Red Wings Icon, Russian Hockey Legend in Agreement

The IIHF was extending the ban on Russia and Belarus from all international hockey events through the end of 2026.

However, Hasek was taking the IIHF to task. He finds the organization’s reasoning for the extension of the ban – that they are unable to guarantee player safety – to be disingenuous.

“The official reason for this decision (that safety cannot be guaranteed) is a complete lie (as the officials would tell you privately),” Hasek noted. “They say that so that Russia cannot sue them. I will never approve of such behavior towards the world hockey audience.”

Bure Agrees With Red Wings Icon

Hasek NHL contemporary and current Russian Hockey Federation (FHR) Special Representative for International Affairs Pavel Bure was echoing Hasek’s sentiments on this topic.

“One of the IIHF’s arguments for not allowing our team was the safety of the participants,” Bure pointed out on the FHR official website. “In our opinion, this argument is not strong enough. There are more than 50 Russians playing in the NHL. Russian swimmers, chess players, and representatives of other sports participate in international competitions – and no incidents occur there.”

Hasek feels that the IIHF is insulting hockey fans by taking this tack in extending the Russian ban.

“People are not stupid and a false explanation only reduces the impact of this decision,” Hasek noted. “IIHF, stop lying to the people! There is only one reason why Russians are not allowed to compete. That is that if Russian hockey players had participated, it would have been a huge publicity stunt for the Russian war.”