The sports series The Seventh Player will premiere on the online streaming service Kinopoisk on October 15, launching a 12-episode first season.
The show centres on the hockey club Stroitel, a team currently stuck at the bottom of the league standings. In an effort to turn the team around, the club hires a former figure skating coach as its new director, who aims to reshape the squad's training methods and overarching game strategy.
Produced in the spirit of the comedy series Ted Lasso, the story explores the unconventional transition of an athletic mentor entering an entirely different sporting discipline. The initial release on October 15 will feature the first three episodes available immediately to subscribers on launch day.
Kinopoisk release schedule and background
Kinopoisk is a prominent Russian subscription streaming service and media database owned by the technology company Yandex. The platform regularly produces original fiction series across comedy and drama genres. Ice hockey and figure skating both hold high cultural popularity in Russia, making the clash between figure skating coaching and professional hockey a distinct backdrop for the comedy.
The narrative framework draws comparisons to Ted Lasso, the sports comedy about an American football coach who moves to England to manage a professional soccer club. Like that series, The Seventh Player uses an outsider perspective to examine team dynamics, locker room culture, and coaching tactics.
Following the three-episode premiere on October 15, new episodes will arrive on Kinopoisk weekly on Thursdays. Episode four is scheduled for October 22, followed by episode five on October 29, episode six on November 5, and episode seven on November 12.
The remaining episodes of the season will air through late autumn and early winter. Episode eight will release on November 19, episode nine on November 26, and episode ten on December 3. The first season will wrap up with episode eleven on December 10 and the season finale, episode twelve, on December 17.
