Sports
17:05, 11-May-2018
Putin on ice, hits the puck hard
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Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the ice on Thursday as he took part in a gala match of the Night Hockey League (NHL) held as part of the seventh Russian National Amateur Ice Hockey Teams' Festival in Sochi's Bolshoy Ice Dome.
The festival's main prize, along with the Krutov trophy, was the chance to play against a line-up of retired Russian hockey legends, along with the president and Russia's acting Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and a slew of other top officials.
Putin's team played off with this year's NHL champion, the Flagman team from the Leningrad region. The all-star team won 12-7 with Putin scoring five. The team also won a grant to build a new ice hockey arena. The Night Hockey League was founded as part of Putin's initiative in 2011 and aims to promote the sport in Russia.