Hasek wants the NHL to Suspend the Russian Players!

[K-9]

1 hour ago, MattPie said:

Hasek is wrong on this one. Sure, it feels good to try to hit back at Russia any way possible but as others have pointed out the players are stuck in a hard place. They can't denounce Putin without likely consequences. I guess they're lucky that it's not at the point where they're forced to praise Putin or be deemed not sufficiently Patriotic. As it stands, if a player, let's call him Alex O, were to start making statements in support of Russia and Putin in the war, the club may be able to suspend them due to the bad publicity, just like (I'd hope) the Habs would suspend someone if they said poutine was terrible, or the Sabres would if a player liked ranch on wings. Your employer doesn't have to employ you if you make a negative spectacle of yourself. (The CBA in the NHL might get into this, don't know)

As for boycotts, I'm all for it. Money talks and I don't get the impression that Putin has the iron fist dictator thing going in Russia. The oligarchs and powerful people over there will start to put pressure on if this starts hitting the bottom line (at this point I can't imagine it not).

Per the bold, perhaps you haven’t been paying attention to Russia since Putin gained power 22 years ago. The oligarchs have never pressured Putin; in fact it’s quite the opposite. They do his bidding, not the other way around. That said, I agree entirely that the only pain Putin responds to is financial. 

[MattPie]

39 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Per the bold, perhaps you haven’t been paying attention to Russia since Putin gained power 22 years ago. The oligarchs have never pressured Putin; in fact it’s quite the opposite. They do his bidding, not the other way around. That said, I agree entirely that the only pain Putin responds to is financial. 

I get what you're saying, but I see images of people protesting in Moscow and people making public statements. It's not like the iron fist of the old days where no one would even dare say anything.

[Brawndo]

https://twitter.com/darrendreger/status/1498376300943360009?s=21

[I-90 W]

If Hasek’s argument is that the millions of dollars these Russian players make in the NHL should be sanctioned via the players themselves being suspended, I think that’s a legitimate argument. Make no mistake about it, these are highly paid Russian citizens. Their income gets put back into Russias economy. 

I doubt Hasek meant it in order to discriminate against anyone, but rather to either stop millions flooding into Russia and/or as symbolic.

There are many wonderful people in Russia who are adamantly against what Putin is doing, and I’m sure Hasek knows that.

[woods-racer]

2 hours ago, MattPie said:

I get what you're saying, but I see images of people protesting in Moscow and people making public statements. It's not like the iron fist of the old days where no one would even dare say anything.

It amazed me there were/are protests. It wasn't that long ago they would be at best rounded up and sent to prison, but more likely just shot where they stood.

 

I do not support the harsh treatment of young hockey players in a matter in which they have no say, I understand that the federation feels the need to make a statement. But it doesn't hurt anyone but young kids. There's no financial give up by either Putin or the IIHF. To me there is no logic in that.

Let the kids play in the Tournament with non descript uniforms with no names on them.

[Taro T]

9 minutes ago, woods-racer said:

It amazed me there were/are protests. It wasn't that long ago they would be at best rounded up and sent to prison, but more likely just shot where they stood.

 

I do not support the harsh treatment of young hockey players in a matter in which they have no say, I understand that the federation feels the need to make a statement. But it doesn't hurt anyone but young kids. There's no financial give up by either Putin or the IIHF. To me there is no logic in that.

Let the kids play in the Tournament with non descript uniforms with no names on them.

There are very few levers nongovernments can pull to highlight displeasure at a different country's actions.  Withholding participation in the "fun" things life offers for citizens of the offending country is one of the few that are available to them.  IMHO it is an appropriate action.  Stinks for the kids that are getting effected, but unfortunately for them "that's just the way it is."

Edited February 28, 2022 by Taro T

[SabresVet]

Good thing the Russians weren't in the NHL during the Afghanistan invasion in December '79.  And good thing the mob didn't demand the Super Series stop in 1980, 1983, and 1986.  Good thing no one demanded Russian NHL players were punished after invasion of Georgina in 2008 or Crimea in 2014.  

We're getting toward a modern version of the Committee of Public Safety.  

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, SabresVet said:

Good thing the Russians weren't in the NHL during the Afghanistan invasion in December '79.  And good thing the mob didn't demand the Super Series stop in 1980, 1983, and 1986.  Good thing no one demanded Russian NHL players were punished after invasion of Georgina in 2008 or Crimea in 2014.  

We're getting toward a modern version of the Committee of Public Safety.  

Seem to recall an Olympic boycott back around '79.  Now when did the US lead a western boycott of the Summer Olympics?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Seem to recall an Olympic boycott back around '79.  Now when did the US lead a western boycott of the Summer Olympics?

There was no boycott of the Winter Olympics in 1980.

I believe the LA games in '84 were boycotted by the Soviets and their puppet states.  Did the US and puppet states boycott the '84 Winter games in Sarajevo?

[Brawndo]

Official now

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 minutes ago, The Ghost of Doohickie said:

There was no boycott of the Winter Olympics in 1980.

I believe the LA games in '84 were boycotted by the Soviets and their puppet states.  Did the US and puppet states boycott the '84 Winter games in Sarajevo?

Actually, President Carter had the US boycott the summer games (1980) in Moscow because of the invasion.  You are correct.

Edited February 28, 2022 by The Ghost of Doohickie

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, The Ghost of Doohickie said:

There was no boycott of the Winter Olympics in 1980.

I believe the LA games in '84 were boycotted by the Soviets and their puppet states.  Did the US and puppet states boycott the '84 Winter games in Sarajevo?

That is correct.  President Carter led a boycott of the '80 Summer Olympics.  The Soviets thought attending the 2nd Lake Placid Olympics would get Carter to back down, but it didn't.  Which led to the near bankrupting of McDonald's after the Soviet led boycott of the '84 Summer Olympics.

You are correct that there was no major boycott of the Sarajevo Olympics.

[woods-racer]

Withdrawing the hosting rights in 2023 has some teeth to it. The rest is window dressing.

[Claude Balls]

May as well suspend all of the North Korean players as well. 

[Taro T]

13 minutes ago, woods-racer said:

Withdrawing the hosting rights in 2023 has some teeth to it. The rest is window dressing.

True.  But they likely thought they couldn't really say "well, we're going to sanction them a year from now for what's happening now."

[LGR4GM]

3 hours ago, SabresVet said:

Good thing the Russians weren't in the NHL during the Afghanistan invasion in December '79.  And good thing the mob didn't demand the Super Series stop in 1980, 1983, and 1986.  Good thing no one demanded Russian NHL players were punished after invasion of Georgina in 2008 or Crimea in 2014.  

We're getting toward a modern version of the Committee of Public Safety.  

What a strange comment

[SabresVet]

5 hours ago, Taro T said:

Seem to recall an Olympic boycott back around '79.  Now when did the US lead a western boycott of the Summer Olympics?

This is conflation.  

It was the US Government which initiated and led an Olympic boycott during the Summer 1980 games.  The Soviets and certain Eastern Bloc nations responded for the '84 Summer Games.  A government preventing its athletes from competing in a quadrennial event over a nation's going to war is nothing like individual people demanding that pro and amateur athletes be suspended or banned merely by virtue of their citizenship and heritage. 

And I am sensitive to Hasek being born in a former Eastern Bloc nation which notoriously cracked down on Czechoslovak's, particularly in 1968. 

[SabresVet]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

What a strange comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecJvyvh_Ics

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, SabresVet said:

This is conflation.  

It was the US Government which initiated and led an Olympic boycott during the Summer 1980 games.  The Soviets and certain Eastern Bloc nations responded for the '84 Summer Games.  A government preventing its athletes from competing in a quadrennial event over a nation's going to war is nothing like individual people demanding that pro and amateur athletes be suspended or banned merely by virtue of their citizenship and heritage. 

And I am sensitive to Hasek being born in a former Eastern Bloc nation which notoriously cracked down on Czechoslovak's, particularly in 1968. 

Sorry, with your comments about potentially canceling tournaments rather than canceling individual players in the time period mentioned didn't see the distinction.  And the other 2 examples you brought up were also Olympic years coincidentally (1 summer, 1 winter).

[SabresVet]

10 hours ago, Taro T said:

Sorry, with your comments about potentially canceling tournaments rather than canceling individual players in the time period mentioned didn't see the distinction.  And the other 2 examples you brought up were also Olympic years coincidentally (1 summer, 1 winter).

Understood.  👍

I think this thread is ultimately dead, but will make one last point: the NHL would be a significantly lower quality league if Russians did not participate.  And, if they believe the US/CAN environment is unsuitable, they'll be a lot of guys going back to the KHL.  The war will end, but the ill-will toward Russian players won't anytime soon.  We can do better than that. 

[GoPuckYourself]

I hate all of this, from what I'm reading many Russians are completely against this. Instead of not letting Russian players play how about not letting them send money back to Russia for any reasoning. Facebook is impossible to be on, so much hatred on there.

[Kristian]

While I don’t believe Russian players should be banned, I’d certainly appreciate it if Ovie would change his Instagram profile picture, to one where he’s NOT posing with a murderous psycho!