it won’t hurt anyone. But we set the club’s task very seriously and together we are gradually moving towards it.
It is necessary to understand that without serious tasks, without an overall goal, nothing will happen. You can invest billions, you can hire the best coaches and players, but without ideas there will never be a result. We have a clear idea: to be the best team in the KHL. If in Russian hockey we already have the best club in the country, SKA-Neftianik, then in ice hockey we have not yet done so.
— Can we say that this is part of Sergei Fursenko’s set of tasks to win the 2018 World Championship? That is, something unattainable that you must achieve in order to grow?
– Yes, a good example. In 2010, the RFU was talking about the final, about winning the 2018 World Cup, even though everyone laughed at that moment. But when the Spaniards died eight years later, for some reason fewer people laughed. I was present at this match where the whole country supported the Russian team. If we take an example from hockey, there is a very recent one – “Vegas”, which no one believed in either.
You know, I had the pleasure of looking at all the memes that appeared after the announcement of “Strategy 2026”. Can you imagine the excitement we created just talking about the club’s goal? Only thanks to this statement did the Russians learn that we have a developed region here, that fighter jets, Superjets, corvettes are manufactured in the Khabarovsk Territory, and gold is mined. And now they know that the sport is actively developing in Khabarovsk. Let ordinary people laugh, but we manage to promote our region, especially through hockey.
“Amur” is one of our most important brands. I can tell you a secret: I gave the club the task of opening an accessories store in the center of Moscow. And we certainly will, if not this year, then next. In other words, in the capital, it will be possible to buy goods with our Amur tiger in the place where the boutiques of some Louis Vuitton or Yves Saint Laurent were recently located. We are considering Stoleshnikov Lane as a location.
– Let’s move on to the money. What is Love’s budget for this year? It is clear from the transitions that he has grown considerably. Can we say that Amour has become a club of oligarchs?
– There is money. That’s the first thing. Second: yes, the budget has increased, but slightly. The most important thing we have done is to increase spending efficiency. “Amur” learned to win himself. Last year alone, the club earned more than 125 million rubles from merchandise, subscriptions, tickets and various marketing stories. This is a record in the entire history of Khabarovsk hockey. The budget increased thanks to new partners, as evidenced by advertising on the Amur uniform. A lot of people support us, but I’m sure that from year to year the number of people willing to invest in hockey will only increase.
Another important part of the budget is that we learned to save money by expelling all the ineffective managers from Love. I don’t want to offend anyone, but I had to disperse a lot of people so that financial purity was established in the hockey club.
— About “dispersed”… Do you have enough patience to wait for the results of the new management team?
– Enough. Look at SKA-Khabarovsk, Roman Sharonov has been building a team for the second year now. I saw that some supporters are unhappy and are asking to change the technical staff. As chairman of the board, I can say with confidence: Sharonov will work until the end of the season. We will talk about his future career once the championship is over.
It’s the same thing in hockey. Andrey Alekseevich and I [Мартемьяновым] We agreed from the outset that we would give him absolute carte blanche, including in matters of transfers. He builds a team, neither the governor nor the club management gets involved. The request will therefore come first from him. I think the team created a good sporting unit and did a quality job in that regard. We are waiting for the result.
— Are you looking forward not only to reaching the playoffs, but also to having a good performance in the Gagarin Cup, like the Admiral did this spring?
— Yes, we’re going to make some noise in the playoffs. The goal was set: for the team to enter the playoffs with confidence, and not at the last moment. To do this, you must finish the first half of the championship in the top three, so as not to catch up later. This is an intermediate task, for which we are also ready to thank both the coach and the players. The problem must be resolved immediately and, as they say, hit the tugboat. A good start suggests that this rather ambitious intermediate task is achievable.
— Do you think the Platinum Arena is too small for a club that aims to win the Gagarin Cup in three years? After the completion of the arenas in Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod, it will be one of the smallest palaces in the KHL. Especially considering how popular hockey is in your city.
— They really like hockey. Last season we were in the top ten in terms of attendance among all KHL clubs, and this season we can be in the top three. This season, thanks to increased enthusiasm, we earned 25 million rubles just from subscriptions. All three games in the first home series are sold out and tickets are hard to find in town.
As for the new arena, I have already chosen a location for it. The game “Cupid” will show how and with what we will build. The Platinum Arena itself is in perfect condition, but we have plans for a new palace. I am sure that as soon as we have the Gagarin Cup, as we want, we will find investors for the new arena.
For the “Platinum Arena”, Viktor Lopatyuk should be warmly thanked. He is an entrepreneur who built a palace with his own money and donated it to the region. You can see for yourself how well he built it: the arena has survived 20 years and is in perfect condition. And he will survive. Lopatyuk has now been abroad for a long time. Taking this opportunity, I would like to officially invite him here to Khabarovsk for hockey, he will have no problems here.
— You’re helping Cam Lee with citizenship. Is there an answer on your line?
— The process is ongoing. There is a deadline set by law for foreign citizens to obtain citizenship, and it has not yet passed. I signed the petition, I was happy to do so. As I have said many times, we see in him a keen interest in our country, in the Khabarovsk Territory. He is an athlete who became attached to us. Believe me, if he didn’t love our region, our country, our people, he would never have taken such a step in his life.
— Would you like to host the Russian national team on the May tour?
– My pleasure. We would like to invite the Russian national team to a tour of the Far East in May and we will warmly welcome you. I think that if such a tour takes place, there will be an incredible excitement in Khabarovsk, there will not be a single empty seat, we will also install screens on the street and create a fan zone for those who made it . I don’t have room. And I am sure that the logistical difficulties can be resolved.
You might think about how to combine it with Russian hockey. We regularly organize friendly matches between Amur and SKA-Neftyanik, our champions. Half the game is played with the puck, the other half with the ball. The public loves this show. Maybe this will resonate on a higher level. As a member of the FHR Board of Directors, I will raise this question: the Russian national team in Khabarovsk is really tired of waiting.
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.
