A coalition of Ukrainian-American and Ukrainian-Canadian organizations called on the NHL to reject the proposal of the United States and Russia staging a hockey series.
U.S. president Donald Trump reportedly supported Russian president Vladimir Putin’s idea of staging hockey games between players from both countries in a phone call on March 18, according to a readout the Kremlin published.
The NHL subsequently released a statement saying it was not a party to those discussions, adding it would be inappropriate for it to comment at that time.
Bettman told reporters on March 19 he learned about the idea from media reports and referred to the league’s statement.
“I’m not going to speculate or anything else. It is what it is,” he said at the annual NHL GM Meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The 31 organizations signed an open letter demanding NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to reject any collaboration with the Russia-based KHL, calling the idea “a deeply offensive move” as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.
“Such initiatives would forever stain your organization’s reputation, facilitate the broader reintegration of the Russian Federation into world sporting bodies, undermine the NHL’s own stated values and alienate millions of hockey fans,” the letter states.
The NHL has not released a statement regarding the open letter at the time of publishing.
The NHL did issue a statement on Feb. 28, 2022, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, suspending its business relationships in Russia, pausing its Russian language social and digital media sites and discontinuing any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions involving the NHL.
“At their best, international sporting events foster mutual respect and exemplify national pride and athletic excellence,” the letter said. “Yet to organize any such events in partnership with Russian government or sporting officials would be to ignore, and thereby to implicitly endorse, Vladimir Putin’s crimes.”
The United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said in September 2022 that based on its investigations, war crimes were committed in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a media call on Tuesday that the idea of a U.S.-Russia hockey series was “purely hypothetical,” according to NBC News. But Daniel Balson of U.S.-based nonprofit Razom For Ukraine told NBC that Russia has used sports before to boost its soft power.
On Monday, Putin congratulated Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin for breaking the NHL’s all-time goals record on Sunday, saying it is not only a personal success “but also a real celebration for fans in Russia and abroad.”