“The NHL has always been able to look to the future” – Kommersant FM

The National Hockey League intends to hold an international tournament without the Russian national team. So far the competition has no name, but the press writes about it as an analogue of the World Cup. The head of the NHL, Gary Bettman, said that the Russian Federation will not take part in it. Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov looked into the situation.

The World Cup is a tournament that has always aroused the interest of hockey fans around the world. But it was held irregularly, the last time in 2016. It is curious that the main confrontation here has always been the matches of the national teams of Russia, the USA and Canada.

Now they are trying to remove the Russian Federation from the competition, but not NHL representatives, but invited participants. The Swedish and Finnish teams promised to boycott the tournament if Russian athletes were present. The head of the NHL, Gary Bettman, has already stated that they do not plan to invite Russia and that in 2025 the World Cup, if, of course, the name is that, will be held without the participation of our players.

But there is still time before the start of the competition, and you shouldn’t take the official’s words at face value, hockey analyst Igor Larin is sure: “In the current situation, Russia is the highest-grossing team. This will be multiplied by politics, by geopolitics, by everything.

The NHL plays all these cards brilliantly. The tournament can only take place in a full format; it is not needed in a stripped-down North America.”

And yet, the NHL has always been able to look to the future, and now the league is going to not just hold another one-time competition without the Russian Federation, but to put the tournament on the world hockey schedule. Gary Bettman emphasizes this and, of course, understands that sooner or later the Russian team will return, and, therefore, the main thing is to start the tournament, says hockey expert Leonid Weisfeld:

“They want to organize these competitions in the inter-Olympic cycle, that is, two years before the Games and two years after. If this is planned for many years, then it is advisable to hold such a tournament. If we talk about the commercial component, I don’t think they will start any story that doesn’t make money. As soon as everything is over in Ukraine, Russia will play.”

So the participation of the Russian team in the tournament, which will be held on a regular basis, is only a matter of time. In addition, let’s not forget that there are now more than 40 hockey players with Russian passports in the overseas league, and forming a team from them will not be a big problem.

In addition, our players in the NHL are treated with due respect, noted commentator Dmitry Fedorov: “I have never heard of club leaders and players discriminating against Russian athletes and speaking out against them. The League is one of the few structures abroad that are generally friendly towards the Russian Federation and its citizens.”

By the way, as for NHL clubs, both Finns and Swedes play on the same ice here with the Russians, and this does not raise any questions for the federations of the Scandinavian countries. So, closer to 2025, the format of the upcoming tournament could easily be revised. And if the league management does this technically, then talk about a boycott may well come to naught.

However, even if the tournament does take place without Russia, then in the end we will definitely see our team at the World Cup (or whatever the new competition is called overseas).

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