RUSSIA – At one glance, someone might think that a cat statue located directly outside of a professional hockey arena might be some kind of mistake. Usually, maybe, but not in Russia.
Fans of the KHL’s Admiral Vladivostok will soon get to view in person a new statue outside their team’s home rink this year, one that commemorates the life of a cat that the team adopted a few years ago. The team unveiled that statue just this week, and man – is it something!
Back in late 2014, the Russian pro hockey team adopted the cat, who they named Matroskin, after a video went viral of the hungry kitty going to town while chowing down on some fish at the Vladivostok Airport seafood market. The cat became somewhat of a hero to the community having eaten nearly $1000 of seafood with no remorse.
Matroskin lived in the team’s arena and became a beloved member of the organization until its death this June.
So, instead of honoring the cat with some low-key memorial, Admiral Vladivostok decided to go all-in and commit to a huge, beautiful, and permanent statue outside the arena. Fans seemed very pleased with this decision, as they gathered around the statue and shared tender embraces with each other with the majestic feline prior to the team’s season-opener over the weekend.
It just couldn’t be clearer that though Matroskin is gone, he will never be forgotten!
