‘NHL stars to play in Sochi 2014’ – KHL Exec

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Published time: February 05, 2013 21:04
Edited time: February 06, 2013 01:04

A watertight agreement exists with the National Hockey League that will free its players for the Sochi Games, says KHL board member, Valery Kamensky.

­“We have the Olympics in Sochi next year. It’s the main event,” Kamensky told Sportbox.ru “We all must prepare for it. Everything must be done for our national team to succeed there and take gold medals.”

“By the way, it’s very good that there’s already an agreement that the NHL players will take part in the Olympics. It’s 100 per cent certain decision. Hockey in Sochi will be very interesting,” he added.

The hockey tournament is expected to become one of the main highlights of the Sochi Olympics, which will take place between February 7 and 23 next year.

But if the National Hockey League won’t go on break during the Games – like it did for Vancouver 2010 – the event may lack some of its biggest stars.

Previously, one of Russia’s top players, Alex Ovechkin, said that he’ll go to Sochi no matter of the NHL’s decision, violating his contract with the Washington Capitals.

The current KHL’s board member and head of the league’s Sports and Disciplinary committee, Valery Kamensky, quit playing hockey back in 2005.

He’s one of the most successful Russians in the NHL where he earned 501 points (200 goals and 301 assists) and won the 1996 Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.