Bettman and the NHL take a stance on Russia in the Olympics and IIHF events

NHLers are back in the Olympics for the first time in 14 years and hockey fans are being treated to the first real 'best on best' competition in a generation.

Or... are they?

Last season the NHL hosted the 4 Nations Face-Off, which featured the best players from Canada, United States, Sweden and Finland but it lacked some of the truly best players in the world. After all, with only 4 nations competing it's not truly the best players in the world.

That changes with the Olympics, right?

Right?

Of course, Russia is still banned from IIHF and Olympic competitions so some of the best players in the world are actually prohibited from competing in this tournament. A team featuring Alex Ovechkin, Kirill Kaprizov, Nikita Kucherov and Artemi Panarin up front with Ilya Sorokin, Sergei Bobrovsky and Igor Shesterkin in goal has to be considered a Gold Medal threat.

Alas though, Russia isn't in Milano-Cortino and it doesn't sound like they will be in the 2028 World Cup either.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is in Milan to take in the Olympics and he was asked today about his league's plans for Russian moving forward. Bettman basically kicked the can down the road and said that the NHL will follow other international sporting organizations with regards to sanctions against Russia.

“We will follow what the international community is doing in terms of athletics,” Bettman said. “I don’t see any need for us to weigh in separately. And frankly, in terms of our game and our players, wherever they’re from, if we can steer clear of geopolitical issues — not just this one but a whole host of others that are going on — I think that’s better for the game, better for our players and better for our fans.”

It's clear to me that Bettman is obsessed with keeping his league out of any sort of political news these days. It's also clear to me that Russia belongs in the world's biggest hockey competitions, at least if we're going to consider these competitions to be 'best on best'.

By not including Russia in these events Bettman and the NHL are making a political statement, which is truly ironic given how desperate they are to be seen as not making a political statement.