General Director of Nizhny Novgorod “Torpedo” Alexander Kharlamov believes that the goalkeeper Nikolai Khabibulin is able to benefit the team in the matches of the Fonbet KHL Championship, just like the 40-year-old was able to do Ilya Kovalchuk who signed a contract with Spartak.
On Wednesday, Nizhny Novgorod announced an agreement until the end of the season with 50-year-old Khabibulin. Olympic champion and Stanley Cup winner with Tampa, Khabibulin is a goalkeeper coach on Igor Larionov’s staff at Torpedo. The goalkeeper will wear number 39.
— First of all, we look at this contract from a sporting point of view. In addition, this is a new step in the popularization of the club throughout the country and abroad. You can see how Spartak paid special attention to Ilya Kovalchuk, who plays in the main lineup and brings advantages to his team on the ice. I’m sure Nikolai Alexandrovich can do it too.
We now have two excellent goalkeepers – Adam Huska and Ivan Kulbakov. But a third goalkeeper and an experienced substitute wouldn’t hurt. That’s why this idea was born. We have been wearing it for a long time, and now the stars, as they say, have aligned. And the coaching team under the leadership of Igor Larionov fully approved this story. I can note that the prospect of seeing Nikolai Alexandrovich appear in goal is considerable and very realistic. Now he needs some time to find some rhythm and form, and no one has canceled the competition,” Kharlamov was quoted as saying by the Torpedo press service.
Khabibulin won Olympic gold in 1992. In Russia, the goalkeeper played for CSKA Moscow and Ak Bars Kazan. He holds the record for most NHL appearances among Russian goaltenders: he played 799 games for clubs like Winnipeg, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Edmonton. In 2004, Khabibulin won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning.
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.
