Russian hockey goalie Saveli Kononov was named man-of-the-match after his performance that led Izhstal Izhevsk to a 3-2 victory against rivals Chelmet.
Kononov was awarded an AK-47 as a prize after being voted man-of-the-match by his teammates.
It's safe to say this is not something that would happen in the United States.
Russian Goalie, Saveli Kononov, received an AK-47 after being named player of the game by his teammates - WTF pic.twitter.com/2tVFskX3Ou
— HockeyTroll.ca (@Hockeytroll_ca) September 11, 2019
There has been a series of unique awards handed out by hockey teams. Even NHL teams have made this into a custom.
Some examples of these awards in the NHL include the Carolina Hurricanes giving away a wood chopping axe and the New York Rangers give away a "Broadway Hat" for each of their star performers of the game.
#Rangers Tweets: #NYR Broadway Hat goes to @HLundqvist30!!! pic.twitter.com/ePqXD8Sxeu http://t.co/oPfXvyub0u
— NY Rangers (@rangerscity) May 27, 2015
Why the Carolina Hurricanes travel with an ax @Sportsnet https://t.co/xlclmArdDn #axe #nhl #hockey
— Leveraxe (@thesmartaxe) April 25, 2017
But these awards pale in comparison to the Russian team handed out an AK-47.
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Can you imagine the outrage from the media if an American sports team handed out an assault rifle as a prize to an athlete? Things are definitely different om Russia, to say the least.