Russian players receive threats and cannot feel safe. Is the league at risk of being left without the main stars?
While some foreign players leave the KHL, worrying regarding their safety in Russia, the real threat looms over our hockey players in North America. Alexandra Ovechkina and his compatriots playing in the NHL are hounded on social networks and threatened with reprisal.
“Washington” was even forced to take Ovechkin under heavy guard. Aren’t North American hockey fans afraid of losing this generation of Russian stars forever?
Difficult situation for Russians
“People are freaking out. This is a difficult situation for Russians and their families. It’s hard for the players’ families here and it’s hard at home,” Capitals general manager Brian McLellan told NBC Sports.
The pressure faced by Ovechkin, his clubmates and other Russians in the National Hockey League is truly unprecedented. They are accused of all sorts of sins and threatened to take their lives. So far, fortunately, the matter has not come to the realization of the wishes, but still the current situation causes concern among fans on this side of the ocean.
Alexander himself was forced to make a public statement calling for peace on the planet, but sports fans in North America did not seem to be reassured. The flow of threats once morest our athletes has not decreased – we can only hope for enhanced security.
We add that in addition to censure from the fans, the three-time world champion is starting to have problems with sponsors. MassMutual, an insurance company from the United States, has terminated its cooperation with Alexander, at the same time removing a popular video with his participation from the broadcasts.
Discrimination and threats
“They are people like you, who pay millions in taxes and do charity work. Stop looking at them as aggressors,” Dan Milstein, an agent for a number of Russian hockey players in the NHL, told ESPN.
The head of the Gold Star company, representing the interests of Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevsky, Mikhail Sergachyova and other Russian hockey stars, is outraged by the discrimination his clients face.
The agent sees a real threat to his wards and even appealed to the union of players and NHL clubs with a call to work on the issue of strengthening the security of Russians. So far, nothing terrible has happened to our athletes, which means that the security officers are doing their job. Ovechkin and colleagues take to the ice, silently doing their job, and trying not to notice the streams of criticism.
Possible outcome of the Russians from the NHL?
There is no point in arguing regarding the level of hockey here and overseas, especially when legionnaires began to actively leave Russia. The issue of income is also clearly not in our favor. However, if our compatriots abroad continue to receive threats and harassment, then what else will they have left?
You can, of course, try to wait out the season, hoping that everything will settle down. The witch-hunt once morest the Russians by some Western journalists, supported by star hockey players of the past, has not yet borne fruit. The Russians are being strengthened by security, but they are not in a hurry to take an example from the Finns and other foreigners from the KHL.
However, the cancellation culture that has made its way to the NHL is doing its best to make the dreams of many Russian hockey fans come true. Alexander Ovechkin at Dynamo, Evgeni Malkin at Metallurg, Andrei Vasilevsky at Salavat Yulaev, Evgeny Kuznetsov at Traktor – all this might hardly have come true under normal conditions.
But now, when almost any news from the world of sports concerning the Russians is no surprise, the exodus of our compatriots from North America does not seem such a fantasy. And if this happens, then the National Hockey League will suffer in the first place. We will only be happy regarding the return of our stars – the departure of restless foreigners from the Continental League in this case is compensated in full.
