Ukrainian diaspora groups urge NHL to reject games with Russian league
More than 30 Ukrainian-American and Ukrainian-Canadian groups are urging the National Hockey League (NHL) to reject the idea of organizing matches against teams from Russia's Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
In a letter sent on April 7 to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, first reported by NBC News, the organizations said collaborating with the KHL would harm the NHL's reputation and "would be an affront to millions of American and Canadian NHL fans and to people of Ukrainian descent in both countries."
Razom for Ukraine, a U.S.-based nonprofit advocating for international support for Ukraine and a co-signer of the letter, shared it on X on April 8.
As of March, at least 591 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed by Russia, 22 are held in captivity, and 11 are missing. Some 725 sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks, including 17 Olympic, Paralympic, and Deaflympic training bases.
The appeal comes shortly after Alexander Ovechkin, who is originally from Russia, became the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer. The organizations warned that any cooperation between the NHL and KHL "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."
Daniel Balson, director of public engagement at Razom for Ukraine—a U.S.-based organization that co-signed the letter—called for a stronger stance from the NHL. "Our letter simply asks for the NHL to make plain and public its opposition to any such collaboration," Balson said, according to NBC News. He added that potential NHL-KHL matches would coincide with "Russian bombs raining fire on Ukraine civilians."
The controversy emerged after Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly suggested hockey matchups between American and Russian players during a call with U.S. President Donald Trump last month. According to the Kremlin, Trump supported Putin's proposal, although the NHL said it was "not part of the original conversation, and there have been no further discussions."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month that although hockey was discussed during the leaders' call, the administration's priority is securing a peace agreement, not scheduling hockey matches.
Read also: Ukrainian athletes who will never have a chance to compete at the Olympics
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