CANTLON: PRO HOCKEY HAS A RUSSIA PROBLEM 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Pro Hockey has a Russian problem.

NHL teams playing in the Czech capital of Prague next month have been told their Russian players are not welcome.

The Czech Foreign Ministry informed the NHL of its position resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, the ministry declined to say whether the NHL’s scheduled regular season games between the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks on October 7th and 8th at Prague’s O2 Arena in the Czech capital will honor the request and exclude Russian athletes.  The travel rosters have not been finalized, but Nashville’s roster includes Russian forward Yakov Trenin, while San Jose’s includes forward Evgeny Svechnikov. Defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov won’t be an issue as he is unavailable for the Sharks anyway, as he is out with a torn Achilles tendon.

“We can confirm that the Czech Foreign Ministry has sent a letter to the NHL to point out that, at this moment, the Czech Republic or any other state in the (visa free) Schengen zone should not issue visas to the Russian players to enter our territory,” Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Smolek said in a statement.

The ministry added it informed the league “about ongoing negotiations about banning entry for those citizens of the Russian Federation who already had received valid visas before.” It said a ban on Russian athletes in sports events in European Union countries was also recommended by EU sports ministers in Brussels, where the EU is located and part of its sanctions on Russia.

The Czech Republic (Czechia) was one of the first EU countries to stop issuing visas to Russian nationals following the February invasion of Ukraine. Exceptions include humanitarian cases and people persecuted by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

The NHL is returning to Europe for its first games outside of North America since the start of the pandemic.

Besides the two games in Prague, the Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets will play another two games in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 4-5. The Finnish government’s position on Russian players was not immediately clear. However, they have applied for NATO membership, so anything that might jeopardize that will be avoided.

Czech native and former NHL great Dominik Hasek has led the opposition to Russian players coming to Prague since the games were announced in April. Hasek, virulently anti-Russian, approached the upper house of Parliament, the Senate, in the Czech government, and the Foreign Ministry about the issue.

“It’s very important for the support of our Ukrainian ally and safety of our citizens,” Hasek said in an interview for a Russian broadcaster. After it was not aired in Russia, he had it published in the Czech media.

“Yes, we don’t want any promotion of the Russian aggression here,” Hasek tweeted after the ministry’s move. “We’re guarding our lives and the lives of our allies in the first place.”

NHL President Gary Bettman and his AHL counterpart, Scott Howson, have a growing dilemma. On the surface, the NHL cut all ties with Russia at the onset of the invasion. They have remained silent since. However, a handful of Russian/Belarussian players were drafted in Montreal at the annual draft.

Several present and past players have signed in Russia, Belarus, and China at the AHL level. It’s a major problem. The more the war drags on, and the more war crimes mount, the more difficult it becomes for Mr. Bettman and Mr. Howson to do nothing. Public indignation will force their hand.

With a new season rapidly approaching and the war dragging on, mass graves have recently been found. It must be noted that not all Russian players are pro-Putin, for example, New York Ranger forward Artemi Panarin. However, the issue with professional record chasing there’s long-time top-performers Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, their positions become more problematic by the day.

(An ESPN story was used in the formation of this piece)

GARRETT BURNETT

Last year, the Hartford Wolf Pack lost the second alumnist to pass away in Garrett Burnett.

He alternated between Burnie, and Rocky, as his nicknames. The circumstances under which his career ended were very sad.

For the first time, we can reveal, with his permission, what happened.

Former LNAH teammate and member of the ex-Wolf Pack community now retired, Brandon “Sugar” Sugden, his close friend, is still emotional about it all these years later.

Burnett was out with friends one night in the off-season in Delta, BC, just outside Vancouver. The group was hassled, and words were exchanged.

The parties went outside to settle their differences.

The Crown, the Canadian legal system in its investigation, said in the ensuing melee had always reported Burnett was hit over the head with a chair and suffered debilitating injuries that left him a shell of his behemoth 250-pound frame.

Sugden said that wasn’t entirely the case – Burnett had been shot in the head.

The security footage of the fight went missing, and not to this day had it ever been produced by the establishment in question, or had anyone ever been charged in the attack.

So the cover story about the chair was made up by authorities, hoping somebody would come forward to authenticate or provide convincing, authoritative evidence and testimony to the incident. But, sadly, no one did.

Sugden, at the time, was informed of how severe Burnett’s situation was.

He arrived at his friend’s bedside, completely unprepared for what he saw.

“I saw all those tubes and wires coming out of him. I didn’t even recognize him.

“I had to walk out of the room, (compose) myself, and go back in and be with him.

“The doctors said his being such a strong athlete likely saved him. It was a horrible, awful time.”

Burnett survived initially but was left with severe injuries that forced him into rehab to re-learn his motor skills.

He passed away last year.

Let’s hope during the Wolf Pack celebration being planned for later this year, they include a nice tribute to Burnett.

NHL

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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