NHL doesn't expect Russian players to be barred from playing in Global Series despite pushback from Czechia government

The National Hockey League is set to return to Europe for the first time since 2019 when the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks face off in a pair of games on October 7th and 8th in Prague.

Roughly a month later, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche will head over to Tampere (Finland) to play a pair of games on November 4th and 5th.

One issue surrounding the Global Series this year is the participation of Russian-born players. Earlier this week, the Czech Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the NHL saying that they don't want Russian players in their country for that game. Former NHL goaltender and Hockey Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek, who has been very vocal about Russian participation in any event, is behind the campaign by the Czech Foreign Ministry.

Note: the following was translated from Czech

Minulý týden @mzvcr odeslalo oficiální dopis vedení @NHL Gary Bettman a Bill Daly, že není v zájmu ČR, aby ruští hráči vstoupili na naše území a odehráli zde 7. a 8. října zápasy. Ano👍, nechceme zde reklamu na ruskou agresi. Chráníme naše a našich spojenců životy v první řadě.— Dominik Hasek (@hasek_dominik) September 19, 2022

Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff said he checked in with the NHL about this but the league says they don't anticipate their being an issue with Russian players travelling or playing in the games in Czechia.

Among the Russian players that could be involved in the pair of games between Nashville and San Jose are: Yakov Trenin (Predators), Yaroslav Askarov (Predators), Alexander Barabanov (Sharks) and Evgeny Svechnikov (Sharks).

Checked in on this. #NHL is not concerned with Russian-born players traveling or playing in the Global Series. https://t.co/ecMSFFgjhP— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 21, 2022

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