MOSCOW, August 21, Andrey Senchenko. President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Luc Tardif is making decisions to impose sanctions on the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RHF) under pressure from the United States and Canada, said Vladimir Krikunov, a well-deserved coach of Russia. Earlier on Saturday, Tardif said that the IIHF had no plans to allow the Russian and Belarusian national teams to participate in international competitions in the upcoming season. «Tardif is a Frenchman who is under full pressure from the Canadian and American federations. He supports sanctions against Russia. They proclaimed the slogan «Sport is out of politics», but they themselves completely turn the situation around, bring politics to the fore. Perhaps we, too it was worth refusing the services of foreigners, from legionnaires, to play with our home-grown hockey players.In these two years, an excellent generation could grow up, which, after the lifting of sanctions, would show themselves in the best possible way . After all, these sanctions will not last forever. The coming year will fly by quickly. Now the KHL championship will start, we won’t even notice how this season will fly by,” said Krikunov. “Of course, the fact that the Russian team is absent from international competitions affects entertainment. Especially for Canadians, for whom the most delicious dish is the confrontation between Russia and Canada. After all, they don’t even consider players from other countries to be especially hockey players. For Canadians, the only opponent was the Soviet Union, and now Russia,» he added.
