Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - [News] Sharks GM Grier Says Team will not go to Prague if Russians can't play

Unknown · 09-23-2022, 02:01 PM

I don't understand people who don't understand Czech foreign ministry's decision. And I also understand Grier's point of view. It's a whole different situation for a country like Czech Republic, than it its for a NHL-team's GM. Knowing today's situation in Russia and Ukraine, and the history Czech Republic has with Russia, I wasn't surprised of this at all. It'll be interesting to see, what happens.

I'm a Finn, and I have a ticket for the NHL Global Series Game COL-CBJ here in Finland. So we'll see, if Finland decides to do the same, but I doubt that. At least there are three Russian hockey players in the FEL compared to 0 in the Czech Extraliga, so it would be a bit weird to block Russian NHL-players.

World Cup 2024 and the possibility of Russia attending is something that is, and will be a much bigger topic here in Finland. At least for now, it's impossible to see Russia attending (if the NHL thinks that it's acceptable to give participation for the Russians, I think that most of the other European teams, if not all, wouldn't accept that).

Having a common border with Russia, being in a middle of the NATO-process (hopefully getting that completed soon), and understanding the history of Russia (and how that kleptocracy has, is, and most probably will be lead in future), it's a no-brainer for my country, and others to do everything in their power to stand against that crap. I completely understand, that this conflict isn't as big of a topic in North America than it is in here for common civilians (geographical location etc.), but I just wanted to share my feelings of this (although most of this write-up was offtopic). The fact is that politics is and will be a factor in international sports (as written above).

09-23-2022, 02:01 PM	#52
Unknown Farm Team Player Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Finland Exp:	I don't understand people who don't understand Czech foreign ministry's decision. And I also understand Grier's point of view. It's a whole different situation for a country like Czech Republic, than it its for a NHL-team's GM. Knowing today's situation in Russia and Ukraine, and the history Czech Republic has with Russia, I wasn't surprised of this at all. It'll be interesting to see, what happens. I'm a Finn, and I have a ticket for the NHL Global Series Game COL-CBJ here in Finland. So we'll see, if Finland decides to do the same, but I doubt that. At least there are three Russian hockey players in the FEL compared to 0 in the Czech Extraliga, so it would be a bit weird to block Russian NHL-players. World Cup 2024 and the possibility of Russia attending is something that is, and will be a much bigger topic here in Finland. At least for now, it's impossible to see Russia attending (if the NHL thinks that it's acceptable to give participation for the Russians, I think that most of the other European teams, if not all, wouldn't accept that). Having a common border with Russia, being in a middle of the NATO-process (hopefully getting that completed soon), and understanding the history of Russia (and how that kleptocracy has, is, and most probably will be lead in future), it's a no-brainer for my country, and others to do everything in their power to stand against that crap. I completely understand, that this conflict isn't as big of a topic in North America than it is in here for common civilians (geographical location etc.), but I just wanted to share my feelings of this (although most of this write-up was offtopic). The fact is that politics is and will be a factor in international sports (as written above).