PRAGUE, Czechia — With three men's world championships contested since the International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russian athletes, the global hockey community appears to have moved on entirely without one of the sport's most decorated countries.
This year's IIHF Hockey World Championship was a success by any measure, breaking the previous attendance record and offering compelling competition and a memorable gold medal final.
There was certainly no feeling on the ground that anything was missing or lacking.
From European nations, in particular, there remains strong support for the IIHF's banning of Russia and Belarus. Those two countries have been banned from all international hockey competitions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Asked about The Athletic During the world championship, if he thought those sanctions were still appropriate, Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen said: “Yes, of course. No doubt about that.”
“I think under the circumstances it's pretty reasonable,” said Finnish forward Ahti Oksanen, who played four years at Boston University before forging a professional career closer to home. “I know that the situation in North America is a little different than in Europe because in Europe we are very close to Russia and we deal with them all the time. At this point I think it's reasonable.”
Finland coach Jukka Jalonen reacts during a preliminary round match against Canada in Prague. (Robert Hradil/RvS.Media/Getty Images)
There is no end in sight to the ban as the invasion of Ukraine continues.
In fact, the possibility of Russia returning for the 2026 Milan Olympics becomes more tenuous with each passing day of the conflict.
In February, the IIHF extended its ban on Russia and Belarus until events in 2025, citing security concerns. A decision will be made next winter that will cover the first Olympic tournament with NHL players in more than a decade, IIHF president Luc Tardif told reporters Sunday at a news conference in Prague to close out the championship. world.
“We will make a decision next February, as we always do,” Tardif said. “It doesn't matter what the International Olympic Committee decides. “We have acted like this before and we have not waited for the decision of the Olympic Committee, although of course we spoke with them.”
A limited number of Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to participate in this summer's Paris Olympics, although they will have to compete without their flag as individual neutral athletes and will have to go through a vetting process to ensure they have not actively supported the war. in Ukraine.
No Russian or Belarusian team was able to qualify for the Paris Games.
While the topic remains a touchy one to discuss publicly among hockey players and executives (many of whom continue to work with people from those countries in the NHL or elsewhere), the national federations they played for spoke out loud with his actions in the world championships. .
Kazakhstan was the only country of the 16 participants in the competition to bring a player from the Russia-based KHL.
Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Latvia and France have explicitly banned those who remain in the KHL from being eligible for the national team since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Slovakia joined them ahead of this year's world championship, ruling in April that employees in the KHL would not be eligible because they had not played or trained with the national team all season.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation was much more direct than that in issuing its indefinite national team ban on KHL players in August 2022, and president Anders Larsson said in a statement that it was sending an important message to the hockey world because “It's about our core values.”
Russia last competed at the 2021 world championship, losing to Canada in the quarterfinals during a tournament played under bubble conditions in Latvia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In total, the country has won 27 gold medals in men's hockey world championships (second only to Canada's 28), although it has traditionally been one of its main attractions. The tournament was so important to the Russians that they almost always produced a star-studded roster, with the best players willing to jump on a transatlantic flight immediately after being eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, even if it meant only getting one or two games. in the worlds.
However, international competition is a privilege, not a right, and it is difficult to imagine anyone welcoming a Russian team before the war in Ukraine ends.
“I think the whole situation has to calm down,” Oksanen said. “They have to stop doing whatever they are doing. After that, we can rethink the situation, the whole hockey world can rethink everything. “So hopefully they can come back later.”
Jalonen added: “The war has to be stopped and then maybe it will take some time to get them involved again.”
It was eight years after the end of World War II before Germany was allowed to return to international hockey competition at the 1953 world championship, where it competed as West Germany.
How to handle Russia is a particular concern right now in Finland, a country that endured the Winter War in 1939, when the Soviet Union invaded its territory. These countries share a land border that extends 1,289 kilometers from north to south.
“They are our neighbors,” Jalonen said. “We have more than 1,000 kilometers with them. Of course, we have to be prepared because anything can happen. “I don’t think we are afraid, but we are prepared for anything.”
(Top photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
