Torpedo CEO Zabuga Satisfied With 6-Point Start
Yevgeni Zabuga says Torpedo's four-away-game opening was a club choice backed by the KHL, with only bad luck costing them against CSKA.
Chief executive Yevgeni Zabuga says the club is satisfied with its start, despite a demanding early schedule.
Torpedo lost to CSKA in that opening stretch, a result Zabuga put down to a lack of luck rather than any deeper problem. The side moved through four away fixtures by the club's own choice, with the KHL's backing.
That trip comes only days after Torpedo's own ground, the Eduard Streltsov Stadium, reopened following reconstruction that lifted its capacity by 1,600 to 15,000.
Zabuga said work on the new arena continues, with kitchen fittings for the players' area and gym equipment still to arrive, though he added that the venue is already fit for training and matches. He also said the new ground has drawn extra sponsor interest, with several new partners expected this season, and confirmed the club is in talks with a betting company over what it hopes will be a long-term partnership rather than a one-year deal.
The opening weeks have also brought changes to the squad. Ak Bars have reached a preliminary deal for forward Yegor Sokolov, whom Torpedo left out of their season opener against Spartak, as part of a three-way trade involving Dinamo Minsk that also sent the KHL rights to defenceman Kolyachonok to Nizhny Novgorod.
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