I doubt they care about asterisks on championships. Last time they even had made up teams like "Europe" and "North America" for funsies.
NHL cares about money. I'm guessing they don't like not having Russia in the tournament because from what I've understood, they draw good audiences when they're playing the NA teams.
No one would care much if Finland couldn't make it, despite them being a consistent medalist... unlike Russia.
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