pertains to war in Ukraine<\/a>, however, this is how the sports world unites against tyranny.<\/p>\nThat doesn\u2019t make it any less unfair to the Russian athletes who had nothing to do with President Vladimir Putin\u2019s full-scale attack on Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, I understand,\u201d star Russian wing Artemi Panarin told The Post before the Rangers traded him to the Kings last week. \u201cBut also it\u2019s pretty sad for athletes who play that sport all [their] life and then have dreams about that. For our side, it\u2019s pretty sad, but we can\u2019t control that. I hope people figure it out. Especially when speaking with other guys who are going to play in the Olympics, they wish Russia is going to be there. My guess is probably 98 percent of the hockey players would love to play against us and they\u2019re not thinking about anything else, just play hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hockey tournament will proceed without Nikita Kucherov, Alex Ovechkin, Mikhail Sergachev, Andrei Vasilevskiy and so many more NHL stars. Panarin, who will turn 35 near the start of next season, may never get a chance to represent his country on the Olympic stage.<\/p>\n
The on-ice product won\u2019t be as elite as it could be, but that is a small price to pay to take a global stand.<\/p>\n
At the Milan Cortina Games, just 13 Russian athletes were cleared to compete as AINs \u2014 Individual Neutral Athletes. There are many other Russian-born athletes who have skirted the ban and are competing for other countries, but that is a common occurrence.<\/p>\n
International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry gave Russia\u2019s return one of its largest votes of confidence earlier this month at the 145th IOC congress in Milan.<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770793018_468_Artemi-Panarin.jpg\")
Former Ranger Artemi Panarin, who would be playing for Team Russia, will not be playing at these Olympic Games. AP<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout the campaign and in many of our conversations since, I have heard the same message from many of you. Focus on our core,\u201d Coventry said, per the Guardian. \u201cWe are a sports organization. We understand politics and we know we don\u2019t operate in a vacuum. But our game is sport. That means keeping sport a neutral ground. A place where every athlete can compete freely, without being held back by the politics or divisions of their governments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a world that is increasingly divided, this principle matters more than ever. It is what allows the Olympic Games to remain a place of inspiration where the athletes of the world can come together and showcase the best of our humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coventry\u2019s remarks came just one day after FIFA president Gianni Infantino called for the Union of European Football Associations to lift the ban on Russia. Infantino claimed bans and boycotts \u201ccreate more hatred,\u201d which naturally drew the ire of officials from Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s sports minister, Matvii Bidnyi, told The Associated Press that what Infantino suggested is \u201cirresponsible.\u201d As the war approaches its fourth anniversary, Bidnyi noted that any changes to the ban would essentially condone Russia\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
Just because the stance against Russia has softened, particularly in the U.S., doesn\u2019t mean a reinstatement to international competition is imminent. NHL Players Association executive director Marty Walsh said he is in regular communication with Russian NHL skaters and plans to take a wait-and-see approach.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The decision to lift the ban \u2014 in regards to both the Olympics and the 2028 World Cup of Hockey \u2014 is essentially out of the NHL\u2019s hands, and perhaps even the IOC\u2019s.<\/p>\n
First and foremost, the political echelon in European countries would need to be comfortable with the idea of their national teams playing on the same sheet of ice as Russia\u2019s, an inherently uncomfortable thought given the propaganda value of sport. Who is to say the powers that be in other countries wouldn\u2019t threaten to withhold their teams from competition if Russia is included?<\/p>\n
That question might even supersede those involving ongoing ceasefire negotiations, or Donald Trump and his administration\u2019s relative warmth toward Putin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t isolate the United States because of what\u2019s going on here with the president and his relationship, or lack thereof, with Putin,\u201d Walsh, who was secretary of labor under Joe Biden when Russian soldiers began marching toward Kyiv in February 2022, told The Post. \u201cNobody\u2019s said to us, \u2018Let the Russians play,\u2019 as far as political leadership. It\u2019s a world issue and I think it has to be resolved on a world stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think Canada and the United States can even begin to open the door here. It really has to be Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s little secret that Russian players want to participate, though most have refrained from commenting on the geopolitical situation, in large part because doing so could affect their families at home.<\/p>\n
The IIHF and IOC have signaled openness to allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes at the youth level to play starting in 2028.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s entirely their call,\u201d NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told The Post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILAN \u2014 The NHL\u2019s return to the Olympics this year is the closest the world has come to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[426,5,4,2602,43,31286],"class_list":{"0":"post-454147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-alex-ovechkin","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-olympics","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-winter-olympics-2026"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116050698310271985","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Team](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Alex-Ovechkin.jpg\")
Team Russia and NHL legend Alex Ovechkin will not be playing in this year\u2019s Olympic men\u2019s hockey tournament. AP<\/p>\n