Press-conference before the 2023 Liga Stavok Sochi Hockey Open

Ahead of the 2023 Liga Stavok Sochi Hockey Open, a press-conference took place.

Liga Stavok president Yury Kraskovsky:

- As a company, we're proud of the support which we are offering our senior national team and Russian club ice hockey. This is a great excuse for us to all meet ahead of the start of the upcoming campaign. Just like in May during the national team's tour, we're confident that the stands will be full!

I would like all of us to pay attention to the superheroes in the comics which our company has produced. Our superheroes, who are successful Olympians, are representing the whole of Russia. At this tournament, our players will make the supporters happy with their exciting performances on the ice.

Furthermore, I would also like to point out the 3-on-3 competition. 3-on-3 ice hockey is a quick, dynamic sport which is capturing the attention of our youth. There will also be competitions for the fans here with the prize fund amounting to one million rubles.

SKA head coach, Russia 25 head coach and the first vice-president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation Roman Rotenberg:

- I want to thank all of the competition's participants, they have taken their best players to Sochi for these matches. It will be a competition of a high level. Thanks to our cooperation with Liga Stavok and our general sponsor Gazprom, we possess the opportunity to stage such tournaments. Our games will be shown on Match TV which will consequently allow everyone to enjoy the exciting ice hockey on show. Taking into account that we aren't participating at World Championships at the moment, it's vital for us to help the next generation develop. We need to think about the future, and we understand how to implement our plan which will subsequently allow us to beat any opponent at international level again. Together with Liga Stavok and Gazprom, we are engaging in efforts to assist youth ice hockey in our country.

Russia 23 head coach Nikolai Voevodin:

- Firstly, I would like to thank the Russian Ice Hockey Federation for naming me as the head coach of the national team for this competition. Our team is full of promising, talented guys who have travelled here to show their best ice hockey at KHL level and prepare for the campaign. The squad consists of players who are under the age of 23 and are making their maiden steps at senior level, and they're all full of desire to prove that they are capable of being leading figures for their respective clubs. It's great that their teams allowed them to compete for the national side at this tournament.

Competition schedule:

August 3

SKA - Admiral, 15:00*
Sochi - Russia, 19:30

August 4

Sochi - Avangard, 19:30

August 5

Russia - Admiral, 12:00
SKA - Avangard, 16:30

August 6

Sochi - SKA, 16:00

August 7

Avangard - Russia, 14:30
Sochi - Admiral, 19:30

August 8

Avangard - Admiral, 15:00
Russia - SKA, 19:30

*All times in accordance with Moscow time