MOSCOW, December 22 (Sputnik) — The Monday reports that the US city of Detroit has recovered from the crisis and escaped bankruptcy are great news, former Detroit Red Wings hockey player Vyacheslav Kozlov told R-Sport news agency.

December 22 marks what is expected to be the very last Detroit bankruptcy hearing, after Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes issued the order on December 15 to the city's legal team to submit their final bills to Detroit by this date. On Monday, Rhodes is expected to approve the bills as reasonable in one of the main concluding steps of the 17-month-long case. The city of Detroit must reveal the total cost of the fees charged by lawyers, consultants and bankruptcy advisers no more than five days after that.

"I take this news very positively. The hockey team of Detroit has always been strong – both when I was playing and won for it – and now. The Red Wings is always competing for the Stanley Cup and is an integral part of the [National Hockey League] NHL. The city deserves such a team," said Kozlov, who currently plays for the Moscow region Hockey Club Atlant.

The city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy in July 2013, having accumulated an estimated $18 billion in debt. It became the largest city in US history to declare bankruptcy. Detroit is also experiencing severe unemployment and a dramatic population decline.

On November 7, 2014 following months of court hearings, Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes confirmed the plan to rescue the city by investing $1.7 billion in Detroit's public services and cutting $7 billion of its debt. The city officially exited bankruptcy on December 11.

The Detroit Red Wings is a professional ice hockey team that has won 11 Stanley Cup championships. It is currently ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference of the NHL. In the mid-1990s the so-called Russian Five – Vladimir Konstantinov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov and Vyacheslav Kozlov – played for the Red Wings. Currently Russia is represented in the team by Pavel Datsyuk.