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Canadian Hockey League considering a ban on players from Russia and Belarus

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Cooper Godin
February 28, 2022  (10:06 PM)
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Following the decision from the IIHF on Monday that banned the Belarussian and Russian national teams from events through August, the Canadian Hockey League is pondering what to do with their upcoming import draft in June.

According to Sportsnet's Jeff Marek, the Canadian Hockey League - which is comprised of the QMJHL, WHL, and OHL, is going to hold a meeting on Wednesday and there's a possibility that they ban Belarussian and Russian players from the 2022 draft.

"The Canadian Hockey League will hold an executive call on Wednesday to discuss the Russia situation. There's some speculation the CHL may ban Russian and Belarusian players from the import draft but I'm told nothing has been decided yet." Marek said in a tweet.

Currently, quite a few Russian players play in the CHL including Oilers prospect Matvei Petrov (North Bay - OHL), Golden Knights prospect Daniil Chayka (Guelph - OHL), Pavel Mintyukov (Saginaw - OHL), Ruslan Gazizov (London - OHL), among others. It's unclear if the potential ban would include players in the CHL now, who intend on returning for the 2022-23 season.