Latest news with #Sochi
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Red Wings Stanley Cup Winner Slava Kozlov Fired By KHL Club
Before Pavel Datyuk dazzled Detroit Red Wings fans all over the world while wearing jersey No. 13 and playing for two separate Stanley Cup-winning teams, the club had a different Russian-born forward who also wore the same number. Like Datsyuk, Slava Kozlov won the Stanley Cup twice while playing for the Red Wings and was a key component of Detroit's consecutive championship seasons. In a similar unexpected fashion of when Kozlov was traded from the Red Wings in the stunning 2001 Dominik Hasek deal, he's once again been dealt another difficult piece of professional news. Kozlov has reportedly been fired as head coach of HC Sochi in the KHL, with the most puzzling aspect of the situation being that he was recently hired and hadn't even coached a single game for the team. Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. He was hired in early June to coach HC Sochi, who finished last in the KHL last season with a League-worst 41 points, after having spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach with HC Dynamo Moscow. Kozlov spoke to Sport-Express, a Russian-based sports publication, about the circumstances surrounding his being let go from HC Sochi. Not only was Kozlov let go, but several other staffers, including assistant head coach Alexander Savchenkov, were also removed. (Kozlov's words, originally published in Russian, have been translated via Google Translate.) "At first they told us that everyone would stay, but then they started to remove people one by one," Kozlov said. "I learned about it after the fact, because I wasn't inside and didn't work with many of them, I wasn't familiar with them. The news came to us gradually, people were fired one by one." "I'll take a week off, but I'll be looking for a job." Kozlov was selected in the third round (45th overall) of the 1990 NHL Draft; earlier, the Red Wings selected Keith Primeau third overall. He would go on to become one of the most important contributors over the next several seasons with the Red Wings, and was also 1/5 of the famed "Russian Five" put together by coach Scotty Bowman starting in the 1995-96 season. While playing for the Red Wings, Kozlov scored 202 goals with 213 assists in 607 regular season games, and added 42 goals and 37 assists in 114 playoff games. Kozlov was traded to the Buffalo Sabres on June 30, 2001 for Hasek, and he spent a lone, injury-riddled season in Buffalo before being dealt once again, this time to the Atlanta Thrashers. With Atlanta, Kozlov was able to regain some of his old form that made him a dangerous offensive threat with the Red Wings. Following the 2009-10 season, Kozlov returned to Russia and played several more seasons in the KHL before retiring in 2015 after 28 years of playing professionally. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
Russia Today
6 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia reveals Olympic ambitions
Russia intends to bid to host the Olympic Games again when the global political climate permits, Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev has said. The country has already hosted the Games twice – the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. However, Russia has been excluded from numerous major global sporting events since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. 'Of course, we will apply [for the Games] in the future, and we can host [them] at the highest level – we've already proven that twice,' said Degtyarev, who also serves as president of the Russian Olympic Committee. 'Sooner or later, all relations will be restored. We'll pave the way to the Olympics again, and I'm confident we'll bid for both the Winter and Summer Games,' Degtyarev told reporters on Thursday. The minister pointed to the 2018 FIFA World Cup as further proof of Russia's sporting credentials, recalling how fans from around the world celebrated in cities across the country. 'People still remember how friendly Russia was,' he noted. Degtyarev condemned what he described as discrimination against Russian athletes, who have been barred from participating under their national flag in numerous sports, including at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 'What do the Olympics teach us? There should be no boycotts. The Olympic movement must unite people. Today's discrimination against our athletes based on nationality is wrong. We must move past this,' Degtyarev stated. Most recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Russian ice hockey teams from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Moscow has vowed to challenge the decision. Russian officials have repeatedly accused Western nations of politicizing sport and exerting pressure on sports federations to exclude Russian athletes for political reasons. Moscow has branded the IOC sanctions a perversion of the Olympic Charter, which is supposed to keep the Games free of political interference.
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
'Putin's secret ten-year-old son, he shares with gymnast lover', is seen following in his mother's footsteps on stage.
New pictures and videos have appeared of the boy who, it has been claimed, is Vladimir Putin 's secret son. The boy, now ten, called Ivan, is said to have been born to the Russian dictator's hidden partner, Alina Kabaeva, 42, an Olympic gold medal-winning rhythmic gymnast. Fresh images in a public gymnastics performance were highlighted by anti-Kremlin Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which in April published the first photos of a child they called 'the loneliest boy in Russia '. Hidden from the public, Ivan is seen to be a member of a gymnastics team and is shown with his alleged mother in open-source pictures dating to 2023. There are also more recent images. 'Ivan is in a team of boy-gymnasts with a separate number within a group performance, and the cameraman's attention is focused on his team,' wrote the caption in the channel. 'He took part in a large [performance] called 'Lezginka' at a festival organised by his mother.' Footage shows him performing as part of the team at the ALINA 2023 event, and at one point, he is seen blowing a kiss on stage. Alina - a highly decorated rhythmic gymnast - runs an elite academy in Sochi, Russia's main Black Sea resort, and is behind training sessions in Valdai, north of Moscow. Putin has sprawling palaces in both locations. The caption accompanying the pictures added: 'From the numerous photos….of the sports team for which Ivan competes, you can see that one of its members is not an ordinary boy.' 'During performances, training, and other events that take place indoors, there are eight people in the team. 'Alina Kabaeva is often present in the photo of the eight, she is behind one of the boys. 'However, when the team flies, stays in regular hotels, goes to have fun at the zoo, the beach, a water park, or just fool around, the number of its members is reduced to seven people. 'The disappearing boy is Ivan Putin. And Alina Kabaeva, when the seven are photographed, is also missing.' The channel said the boy does not appear to have been in 'mass events' since 2023, although he still features in his team's images. Swiss-born Ivan is said to have a younger brother, Vladimir junior, now five, whose pictures have not been publicised. When the channel first showed the pictures of Putin's alleged son, it added: 'He hardly communicates with other children, spending all his time with guards, governesses, [and] teachers.' With the latest round of pictures, the channel wrote: 'For some reason, Ivan has a very sad face in almost all the photos.' He resembles Putin in his Soviet childhood. The boy appears to be accomplished as a young gymnast. There were contestants from China, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Belarus in the same festival as him. A message posted by his club said their gymnasts showed an 'excellent level of training and the ability to work in a team! Hours of training and rehearsals were not in vain! We are proud!!'. Pictures appear to show the boy at a training session in June 2025 in Valdai, where Putin has his favourite northern palace. The Russian leader has never confirmed the young family he is said to have with Kabaeva, three decades his junior. But in an unguarded moment last year, he referred to watching Russian fairy tale films with 'my little ones'. State propaganda channel RT translated his words as 'my junior family members'. Putin told a marathon televised question and answer session: 'Our historic fairy tales and epic tales are being revived. I myself sometimes watch these with pleasure with my little ones.' A flicker of a smile appeared on his face as he mentioned them. While Putin and the Kremlin have always denied a relationship between him and glamorous Kabaeva, independent Russian journalists have claimed that they have two sons together. Until now, the children have never been seen and are alleged to live out of sight behind his high-security palace walls. Putin is also known to have grandchildren from his two eldest daughters - Maria Vorontsova, 40, and Katerina Tikhonova, 38, a scientist, manager and former high-kicking 'rock'n'roll' dancer. It has been claimed that Putin also has another secret daughter, Ekaterina Krivonogikh, 22 - aka Luiza Rozova. She is said to have been born to his former mistress, a cleaner turned multimillionaire Svetlana Krivonogikh, 50, who holds shares in a top bank and owns a prominent St Petersburg striptease club. Luiza is known to have lived in the West - in Paris - during the war in Ukraine. Putin is highly secretive about his private life. In one interview, the divorced president said: 'I do not permit interference. It must be respected.' He deplored 'those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives'. Kabaeva in 2004 posed almost nude - except for furs - for Maxim magazine in Russia and was described as 'full of sex' by a photographer. After being temporarily banned in a doping scandal in 2001, she was photographed naked with strategically-placed lilacs as part of a Russian project 'Twelve Months' by Ekaterina Rozhdestvenskaya. Later, she appeared on a Russian show called One Hundred Questions for Adults when she was questioned about her private life by an audience made up of children. In one clip, she was asked by a young boy if she had met her 'ideal man', to which she replied, giggling: 'I have.' She was then asked who the mystery man in her life was, but would only reveal his identity. She said 'he's a very good man, a great man' and added: 'I love him very much.' Kabaeva said: 'Sometimes you feel so happy that you even feel scared.' Last year, Dossier Centre, an investigative news outlet, claimed that the longstanding speculation that Kabaeva had two sons with Putin was accurate. It has been said that the boys have secretly had British and New Zealand citizens as governesses, but now, as a result of Putin's war, the Russian ruler has allegedly recruited South African citizens to teach English to his heirs. The children are claimed to live under the permanent guard of FSO [Federal Protective Service] officers. 'The brothers have little contact with their peers and see little of their parents, but they appreciate the rare moments they manage to spend with their father,' said Dossier Centre. Reports claim that they do not attend schools and are taught in Putin's palaces like the royal children of the last Russian tsar.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Laval Rocket Defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer Signs In Russia
Perry Nelson-Imagn Images Former Laval Rocket defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer has signed a one-year deal in Russia with HK Sochi, it was announced Friday. Hoefenmayer, who recently wrapped up his fifth season of professional hockey, split the year between the Rocket and the Bakersfield Condors. Across a combined 43 regular season games, he scored five goals and added 16 assists for 21 points. Advertisement Having made the jump to the pro game in 2020, Hoefenmayer has appeared in 181 career AHL regular season games with the Rocket, Condors and the Toronto Marlies, putting up 25 goals and 61 assists for 86 points. Prior to that, the North York, Ont., native spent his entire junior career with the Ottawa 67's. With Hoefenmayer off to the KHL, this will be his first time heading overseas to play. Known for his ability to create with the puck, Hoefenmayer's skills should translate well to the bigger ice surfaces.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Leafs, Oilers, Habs D Prospect Signs In KHL
Canadian defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer, 26, has signed a one-year contract with KHL club HK Sochi, according to Russian sports website Originally from the Toronto suburb of North York, Hoefenmayer played junior hockey for the Ottawa 67's and was chosen in the fourth round, 107th overall, by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. In 2019-20, he led OHL defensemen with 82 points and was named the top d-man of both the OHL and CHL. Advertisement Never signed by Arizona, Hoefenmayer played in the minor-league systems of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens between 2020 and 2025, appearing in some NHL pre-season games but never in the regular season. In 189 career AHL regular-season and playoff games, he recorded 88 points and 243 penalty minutes. This is Hoefenmayer's first contract to play in Europe. He joins a Sochi team that is coached by former NHLer Vyacheslav Kozlov, but has not made the playoffs since the 2018-19 season. Photo © Perry Nelson-Imagn Images: Noel Hoefenmayer (81) of the Edmonton Oilers carries the puck around Calgary Flames defensemen Joni Jurmo (57) during an NHL pre-season game in September 2024. Sabres 2012 First-Rounder Mikhail Grigorenko Changes KHL Teams - Community Post Sabres 2012 First-Rounder Mikhail Grigorenko Changes KHL Teams - Community Post undefined
