On July 3, 2021, the presentation of the main trophy of the Kontinental Hockey League - the Gagarin Cup - took place at the "Dizel-Arena" Sports Complex. It was held by Klim Kostin a student of the Penza hockey school, forward of the NHL club "St. Louis Blues". In 2021 he won the Cup as a member of "Avangard" hockey club.
"It is a great honour for me to bring the Gagarin Cup to my native land and to show it to children. I would like to thank Sergey Blokhin, director of the Penza sports school of the Olympic reserve for hockey, and Grigory Kabelsky, acting Minister of Fitness and Sports, for their support, as well as my first coach and father," Klim Kostin said.
Anyone could get acquainted with Klim, take his autograph or a photo. The access to the Cup was carried out in compliance with safety standards.
Note: Klim Kostin was born on May 5, 1999 in Penza. He was interested in hockey since his early childhood. He started training at the Penza Oblast children's and youth sports school of the Olympic reserve for hockey. In 2011 he moved to the "Dinamo" school (Moscow).
In 2017, he was drafted by the "St. Louis Blues" NHL club at number 31 in the first round. Last season he played for "Avangard". Klim Kostin is a silver medalist of the Junior Challenge Cup in 2016, a bronze medalist of the WJC-2019 where he played in the Russian national team.
Photo credit to the Penza Oblast Ministry of Fitness and Sports
