Deputy Minister of Sports calls Tatarstan Mecca of Russian ice hockey

First Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport of Tatarstan Khalil Shaikhutdinov called Tatarstan Mecca of the Russian ice hockey at a press conference on the eve of the Challenge Cup in Nizhnekamsk.

"Many thanks to the Youth Ice Hockey League for entrusting Tatarstan to hold the Generations Cup and the Challenge Cup. Our republic can be called Mecca of the Russian ice hockey. We visited Naberezhnye Chelny and now have arrived to Nizhnekamsk, where a lot of attention is paid to ice hockey development. There is a total of 40 ice palaces and more than 700 outdoor hockey rinks in the republic. Such matches help to increase interest in hockey and healthy lifestyle," H.Shayhutdinov said.

Managing Director of the Youth Ice Hockey League, ex-captain of HC Ak Bars Alexei Morozov said: "Thank you so much for organizing such a hockey holiday in Nizhnekamsk. Today, the best players of the YHL have gathered here, they want to come on the ice and show everyone what they can do. I hope that this match will help our young ice hockey players in their future career," HC Neftekhimik’s official website reports.