Here’s a rundown of the top hockey events for July 4, 2024.
Bobrovsky: My dream is to win an Olympic gold medal for Russia
Russian goalie from Florida, Sergei Bobrovsky, said that he would like to take part in the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Previously, the NHL leadership allowed players from the league to participate in the Olympics. The participation of the Russian national team in the tournament is still in doubt due to the exclusion of Russian athletes from international tournaments.
“It would be great to take part in the 2026 Olympics. And getting a gold medal for the country is a dream. Sochi was my only Olympic tournament and, despite the defeat, I have many positive memories. The best athletes from different sports from all over the world are gathered in one place. The scale and interest in the games is huge. Probably the only tournament that everyone watches,” Match TV quotes Bobrovsky as saying.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Bobrovsky is a two-time winner of the NHL regular season goaltender award – the Vezina Trophy (2013, 2017) – the first Russian goaltender to win this award and the only Russian goaltender to receive it twice. Last season, the goaltender won the Stanley Cup with Florida.
SKA signed a contract with defender Nikita Zaitsev
SKA hockey club has signed a contract with defender Nikita Zaitsev. According to the club’s press service, the agreement with the hockey player is for four years and will be valid until the end of the 2027/2028 season.
In the 2023/2024 season, the 32-year-old hockey player played 38 games for the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring two goals and providing five assists. The defenseman spent eight seasons in the National Hockey League and scored 118 (22+96) points in 482 games. In Russia, the defenseman played for Sibir Novosibirsk and CSKA. In total, Zaitsev played 368 games in the KHL and scored 119 (39+80) points.
SKA St. Petersburg was eliminated from the 2024 Gagarin Cup due to a 1-4 loss in the quarter-finals of the KHL playoffs to Avtomobilist. It should be noted that for the first time in 10 years the St. Petersburg team failed to advance beyond the second round of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs.
Forward Iskhakov and defender Samorukov will sign contracts with HC CSKA
As reported by the Championship, forward Ruslan Iskhakov and defender Dmitry Samorukov will sign contracts with HC CSKA.
23-year-old striker Ruslan Iskhakov graduated from the Red Army youth team and played in the Russian youth team. Even before that, he played in Slovakia, in the North American student league. At the age of 19, he flew to Europe, becoming the vice-champion of Finland in TPS in 2021, played for the German Adler in the 2021/2022 season, and then in the Islanders system in 2022-2024.
Defenseman Dmitry Samorukov previously played for HC CSKA in the 2020/2021 season. The defensive player then played for the NHL club Edmonton Oilers, and in the 2022/2023 season – for the St. Louis Blues. In the 2023/2024 season, Samorukov signed a two-way contract with Pittsburgh.
SKA traded the rights to Khusnutdinov from Sochi, giving him to the Fedotov brothers
In the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), an exchange took place between SKA and Sochi, according to which the army team received the rights to forward Marat Khusnutdinov, giving in exchange the brothers Maxim and Ilya Fedotov, as well as the rights to the Swedish forward of Ukrainian origin, Dmitry Timashov, the KHL press service reports.
Let us remind you that on February 28, 21-year-old Khusnutdinov signed a rookie contract with the NHL club Minnesota Wild. He started this season in SKA, and then went on loan to Sochi, where he spent the rest of the championship in the KHL. In 16 games played for the Wild, the 21-year-old Russian scored 4 (1+3) points.
Sochi signed a contract with a Swedish striker of Ukrainian origin
HC Sochi announced on the club’s official Telegram channel that it has signed a contract with 27-year-old forward Dmitry Timashov.
The deal is reported to be one-sided and valid until May 31, 2025. Earlier today, the Leopards acquired the rights to Timashov, as well as brothers Ilya and Maxim Fedotov from SKA in exchange for the rights to forward Marat Khusnutdinov.
Dmitry Timashov was born in Kirovograd, Ukraine, but at an early age he moved to Sweden, where he started playing hockey. There, the hockey player was called up to Swedish national teams of different ages and made his debut in the championship of the Scandinavian country in the 2013/2014 season as part of MODO.
In 2015, Dmitry was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs with the 125th pick in the NHL draft. Last season, Timashov played for the Swiss Ajoie, scoring 20 (9+11) points in 35 games.
