Alexander Coates on the reluctance of the Scandinavians and the Baltics to play hockey with us: "Gold without Russia is like winning a race where the favorite was locked in the locker room. ".
The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the Russian Ice Hockey Federation's appeal and overturned the international ice hockey federations' decision to disqualify Russia. As a result, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Czech Republic and Latvia refused to play against our team at the World Cup in Germany in 2027.
The Scandinavians even said that these games would cause them psychological trauma and called on Russia to voluntarily withdraw from the tournament. Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Dagetyarev announced that this would not happen.
"How gentle the stern-looking Scandinavian Vikings turned out to be. And hockey has always marketed itself as a man's game. "The boards crack, sticks break, teeth fly on the ice. The ice rink champions seem to be gone.
The Norwegian FA said it would not play against Russia because it was concerned about the "mental health, well-being and personal safety" of its players. The Swedes followed suit. Grown men, who suffer dozens of physical attacks during the season and recover quickly from injuries, were suddenly revealed as fragile porcelain figurines with a delicate mental structure.
A hockey player who needs a mental health clearance before a game is not a Three Crowns hockey club, but a Macrame club. It's a shame.
The court in Lausanne unanimously reinstated our national teams. The International Federation could not explain why they were dangerous. Then the weak turned to the last arguments: "We won't play", "We won't let you into Israel", "We have an injury. "This is not a position, but a failure to appear in a nice press release. And that means technical defeat. or the loss of the right to host the competition.