Tretyak: Omsk's G-Drive Arena Rivals the NHL's Best
Russian Ice Hockey Federation chief Vladislav Tretyak praised the Omsk arena as one of Europe's finest, citing a wave of new KHL venue openings including Nizhny Novgorod and Torpedo's rebuilt rink.
Vladislav Tretyak, president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, has named the G-Drive Arena in Omsk, home of Avangard, among the best rinks in Europe and said it would not be out of place in the NHL.
The venue, built for more than 12,000 spectators, opened in October 2022.
Tretyak, who has led the federation since 2006, said he opened arenas in both Omsk and Novosibirsk and pointed to the contrast with the old Megasport in Moscow, which hosted a World Championship in the years after he took charge. He credited a government programme alongside the federation's own work for the wave of new venues, and said CSKA and Spartak, the latter at Luzhniki, are both working towards new stadiums of their own.
On capacity he was candid: Chicago draws crowds of 20,000 and Montreal 21,000, well above what Omsk can hold.
Torpedo's own ground reopened after reconstruction earlier this month, its capacity raised by 1,600 seats to 15,000. Set alongside Nizhny Novgorod's new arena and Tretyak's remarks on Omsk, the run of openings points to a broader push to replace the KHL's older stadiums, which Tretyak said are no longer fit for top-level hockey.
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