Russian hockey teams remain banned from 2026 Olympics. What does it mean for NHL players?

New York Times

a day ago

The NHL is not expecting Russian participation in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Wednesday in a news conference before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. His statement came on the heels of the International Olympic Committee confirming last week its stance that both Russia and Belarus should be barred from fielding teams of athletes.
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The IOC Executive Board recommended sanctions for Russia after the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022 with support from Belarus, its eastern neighbor. The recommendations to international sports federations were first announced in 2023, leading to Russia and Belarus missing out on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The IOC requested an Olympic hockey schedule and groupings from the International Ice Hockey Federation in early May, IIHF president Luc Tardif recently told reporters. The IOC then reaffirmed its recommendations in a statement at the end of the month.
Neither the IOC nor the IIHF have released official decisions on Russia's involvement in the 2026 Olympics, which will be held next February. But the recommendations are not expected to change, as Daly's comment indicated. The chances of a Russian team taking the ice for the Olympic hockey tournament are slim, if not zero.
Here's a look at the situation and its particular impact on the men's hockey tournament, which will see active NHL players competing in it for the first time since 2014.
There has been a long history of countries not being allowed to compete at the Olympics. In the wake of World War II, Germany and Japan were not invited to the 1948 Olympics. The IOC barred South Africa from the Olympics from 1964 until the 1992 Games due to apartheid. Yugoslavia didn't have a team while under sanctions in 1992 for military aggression against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Olympics historian David Wallechinsky said that historically, the IOC has banned countries on a case-by-case basis that has not always been consistent. He mentioned that the U.S. did not get sanctioned when it went to war in Vietnam. The idea didn't even come up.
'If you look at South Africa and Russia, it took outside pressure to even get (the IOC) to act seriously,' Wallechinsky said. 'They do have this philosophy, long-standing: Don't punish athletes because of the actions of their government. They'll kind of bend over backwards to allow that. But if there's enough outside pressure, like South Africa and Ukraine, then they act.'
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Russia is a traditional Olympic power in men's hockey. The Soviets won gold seven times, as did the 1992 Unified Team (a group of athletes from Russia and four other former Soviet states) and the 2018 Olympic Athletes of Russia.
The NHL hasn't sent players to the Winter Olympics since 2014, when Canada defeated Sweden to win gold in Sochi, Russia. The Russian men's team did not medal on home ice, a source of national embarrassment so bitter that some players from that team did not attend the closing ceremonies.
NHL stars Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Artemi Panarin, all of whom are at least 30 years old, have never competed in the Olympics. With the IOC's recommendations intact, it's possible they never will.
The exclusion of Russian teams also means Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin might never play in the Olympics together and both of their decorated careers could end without an Olympic medal. Russia hasn't reached the podium with active NHL players since taking bronze in 2002, before either star was on the team.
Before the sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, Russia faced discipline for what the IOC referred to as 'systematic manipulation of the anti-doping system.' But while the IOC banned the Russian Olympic Committee, athletes from the country were allowed to participate at the 2018 Winter Games under the Olympic flag and a new name: 'Olympic Athletes of Russia.' That year, in Pyeongchang, South Korea, a team of Russian players won gold in men's hockey.
At the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo (which were delayed until 2021 because of COVID-19) and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, meanwhile, Russians competed as the Russian Olympic Committee — rather than as Russia — because of continued fallout from the doping scandal. At the latter Olympics, the Russian Olympic Committee men's hockey team took silver.
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Multiple Russians who play in NHL and KHL, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Russian Federation did not approve their comments, said they would not want to compete in the Olympics under these altered titles in Milan Cortina.
'We are Russian,' one of those players said. 'If we play it's Russia flag, Russia name. Like other countries.'
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, 32 individual Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to participate under the title 'Individual Neutral Athletes.' There are set to be neutral athletes again at the 2026 Games with the same recommendations as 2024 in place, including that athletes who actively support the war or who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military cannot compete. But, as of now, there will not be a men's or women's hockey team with a neutral name.
'It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team,' the IOC said in a statement. 'We take note that the IIHF has confirmed that it will follow this recommendation.'
According to the IIHF website, 'The decision whether Russia participates in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games will remain under the International Olympic Committee's jurisdiction.'
The IIHF Council did, however, announce in February that Russia and Belarus would not be reincorporated into its championships in the 2025-26 season, which includes events like the World Championship and World Juniors.
'As the current security conditions do not allow the necessary requirements for the organization of tournaments guaranteeing the safety of all, the IIHF must maintain the current status quo until further notice,' it said in a statement.
Tardif, speaking at world junior championships in January, said he wants Russia back in competitions as soon as possible.
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'It will mean the war will be over,' he said. '(Russia) is missed for any competition. But let them come too early, that's not going to be good.'
The Russian Ice Hockey Federation said in a statement that it hopes the IOC's recommendations will be revised. A spokesperson said the federation cannot appeal recommendations but 'as soon as we receive a specific decision, we will be able to decide on our possible actions against it.'
Based on recent precedent, a successful appeal seems close to impossible. In July 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Russia's appeal of FIFA and UEFA's decisions to ban Russia from national and club competition.
Beyond the Olympics, the Russian federation also disagreed with the IIHF's decision not to reincorporate Russia into its 2025-26 events, taking objection to the IIHF citing security concerns as its primary reason.
'The successes of Russian athletes in the NHL, AHL, NCAA and other leagues in various countries, the attention they receive and the friendly atmosphere around them prove that we do not pose a security threat, as many federations state, and that sport can still exist beyond politics, despite the position of individual sports officials,' the Russian federation said in its statement.
If the recommendations remain in place, France will replace Russia in both the men's and women's hockey tournaments.
Russia is currently second in the IIHF men's rankings and sixth on the women's side, while France is No. 14 and No. 15, respectively. At the most recent men's world championships, the French roster included St. Louis Blues forward Alexandre Texier, Washington Capitals goalie prospect Antoine Keller, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who played 700 NHL games before going to the Swiss league this season. It was the only team at the tournament that failed to win a game, though it picked up a point for an overtime loss.
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The French were not at the 2025 women's world championships.
The Russian NHL and KHL players who spoke to The Athletic said they are not surprised by the recommendations remaining in place but remained hopeful a resolution could be reached. One player, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Russian Ice Hockey Federation did not approve his comments, said that he's received 'hidden support' from non-Russian NHL players citing Russia's status as a historic rival to many Olympic countries — specifically Canada, the U.S. and Czechia.
'If you ask the athletes, we want to play the best,' one non-Russian NHL player said. 'I think that's in any sport. But they're not asking us what we want. I think these decisions have nothing to do with the hockey or other sports. It's not about the players, the athletes. It's above us.'
That feeling is not universal. Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hašek, who is from Czechia, has been adamantly opposed to Russia competing in the Olympics, recently tweeting approval for the IOC's stance.
(Photo of Russian players celebrating their 2018 Olympic gold medal: Geoff Burke / USA TODAY)