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The NHL has condemned Russia for their invasion of Ukraine, and are suspending business relationships in Russia, effective immediately. This includes Russian social media sites, sponsor partnerships, and considerations for future NHL tournaments.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have a large contingent of Russian players. The NHL is concerned for their well-being as they’ve allegedly been subjected to hate rhetoric. Per the NHL’s statement, “We also remain concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL Clubs, and not on behalf of Russia. We understand they and their families are being placed in an extremely difficult position.”
Statement from the National Hockey League: https://t.co/r4jOj5uCrw pic.twitter.com/TPh84ntbDm
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 28, 2022
Hockey Agent Dan Milstein, who is Ukrainian-American, raised concerns recently over “real threats” to his Russian clients to the NHL and NHLPA the morning before the announcement.
I just spoke with @HockeyAgent1. He has raised concerns of “real threats” to his Russian based clients both in-person and on Social media to the NHLPA and NHL clubs with Russian born players. Milstein is asking for additional security for his players in North America.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 28, 2022
This comes alongside the IIHF suspending all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from their events, including removing Russia as the host of the upcoming 2023 Men’s World Juniors. As well, FIFA is suspending all Russian teams from their tournaments until further notice.
The IIHF Council has suspended all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from IIHF competitions until further notice and withdrew the hosting rights of the 2023 #WorldJuniors from Russia.
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) February 28, 2022
READ MORE: https://t.co/SpSMGTlZw1#hockey #icehockey #Ukraine #Russia #Belarus pic.twitter.com/YYb1JduvWE
There are calls in motorsport for the FIA to bar all Russian drivers, sponsors, and teams, which could have impacts in their top series, Formula One. Nikita Mazepin, who drives for Haas F1, is the son of an oligarch who is paying a significant portion of the team’s budget to drive for the lone American team.
All these calls and actions are being taken in order to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and damage their international stature in the forms of social and economic pressure.
Breaking - FIFA set to suspend Russian teams from international football until further notice. Confirmation of decision expected later today.
— Simon Evans (@sgevans) February 28, 2022
After Ukraine's motor racing federation asked the FIA to ban all Russian and Belarusian drivers, the IOC has now recommended athletes and officials from those countries are banned from participating in any international competitions #F1
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) February 28, 2022
In other news, you might have remembered my Lightning Round relating to Lightning Executive Mathieu Darche getting an interview for the Chicago GM job. In my article I said this:
“My thinking on this exercise is that the baseball guy [Jeff Greenberg] is just to show people Chicago can think outside the box, [Mathieu] Darche might only be there to show Chicago that they know who the best organizations look like, and then they’re going to pick their guy [Kyle Davidson] which was the plan all along. This is how most of these things go, I’ll be surprised if they prove me wrong.”
Guess what Chicago chose as their GM? Kyle Davidson, the the guy they wanted all along. He must be a very impressive guy to go up against at least three championship-winning managers and win. There was a big PR push by Chicago in this process as the team is trying to regain trust from the fans who have lost faith in the organization following the multiple sexual assault scandals, and owner Rocky Wirtz’s tirade last month.
Sources tell @DailyFaceoff the Chicago #Blackhawks will name Kyle Davidson the team’s 10th General Manager on Tuesday.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 28, 2022
Akil Thomas of the LA Kings designed these Black History Month jerseys for his team with the apparel company he co-founded, Zale Apparel. If you remember years ago when the 22-year-old was in the OHL, we covered him starting his business from scratch with personalized designs on his equipment and an emerging logo.
Tonight, we'll be wearing special @adidashockey warmup jerseys in honor of Black History Month.
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 1, 2022
These powerful jerseys were designed by our very own @AkilThomas2 & the apparel company he co-founded, @Zaleapparel.
pic.twitter.com/7Y82RSF5PU
And finally, it appears Ken Holland and the Edmonton Oilers didn’t bother to tell Brendan Perlini that he was getting put on waivers, so his mom, Vicki, did it for them after learning about the news on the team’s Twitter. (We originally had a screencap of his mom’s words here but she took them down, so we did too.)
Woof. Oilers social media team, pals, friends, maybe double check with a few people before posting about transactions so that players aren't finding out about being moved via Twitter. The human beings that the team employs deserve to hear this from the team, not the internet.
— Kaylee Biggart (@KayleeBiggart) February 28, 2022