Gerard Gallant: «The Next Two Weeks Are Crucial for Our Team»

Shanghai Dragons Head Coach Gerard Gallant, along with assistant coach Mike Kelly have touched down in Saint Petersburg, joined by players Jake Bischoff and Gage Quinney.

Today, the Dragons’ head coach will run his first practice.

– I’m glad to have finally made it to St. Petersburg, – Gallant said. – It was a long flight, but we’re here now. We’ll be on the ice shortly, and some of our guys came with us on this trip. In the meantime, the first practices were already run by David Nemirovsky and Victor Ignatjev, have been skating with around 12 of our players. We kept in touch and everything went smoothly. The players are looking good and in a solid shape. It’s great that we have almost the entire team together here. We’re ready to get going as training camp gets underway. Everything is going to be new for me here, so I will take it one step at a time. Our main focus is on the season opener on September 6. We’ve got camp and a tournament in Moscow ahead of us, and from there it’s about taking in game by game and adjusting as we go. On Friday we’ll all get together and get to work – these next two weeks are crucial for out team. The KHL and the Shanghai Dragons are both new experiences for me, and I’m really excited about it. I can’t wait for the season to start, and I have no doubt our fans will be amazing.

Shanghai Dragons Media Department