Head coach of HC Lokomotiv Nikitin became the best coach of the season

Igor Nikitin, the head coach of the Yaroslavl hockey club (HC) Lokomotiv, was named the best coach of the 2024/25 season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). This was announced on May 29 on the official website of the league.

The KHL statement stated that Igor Nikitin from Lokomotiv was recognized as the best coach of the 2024/25 season, who led the Yaroslavl club to victory in the Gagarin Cup for the first time in history.

"Special thanks to my family <...>. Thank you for your support and the atmosphere you create at home. And I thank the entire coaching staff, who are real professionals," Nikitin said.

It is reported that the award was presented to Nikitin by three-time Gagarin Cup winner Sergey Fedorov.

"Winning the Gagarin Cup is a tribute to the 2011 team"

Mikhail Evraev, Governor of the Yaroslavl Region, spoke about Lokomotiv's triumph in the KHL playoffs, the local arena and the club's president, Yuri Yakovlev.

HC Lokomotiv defeated Chelyabinsk Traktor on May 29 in the fifth match of the KHL final playoff series and won the Gagarin Cup for the first time in history. As a result of the match, the score in the series became 4:1 in favor of Lokomotiv. Last season, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl had to lose to Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the final of the tournament.