MOSCOW, February 26 Two-time Stanley Cup winner former Czech goalkeeper Dominik Hasek on on his Twitter page called on the National Hockey League (NHL) to suspend the contracts of Russian players. This season, 43 domestic athletes have agreements with NHL clubs. «The NHL must immediately suspend the contracts of all Russian players! Each athlete represents not only himself and his club, but also for my country, its values and actions. This is a fact. I also want to say that I am very sorry for those Russian athletes who condemn V. Putin and Russian aggression in Ukraine. However, at the moment I consider it necessary to exclude them,» he wrote Gashek on the social network. Earlier, the captain of the «Washington» Alexander Ovechkin expressed hope for an early end to the conflict in Ukraine. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided on a special military oh operation of the Russian Federation to demilitarize Ukraine. In a televised address to the Russians, he said that the circumstances «require decisive and immediate action from us, the people's republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help.» On February 21, Putin signed decrees recognizing the sovereignty of the LPR and the DPR.
