Attack “Kunlun” Teemu Pulkkinen told that the new limit on foreign players for clubs KHL wasn’t the main reason he spent time away from the team.
In May, the president of the Russian Hockey Federation, Vladislav Tretyak, announced that starting from the new season, Russian clubs in the KHL will only be able to have three foreign players in their squad instead of five as usual. was the case before.
During his KHL career, Pulkkinen played for Dynamo Minsk and Moscow, Lokomotiv and Traktor. After his contract with the Chelyabinsk club ended on April 30, the Finnish striker was left without a team. Pulkkinen signed a contract with Kunlun on September 29.
—You spent some time without a team. Were you worried about this?
– No, everything was fine. Hockey is a sport in which there is a time for everything. I needed to heal my injuries, prepare my body, get in shape. Yes, I was unable to sign a contract before the start of the season, but now I am happy to have the opportunity to play for Kunlun. I’m improving from game to game. Every hockey player needs time to get back into the rhythm of the game and get in better shape. I think very soon my game will improve.
— Can you say that the new limit on foreign players for Russian KHL clubs has complicated the search for a team?
– Maybe. But that certainly wasn’t the main reason. Players cannot influence this situation, there is no point in discussing it. It’s good that everything was finally resolved and now I can play hockey.
— Have you had offers from other leagues?
— Yes, I received a number of offers from European leagues. I carefully considered all the options available to me to choose the best one. I always had a backup option in case the right one didn’t appear,” Pulkkinen told .
Watch live broadcasts of 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

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