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Pittsburgh Penguins veteran Evgeni Malkin highlighted his frustration with the extended ban on Russian and Belarusian players by the IIHF as he expressed his desire for the NHL to take a stand against it.
The International Ice Hockey Federation announced on Monday that Russia and Belarus' national teams will be ineligible to compete in the 2024-25 season. Since the federation's council vote in 2022, both nations have been barred from participating in the IIHF competition.
The development comes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Two years have passed since then, and the conflict is still ongoing between the two countries.
According to the IIHF's decision, Russia and Belarus will be ineligible to compete in the men's and women's championships, world juniors and u-18 competitions. Moreover, Belarus will also be disqualified from the final round of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The qualifying round takes place in August this year.
Future Hall of Famer Evgeni Malkin, who represented Russia in 18 international events, including three Winter Olympics, seven World Championships and a World Cup of Hockey spoke about the IHF's decision to extend the ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
Evgeni Malkin said (via The Athletic):
“Growing up, I would watch national team. Any national team.“I would watch Sid (Crosby) win Olympics (in 2010 and 2014) — it’s amazing. That how we judged in Russia: international.
“But it’s hard because next Olympics games in Italy, it’s Europe. Maybe more dangerous for us. Here (in North America), maybe no problem. … Right now, it’s a dangerous situation, and we know it. I think it’s more to protect the players.”
Evgeni Malkin added:
“I think the world would love to see (it). The hockey world, certainly, and the world would benefit from seeing best-on-best with all countries involved. That would be the best scenario.”
According to The Athletic, the NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh is taking a different stance on the situation. He believes that Russian players should not be held responsible for the political tensions surrounding Ukraine.
Walsh wants to address the issue of Russian players participating in international events in a positive way.
Apart from Evgeni Malkin, NHL includes multiple notable players from Russia and Belarus
Apart from Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Artemi Panarin, Nikita Kucherov, Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiv and Ilya Sorokin are among some of the notable Russian players in the National Hockey League.
As for Belarus, it only has four active players in the league: Yegor Sarangovich, Alexi Protas, Ilya Solovyov and Vladislav Kolyachonok.
When it comes to international success, Russia has won 13 gold medals at the World Juniors and only trails Canada on the all-time list. Moreover, Russia, while it was part of the Soviet Union, has won nine Olympic gold medals (combined) in men's hockey.
They are tied with Canada and have the second most World Championship wins (27).
