The Russian Problem

When Russia won their case in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), I think everyone expected that what would follow would be messy and a headache. With Russia still inside Ukraine's borders and looking to continue its attempted takeover of that country, sports should literally be the last thing people have on their minds, but the Russians seem hellbent on ensuring that they get their way in the hockey world. More news has filtered down today from various countries and organizations, so let's get settled in for more international hockey insanity thanks to all the stupidity seen so far.

Announced today by Germany, they will work no longer drop the Men's World Championship tournament despite pressure to do so because German Ice Hockey Federation chief executive Frank Lutz is now being forced to look at the bigger picture. According to reports filed today, "[a] withdrawal would come with financial penalties and could damage Munich's bid for the Olympics" in the summer of 2036.

This now puts Germany in a position to do what Canada did in rejecting visas for Russian athletes if they truly want to keep the Russians out of the IIHF Men's Hockey Tournament in May. The German government hasn't weighed in on the situation yet, but it seems clear that the IIHF will "take a diplomatic route following the CAS ruling, which Lutz welcomes" despite the number of sponsors who have threatened to abandon the tournament and the number of countries who will boycott games against Russia. Germany, as it stands, clearly has a problem on their hands in hosting this hockey tournament.

Germany, however, will have to consider their next moves carefully if they are worried about losing the potential opportunity to host the Olympics. The IOC will certainly look down on Germany's application if they start imposing political bans on athletes after CAS made it clear that the IIHF had no basis for that ban, so Germany's next decision as to what do about the Russians will be significant. My feelings about the Olympics aside, Germany's in a quandary.

On top of this, the IIHF officially reinstated Russia for the 2027 IIHF calendar, and that has forced Norway out of the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship taking place in Alberta. Because Norway is the lowest-seeded team at the event, the decision was made to push them back to the Division-1A tournament taking place in Estonia in May. Russia, if they replace Norway, would be in the same Pool-B setting as Canada, Czechia, Latvia, and Switerland, and we already know that at least two of those countries will boycott games.

On top of that, the Canadian government has ensured that not one Russian athlete representing Russia will compete on Canadian soil at the event, and they will go so far as to ban visas for those athletes. Norway Ice Hockey Federation General Secretary Petter Salsten has made it clear that Norway opposes this move as the IIHF awarded Russia the tenth seed, and added that "the Norwegian association expects further formal clarifications and directives from the IIHF within the coming days to resolve the administrative gridlock."

Of course, Germany also has to determine what they plan on doing if teams boycott, but they also will have Ukrainian athletes there as Ukraine had qualified for the 2027 IIHF Men's World Championship. Clearly, both Russia and Ukraine cannot be at the tournament together due to the potential problems that may cause, and it was a week ago that Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that the CAS decision "stains the ice with Ukrainian blood". He's not wrong.

Because the CAS decision is binding and the IIHF has to follow the ruling, the problem will now literally fall on each host country's political powers to determine whether or not Russians can compete within their borders. This could lead to further diplomatic problems between countries when it comes to supporting Ukraine on the world stage, so the IIHF would be treading on very thin ice if it starts talking about penalizing nations for withdrawing as hosts.

Clearly, there is a lot of red tape and pitfalls to navigate long before any games are played, but the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship is less than two months away. If Canada keeps Russia from competing, it seems likely Norway would jump back into the event. Beyond that tournament, though, everything seems up in the air as Germany will have to make a decision. Do they follow their hearts in hoping to secure the Olympics or do they stand on principle with Ukraine?

Again, I go back to Nitya Prakash's wise words that state, "If you can abandon your principles for convenience, or social acceptability, then they are not your principles. They are your costume." You can argue that Germany has a good reason, both civically and financially, to allow the Russians to play, but it's a hard path to walk after being Ukraine's ally in their war. Therein lies Germany's toughest decision.

For all the "keep politics out of sports" people, having Russia reinstated for IIHF events plunges hockey directly into politics. Canada has made its stance clear about Russia. What will Germany do with both Ukraine and Russia having invitations to their party in May?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

TBC: Draft Day

With the stupid gimmicks that have been baked into recent NHL Entry Drafts, the idea of seeing the old way of how the drafts used to be are likely long gone. I still vividly recall seeing players like Alexandre Daigle, Roman Hamrlik, and Joe Thornton standing up in having their name called first, huggling friends and family, and descending the stairs to the stage where they stood as the first-overall selections in their respective drafts. Needless to say, I was captivated by the subtitle of today's book review as Teebz's Book Club is proud to review Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind, written by Doug MacLean with Scott Morrison and published by Simon & Schuster Canada. If Doug MacLean was penning a book all about how the NHL Entry Draft works from an insider's perspective, he sold me with the title. Was that the case, though?

You likely know Doug MacLean already if you're a hockey fan, but his Simon & Schuster biography reads, "Doug MacLean is a former professional hockey coach, general manager, and team executive. He was the president and general manager of the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets and was also the head coach of the Florida Panthers. He became a sportscaster for Sportsnet, eventually cohosting the popular Hockey Central at Noon radio show and regularly appearing as a panelist on Hockey Central television. He splits his time between PEI and Florida." It should also be noted he coached junior hockey in Prince Edward Island, was the head coach of the University of New Brunswick Reds, and an assistant coach with all of the St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, and Detroit Red Wings. He was also the assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, the general manager of the Adirondack Red Wings, and a pro scout with the Florida Panthers! He's certainly done it all in his hockey career!

Knowing that Doug MacLean has done virtually every front office role in hockey made me wonder if Draft Day would truly reveal what goes on down on the floor during the draft and behind the scenes in a team's war room. While there is some room for debate about how successful MacLean was in his various roles in the NHL and at the draft podium, he certainly has enough experience and stories from a number of NHL Entry Drafts to put together a book on the subject.

Draft Day spends a lot time looking at past drafts and how general managers seemingly approached those drafts. MacLean goes into great detail about former Montreal Canadiens general manager Sam Pollock and the success he had based on a couple of key principles that guided him, but it seems pretty clear that Pollock's approach to the draft would be a lot harder to replicate in a 32-team league.

Admittedly, there are a lot of stories from MacLean's career in Draft Day that will resonate with hockey fans as a lot of these stories take you inside the thought processes that go into drafting certain players. MacLean explains the process that led them to select Gilbert Brule over Anze Kopitar in one draft, and how the interview process done by teams with players should have led him to choose someone other than Nikolai Zherdev. It's an interesting reflection that MacLean has on his own draft success in his career after all these years.

As MacLean maintains throughout Draft Day, the purpose of the NHL Entry Draft and having draft picks is to improve one's team. Shockingly, he reveals that a major NHL star was almost traded three times early in the book when he was in Detroit. He writes,

"Interestingly, before Yzerman won his three Cups, three times he was nearly traded, once before Bowman had arrived and twice after. The first time was in 1991 when Bryan and I thought we had a deal with the Islanders for LaFontaine. One night Bryan told me the deal was going to be done and announced the next morning. It was LaFontaine and some other pieces for Yzerman. But the next day nothing happened, and it was never mentioned again. The second time was in 1992 when he was rumored to be part of a blockbuster offer to Quebec for Eric Lindros. The third time was in 1995 to Ottawa, supposedly for a package that included a young Alexei Yashin."

It's incredible to think that Yzerman could have been an Islanders forward if something hadn't changed overnight. Of course, we find out later in Draft Day that Detroit's package wasn't close to what Quebec was being offered, and that deal with Ottawa would have been bad for Detroit if things played out as they did with Yashin on Long Island. There are a number of these stories like this in Draft Day, and MacLean deserves credit for taling about these failed deals!

MacLean also includes a chapter on analytics in Draft Day that feels slightly dated considering this book was published in 2023. As we know, analytics are an important tool for a number of teams when evaluating players, but MacLean speaks about it like it's still in its infancy in this chapter. There's also a whole chapter on what went wrong with Nikolai Zherdev in Columbus, an incredible chapter that examines all the angles involved in the Eric Lindros trade, and there's a solid chapter for players and parents about the many paths to the NHL and how being a good person matters as much as talent.

Overall, Draft Day is a fantastic read with lots of player and personnel references that people will know, and Doug MacLean has always been a good storyteller. While I would have liked more examination on the science of scouting and drafting, there's no doub that Draft Day does an incredible job in bring the front office experience to light. Because of MacLean's insight and experience, his hockey knowledge, and his incredible way of telling his stories, Draft Day absolutely deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

Draft Day was published back in 2023, so it should be available at all bookstores and libraries. It's a solid read that became harder to put down as one got deeper into each of MacLean's stories and chapters. Draft Day is a clean read with no salacious stories nor crass language, so it's absolutely recommended for all hockey fans of all ages!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 737

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight with all three members of the show in place and ready to discuss all that needs attention! There has been lots of news on the international hockey front so you know that will have the hosts stirring, but there was more that happened in hockey that needs some discussion as well. Of course, there's a big tournament happening locally next week that we'll promote, so make sure you're ready to roll tonight for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Teebz, Jason, and Sophie will take a hard look at the CAS ruling, the IIHF's conundrum, and the host cities and countries making decisions on allowing Russia back into IIHF events. This will likely be a large segment on tonight's show, but the IIHF also made a little news in denying Canada to wear its newly-designed jerseys at the Women's World Championship, the NHL decided to introduce the Hometown Remix jerseys to very mixed reactions, the Female World Sport School Challenge starts next Thursday, and they'll jump into any other stories that cross their desks. It should be a good show with lots of abuse for Russia and international sports bodies in it, so get your "Denied" passport stamps ready for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz, Jason, and Sophie discuss big mistakes, dumb rulings, passive adherence, strong leaders, money matters, clothing problems, local tourneys, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: November 5, 2026: Episode 737

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Kazakhstani Goalie Goal

If you're a reader of this blog, you know that any article I have prepared gets bumped for a goalie goal assuming there's video proof of said goal. I wasn't expecting a goalie goal mid-afternoon today, but the KHL decided to deliver in a big way as one netminder added his name to the record books in two ways. People likely don't know the Kazakhstani netminder to the left very well, but that's 28 year-old Nikita Boyarkin representing his home nation between the pipes. And Nikita Boyarkin is the reason why this article will bump the one I had ready to post to Friday.

Thanks to how time works, the KHL plays their evening games much earlier than games in North America. As such, their games usually start around noon in North America, allowing anyone with a stream to watch. I fully admit that I was working while today's historic moment happened, but the game between SKA St. Petersburg and Admiral Vladivostok is where we'll focus our attention as Boyarkin, acquired in the off-season by Admiral from Barys, was on his game today.

How on was he, you ask? Well, let's go to Boyarkin's historic highlight!
Boyarkin was credited with the goal at 13:32 of the third period when the pass from SKA's Nikolai Chebykin skipped over the stick of Danil Aimurzin, hitting the boards and sliding the distance of the ice into the vacated SKA net. As such, Boyarkin scored a shorthanded goal to make it 4-0 for the Admiral with 6:28 to play! Would he hold the fort?

39 saves later, the horn sounded on a 4-0 Admiral win over SKA St. Peterburg, giving Boyarkin the shutout as well! His goal officially made him the sixth KHL netminder to score, but he became just the second KHL netminder to score and record a shutout in the same game, joining Metallurg's Ilya Proskuryakov on January 25, 2009 as the only goalies to have accomplished that feat! That's awesome!

You know what I love most about the above highlight? All the coaches on Admiral's bench were immediately pointing towards Boyarkin as the last player who touched the puck for Admiral. That's so great to see! Yes, I know Russian hockey shouldn't be celebrated right now, but Boyarkin is a Kazakhstani-born goalie so I feel like an asterisk is needed. Boyarkin was undrafted, but is good enough to play.

As it stands, the list of KHL goalies who scored are:

• Ilya Proskuryakov (Magnitogorsk) - Jan. 25, 2009 vs. Kazan
• Edgars Masaļskis (Dinamo Riga) - Jan. 7, 2010 vs. Khabarovsk
• Vitali Yeremeyev (Astana) - Oct. 19 2013 vs. Novosibirsk
• Joni Ortio (Vityaz Podolsk) - Jan. 30, 2019 vs. Chelyabinsk
• Ilya Konovalov (Dynamo Moscow) - Jan. 17, 2023 vs. Novgorod
• Nikita Boyarkin (Vladivostok) - Nov. 4, 2026 vs St. Petersburg

We'll see if any other netminders add their names to the list this season, but we stand at six after Nikita Boyarkin's goal today. Congratulations to him on the goal and the shutout in helping Admiral Vladivostok to the 4-0 win over SKA St. Petersburg, and he'll look to lead his team to victory over his old team when they host Barys Astana on Friday. The fun part? Admiral, in eighth-place in the Eastern Conference, sits just two points back of third-place Astana in the standings! You don't think Boyarkin will be fired up for this one?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Put Politics Into Sports

I'm not here to celebrate Canada being one of the first countries to speak out against decision made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the IIHF reinstate Russia into its sanctioned events and tournaments. As I stated on Saturday, "It's never wrong to stand up for what's right," and that seems to be the prevailing message that European countries are now sending to the IIHF and, to a lesser extent, Russia in their responses to the CAS ruling. Having one "superpower" in Russia miss tournaments while they enegaged in war was something that the IIHF could overcome, but having multiple countries and sponsors make it clear that Russia's participation is neither welcome nor wanted was made clear over the last few days.

The countries shown in black above are Russia and Belarus who are currently banned from IIHF-sanctioned games and events outside of the CAS ruling. The countries shown in red - Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Czechia, and Latvia - have all released statements indicating that they would boycott all tournament games involving Russia if those countries were to meet them. The countries in yellow - Germany and Finland - have indicated they may engage in those boycotts or abandon hosting duties of IIHF events in those countries.

Clearly, the pressure being put on the IIHF will make things more difficult for the IIHF to hold tournaments with any legitimacy if countries boycott playing against Russia. If Russia doesn't play any games, how can they advance to a medal round? If they are found to have qualified for that medal round due to forfeits, how can that make any hardware they may win legitimate in the eyes of IIHF?

What may make this harder for the IIHF is the hit that they'll take when it comes to the bottom lines of future tournaments. Swedish furniture company AJ Producter is pulling its sponsorship of the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship after a 37-year run, and Czech sportsbook TipSport said it won't advertise nor offer betting odds for any games involving Russia or Belarus. I imagine other companies may also follow suit, so this could just be the tip of the financial-ruin iceberg for the IIHF's most lucrative events. That's not good.

Finland is also putting pressure on the IIHF by announcing that the city of Turku, Finland would withdraw as co-host of the 2028 IIHF World Junior Championship if Russia participates while there are growing numbers, including from inside the country, for Germany to withdraw its hosting duties for the 2027 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship in Düsseldorf and Mannheim in May. Needless to say, the IIHF's plans could be thrown into turmoil by these developments.

And just because the IIHF needs another layer of pressure from its membership to do the right thing, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association is looking to form an alliance with other hockey federations to keep Russia from returning to international hockey tournaments while the invasion of Ukraine continues. While nothing formal has been proposed or introduced at this time, Heikki Hietanen, chairman of Finland's hockey association, said on Monday, "We are currently gathering as many countries as possible to form a common front to tell the IIHF that none of us will play against Russia in this situation."

It's funny how a three-person panel comprised of Mr. Giulio Palermo (Italy), Mr. Ismail Selim (Egypt) and Mr. Mark Hovell (UK) can tell the hockey world that Russia's exclusion has no basis, but multiple hockey federations and countries have no power to tell the Court of Arbitration for Sport to kick rocks because there are bigger things happening in the world than a few hockey tournaments into which Russia desperately wants. Stuck in the middle is the IIHF who will likely comply, but should it considering the above? It seems like a fairly easy decision for the IIHF, but I don't run the organization.

It should be fairly obvious that none of Ukraine, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Czechia, nor Latvia will ice a team against Russia at any upcoming IIHF tournament, and the likelihood of Ukraine attending the 2027 IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championship in Germany is zero if Russia is allowed to compete there. If Canada sticks to its guns, none of the Russian players will be granted visas nor entry into Canada to compete at the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta, and I am begging the government to stick to that plan.

If Finland gets their hockey alliance going where countries like Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Czechia, and Latvia along with Ukraine, Slovakia, Italy, France, and Germany all sign on, that basically seals the deal for the IIHF that Russia's inclusion in tournaments will be impossible. If Canada sets the precedent of denying visas for hockey players, Russia's participation goes back to zero as countries hosting events can follow Canada's lead by simply denying Russians entry.

The IIHF is a business, so they won't take these threats lightly if there's some weight behind them. Like most businesses, they need their biggest tournaments to generate as much revenue as possible to subsidize, fund, and support lower-revenue tournaments and global hockey development programs. Having Russia involved in those high-profile tournaments will hurt the bottom line, so the IIHF would be wise to listen to the majority of its top-tier member countries.

Look, this doesn't need a lot of debate from either side. The countries named above have every political right to prevent Russians from participating in events inside their borders by denying those athletes and staff entry, the IIHF can "comply" passively with the CAS decision in order to keep everyone happy, and the various hockey federations can still attended IIHF events while maintaining their allegiances with the athletes from Ukraine. I know no one likes politics in sports, but this is one time where politics can actually help hockey be better because visas don't fall under CAS jurisdiction.

Based on the calendar, Canada has a chance to be the first country to prevent Russia from participating IIHF events with the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta, and I'm hoping the Canadian government will set the precedent that other countries can follow. If it keeps Russia out of Germany for the IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championship, out of Quebec City for the IIHF Women's World Ice Hockey Championship, and out of Czechia for the IIHF U18 Women's World Ice Hockey Championship, the end justifies the means.

You might be wondering about the IIHF U18 Men's World Ice Hockey Championship that's set to be played in Duluth, Minnesota at the end of April, and that might be one where teams are forced to boycott games because I doubt the leader of the United States will want to anger one of his closest allies. But, of course, that's how cowards act.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!