Keenan keen on future

The new head coach of China's lone entry in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League isn't wasting any time easing into the job.

"We're already building for next season ... scouting and signing players," Kunlun Red Star boss Mike Keenan told CCTV Sports on Sunday.

"We've been watching the KHL playoffs and what other teams are doing. In the summer we'll be hosting our first tryout camps in North America to attract the best Chinese players available."

Keenan, the only coach to win both the Stanley Cup (New York Rangers) and Gagarin Cup (Metallburg Magnitogorsk), was named Red Star boss on March 15, replacing Vladimir Yurzinov. He is confident the team's surprising success in reaching the playoff quarterfinals in its debut season will fire up fan interest.

"From what I've seen, Chinese fans are very passionate about their sports, and that passion can be channeled to hockey if we do a good enough job of selling the speed and beauty of the game," the 67-year-old Canadian said during his initial visit to Beijing in late February.

"Hockey is its own best advertisement. One of our goals is just to get fans to sample it - probably for the first time. But once they see the passion and excitement, I think China will fall in love with hockey."

Meanwhile, SKA St. Petersburg wrapped up its second Gagarin Cup triumph in three seasons with a 5-3 victory over Magnitogorsk on Sunday.

Led by captain and former NHL All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk, SKA took the championship series four games to one.

With the victory, SKA St. Petersburg becomes the fourth team to hoist the Gagarin Cup twice in the 10-year history of the KHL, joining Magnitogorsk, Ak Bars and Dynamo Moscow.

And head coach Oleg Znarok becomes the first bench boss to win the title three times, having twice claimed the top prize with Dynamo Moscow.

The 4-1 margin in the final series matches the best ever, twice achieved by Vyacheslav Bykov as head coach of Salavat Yulaev (2011) and SKA (2015).

murraygreig@chinadaily.com.cn