Marty Walsh, president of the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA), said Russian players will most likely not participate in the NHL international tournament in February 2025. His words were quoted by Daily Faceoff.
“Most likely not. In this case we are talking about a more serious problem. There are federations that do not allow their players to participate in the tournament (with the Russians). You have to take all of this into consideration,” said Walsh.
In September, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly announced that the league and the NHLPA plan to host the World Cup in 2025.
It was noted that teams from Canada, Sweden, Finland and the USA will participate in the international tournament. Organizers want the games to be held in Europe.
In the spring of 2022, the International Hockey Federation decided to prevent Russian hockey players from participating in international tournaments, even with neutral status, and the organization also stripped Russia of the right to host the youth world championship at home in 2023. At the beginning of July 2022, the IIHF Disciplinary Committee rejected the Russian Hockey Federation’s request for admission to international competitions.
Previously another international federation accepted Russian athletes.