U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed staging a series of hockey games between players from their respective countries during Tuesday, according to the Kremlin.
Moscow said in its recap of the call that Trump supported Putin鈥檚 idea to organize games in the U.S. and Russia involving players from the NHL and the KHL, and agreed to remain in contact on all issues raised on the call, which was scheduled to discuss the war in Ukraine. The White House's report of the call did not mention talks involving hockey, and the NHL learned of the idea after it was over.
鈥淲e have just become aware of the conversation between President Trump and President Putin,鈥� the NHL said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. 鈥淥bviously, we were not a party to those discussions, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time.鈥�
A message sent to USA Hockey seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The call is Trump's latest foray into the sport after to the U.S. team at the 4 Nations Face-Off last month before the final, which ended in to Canada. The U.S. anthem was booed in Montreal during the international tournament after Trump's repeated comments about making Canada 鈥渢he 51st state鈥� and tariffs that have triggered a trade war between the North American neighbors.
Putin's love of hockey as his favorite sport is widely known. He attended the Russia-U.S. preliminary round game at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, famously won in a shootout by American T.J. Oshie.
The countries' rivalry on the ice dates to when an underdog group of U.S. amateurs beat the heavily favored Soviet Union in the medal round on the way to capturing Olympic gold in Lake Placid, New York.
The Russians, playing as the Olympic Athletes from Russia because of previous doping violations, won men's hockey gold at the Games in 2018 when the NHL did not participate for the first time since 1994.
by the International Ice Hockey Federation for all tournaments the organization runs since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A decision has not yet been reached about the 2026 Milan Olympics, with , though the International Olympic Committee did not allow Russian teams to take part last summer in Paris, permitting only individual athletes as neutral competitors.
The NHL has continued to allow Russian players in their league, most prominently Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals as Wayne Gretzky's career goals record. Some of the most talented players in the league are from Russia, including Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and winger Nikita Kucherov and Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov.
The NHL Players' Association and league have in 2028, though it is unclear if Russians will be part of it.
鈥淩ussia has a great hockey tradition. We have great Russian players playing in our league,鈥� Commissioner Gary Bettman said at the 4 Nations in Montreal. 鈥淭he International Ice Hockey Federation just voted to keep Russia out of competitions, as have many of sports, and we鈥檙e going to have to see what the International Olympic Committee does. But we have enough time to deal with the realities of what the world situation looks like before that.鈥�
Union executive director Marty Walsh said members from Russia he has spoken to want to be able to represent their country again on the world stage.
鈥淚鈥檇 love to see our Russian players playing in the tournaments again,鈥� Walsh said last month. 鈥淭hey are incredible hockey players. The issues are political. It鈥檚 not political as far as NHL. It鈥檚 the world politics we have to get through. I am hoping that as we get closer to the Olympics, closer to the World Cup, we will start seeing Russian athletes back in competition.鈥�
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AP NHL:
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
