Finland, Sweden bans Russian league players from national hockey teams
HELSINKI – Finland and Sweden will from next season suspend all their players from their national ice hockey teams that play in Russia’s Continental Hockey League.
Both ice hockey federations announced their decisions on Monday, two days after the end of the KHL season.
“The Finnish Hockey Federation’s position is that players who play in Russia next season will not be able to play for the national team,” the federation said.
The statement followed public and media criticism of players in their respective men’s national teams who appeared in the KHL.
Most foreign players left the KHL after Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February. Defender Mikko Lehtonen was a prominent Finn who stayed at SKA St. Petersburg until the end of the season.
Lehtonen, an Olympic and world champion, reportedly tried to terminate his contract but was fined several million euros. In the end, he and the team agreed that Lehtonen would play out SKA’s season, and he would be released from his contract three years earlier.
Lehtonen is with the Finnish team for the four-team competition Euro Hockey Tour which starts this week in Sweden, the last preparation for the world championship which starts next week.
There were three Swedes in the KHL playoffs last Saturday when CSKA Moscow beat Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the seventh match of the championship. But none of the three were selected by Sweden for the Euro Hockey Tour.
“We have noted that Russia has used the KHL as its propaganda tool, and the situation has escalated during the playoffs,” said Swedish Confederation Secretary General Johan Stark. “From the Swedish Hockey Association’s side, we will ensure that players who choose to play in the KHL until next season will not join our national team. Officially, the decision will be made by the federal government after the season.”