Not sure if anyone saw this, but apparently a number of Russian players left the ice during the Canadian anthem after the gold medal game yesterday. Only a few stayed. Ovechkin, Tarasenko, Malkin, Mironov, Kulikov, Panarin and a couple others stayed on the ice. Someone reported Kolvalchuk (Russia's team captain) trying to wave his players off the ice.

Why? What do they have against Canada?

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:Why? What do they have against Canada?

Russian officials are calling it "an organizational blunder" ... http://rt.com/news/259689-russia-canada-hockey-anthem/

That's why there Russians....props to Ovechkin, Vladi and the rest of those boys though. Speaking of Panarin....the Hawks are going to move out a skill player for cap relief and this guy is going to step right into their lineup and they won't miss a beat....unreal.

Looked disorganized to me. If it was a protest then it was a pathetic one. Seems doubtful.

Yeah, I read that. Pretty interesting.

Allegedly, Kovalchuk was waving every one off of the ice and Ovie was telling his teammates to stay put.

Team Russia will face some sort of punishment.

Glad to hear Tarasenko stuck around.

For all the criticism Ovechkin has had in his career, he has always seemed willing to face the music after losses. Pretty bush league of Kovalchuk.

POS move IMO

Glad to see Malkin stayed on the ice as well...




...you know, since we're going to be trading Backes, Rattie and a 3rd for him next month.

MissouriMook wrote:Glad to see Malkin stayed on the ice as well...




...you know, since we're going to be trading Backes, Rattie and a 3rd for him next month.

Hey, you're the GM

The incident has already reached governmental level, with Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko blaming tournament organizers for opening a gate in the boards. According to Mutko, the Russian team took this as an invitation to leave.

When the door open you gotta go I guess.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/russia-fa ... --nhl.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Credit to Ovie and Vladdy for staying out there. Kovalchuk really is a shit, always has been.

Glad Tarasenko showed some class and stayed. I would have had a hard time rooting for him after being rude enough to insult ANYONE'S country. But when it is my own, I'd find it impossible to forgive him.

Just asking....was there real confusion about if they were supposed to stay or get off? I doubt it was intentional disrespect, and more confusion, BUT I did not see it.

MissouriMook wrote:Glad to see Malkin stayed on the ice as well...




...you know, since we're going to be trading Backes, Rattie and a 3rd for him next month.

lmao! I know right. That would have been awkward.

With all of that said, I wouldn't be mad if Kovalchuk was in a Bluenote next year.

So did Vladi stay on the ice or not? Just listening to Wheeler's show and they were reporting he left the ice.

Man in the box wrote:So did Vladi stay on the ice or not? Just listening to Wheeler's show and they were reporting he left the ice.

I heard that too, but I'm pretty sure JR got it wrong. He said 4 or 5 stayed and that he didn't think Tarasenko was one of them. The video shows that 8 stayed out there. Malkin, Ovechkin, Tarasenko, Mironov, Dadonov and Tikhonov all stayed put. Another player (Panarin?) started to skate away but turned back. Kulikov was standing halfway between the exit and the small gathering just inside the blue line and started skating back out toward the remaining group at the end of the video clip.

That's what I thought, but then I figured they might have been referencing some other report. I thought it was pretty clear he stayed.

Man in the box wrote:That's what I thought, but then I figured they might have been referencing some other report. I thought it was pretty clear he stayed.

The picture I saw of the players leaving clearly showed Ovi, Vladdy and Malkin (plus a few others) staying on the ice.

If I'm not mistaken something like 17 Russian skaters were from khl, that being said, they would have no blow back at all if they didn't stay. Those that stayed would have been crucified if they left.

Mph6689 wrote:Just asking....was there real confusion about if they were supposed to stay or get off? I doubt it was intentional disrespect, and more confusion, BUT I did not see it.

They've all played in international competitions before and know how it works.