Russian discus throwers manage to cry out the isolation of their own team from the civilized world, writes hockey journalist Pekka Jalonen.
Vladimir Putin’s (helmeted) message will be announced by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left), former players Pavel Bure, Alexander Kozhevnikov, Alexei Zhamnov and Vyacheslav Fetisov, among others. EPA / AOP
When war-loving Russian dictator Vladimir Putin launched a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) threw Russia and its host, like a poodle, out of all international hockey activities.
Neither country made it to the World Championships in Tampere and Helsinki, and Russia was deprived of the right to host the World Championships for men under the age of 20 and next spring. To top it all off, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic kicked Russia out of the Euro Hockey Tour.
Being isolated from the civilized world tortures Russian discus throwers above all else. They have been raised by a giant tattoo on their foreheads.
The sour comments of the puck influences can be read every day in the Russian media. The general message is that they are not interested in the World Cup in Finland at all.
Nevertheless, they have enough interest from day to day to comment on how they are not interested in the Games.
And when it comes to Russia, the rest of the world, with the exception of Belarus, is evil and Russia is an innocent victim.
Let’s take a look at what the tattoos have said in recent days.
– The World Cup without Russia is not a good thing. Sooner or later the right to win. They understand that Russia is needed, Arkadi Rotenberg, chairman of the board of the Russian Hockey Association, told R-Sport.
Putin’s friend Arkady Rotenberg is on the US, UK and EU sanctions list and the reason is not the money stolen from the Russian people but the war in Ukraine.
– I don’t watch the World Cup. Without the Russian team, the quality and interest of the tournament has disappeared. Our team is one of the leaders in hockey in Europe and the world, Vyacheslav Bykov told Match TV.
As a player, Bykov won two Olympic and five World Championship gold medals and led the World Championships in Russia in 2008 and 2009. During his career as a player, Bykov enjoyed a long time in Switzerland, where he played from 1990 to 2000 and has lived in the country ever since.
– Without our team, this event doesn’t interest me. What are the World Cups when one of the strongest teams is not participating, Boris Majorov, vice-president of the Russian Hockey Association, told Match TV.
As a player, Majorov won two Olympic and five World Cup gold. He also coached the Jokers (1974–76 and 1990–93) and Tappara (1993–95). The Jokers Majorov led the Finnish championship in 1992.
– Everywhere, including in sports, there is the same slogan: Russia is bad, it must be punished. Even better is to destroy it. A sad attitude towards our country and our team, Majorov said.
Since the 1980s, Majorov has always been at the World Cup and enjoyed the Western way of life at swaying tables without ever having to pay for anything himself. Due to the downturn in the economy, the situation in Russia is currently not as rosy for Majorov as it would be as a guest in Tampere.
Player agent Shumi Babaev said the 2022 World Cup is a laughing stock.
– Ovethki, Malkin, Orlov, Kaprizov could have come to the Games. Imagine what Finland did not receive, what the IIHF did not receive, what income they did not receive. They (Finland and IIHF) just shoot themselves in the knee. And they shoot through their heads. They simply do not understand what is happening now, Babayev spilled on the Allhockey site.
Babayev has probably passed the news that the shooters are Putin’s soldiers, not Finland or the IIHF.
Vyacheslav Fetisov, Russia’s former sports minister and Putin’s friend, who won two Stanley Cups and won two Olympic and seven World Cup golds, ran his familiar record on the same site.
– I’m not watching the World Cup. There is nothing to see without a Russian team.
Aleksei Žamnov, the head coach of the national team who lost the Olympic final to Finland, told Match TV his opinion about the Finnish Games.
– Such a World Cup tournament does not arouse interest, an incomprehensible situation. I think the whole country thinks so.
Probably each of these people will watch the World Cup, but the public will be forced to talk to the other. The Russian media is completely under pressure from the state’s Iron Fist, as independent media have been abolished or silenced.
The media has been instructed to do things just about the opinions expressed above. Other opinions are prohibited.
None of the interviewees could say why Russia is isolated from the world of hockey. It is safer to blame the IIHF, Finland and other countries than its own bloody dictator.
And finally: since 2015, Russia has never reached the World Cup finals.
I guess I’ll grow that tat on my forehead too.