Meeting between Vladislav Tretiak and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

The Big National Team Tour started in Astana on May 2nd, with Russia 25 set to compete against the senior national teams representing Kazakh.

The sporting delegation of our country is headed by the President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak. As part of his visit to Astana, the three-time Olympic champion and legendary goalkeeper was received by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During their meeting, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Tretiak discussed issues of cooperation between the two countries in the field of ice hockey development.



Tokayev mentioned to Tretiak that the popularity of ice hockey across Kazakhstan has grown significantly in the last few years. Barys Astana are competing in the Kontinental Hockey League, Snezhnye Barsy are in the Junior Hockey League and several new ice hockey schools are popping up around the country.

"As Vladimir Putin always says, our countries are in brotherly relations," stated Tretiak. "I'm happy that we have the opportunity to use ice hockey as a tool to further strengthen our closeness. The RIHF is regularly in contact with the Kazakh Ice Hockey Federation, we're in good relations and are always broadening our cooperation opportunities. We often play against each other too, with Kazakhstan always being invited to participate at the Channel One Cup in December and our national team competing here in Astana with the Kazakhs preparing for the World Championship. Last year, their experience of playing against Russia helped them to perform successfully at the World Championship and earn three victories."



Tokayev himself revealed that Kazakhstan's positive performances at the World Championship helped raise the popularity of ice hockey in his nation.

Furthermore, Tretyak mentioned the importance of sharing its innovation and developments in the field of ice hockey with Kazakhstan: "Russian ice hockey has produced a large amount of star players," explained the RIHF President. "We know have the Red Machine National Development Program which contains unique, effective methods concerning the development of talented players. This program has already been in use for six years. We want to help our brotherly countries progress and reach new heights; during this visit, RIHF specialists held training sessions in Astana for young Kazakh players in accordance with the Red Machine National Development Program. Given that I was a goalkeeper, I also held a training session for the goaltenders, focusing on the importance of how to prepare yourself psychologically for games. I'm sure that our cooperation will result in more star players appearing!"