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CHICAGO – A sizable Ukrainian advocacy umbrella group in Ohio and several former National Hockey League (NHL) players have voiced disapproval of a professional hockey game that is taking place between the Columbus Blue Jackets and visiting Washington Capitals because it will promote a “Russian Heritage Night.”
An undisclosed gift will be provided to individuals who purchased tickets in the group package. Members of the group will also have their picture taken on the ice after the game, according to the event’s advertisement.
As Russia continues to mount a genocidal war against Ukraine, the United Ukrainian Organizations in Ohio (UUO) has questioned the appropriateness of the event and has asked the NHL’s Blue Jackets to rethink holding the event organized by the Russian Heritage Network (RHN), the group promoting the event.
A chief organizer from RHN, Alex Braverman, said the organization is unincorporated, yet the UUO found a business corporation registered by the same name in Mississauga, Canada.
In a letter posted on Facebook by the UUO, the group said it was “shocked” to learn about the Russian-themed promotional event.
“We are outraged by the timing and the content of this ‘promotion,’” the group wrote in a November 27 letter to the Blue Jackets.
NHL vice president for public relations and media services, Gary Meagher, said that the league “isn’t sanctioning” the event.
“It’s a Blue Jackets night; we didn’t schedule this event,” Mr. Meagher told The Ukrainian Weekly from Toronto.
RHN’s Mr. Braverman, who spoke from Boca Rotan, Fla., insisted that the event has “nothing to with politics.”
It’s “about hockey diplomacy,” he said, while adding “that we [Ukraine and Russia] once were part of one country and spoke a common language [Russian].”
Born in Moldova, a former Soviet republic, and having studied in the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi, Mr. Braverman said “we’re doing it for the love of hockey; … there is no financial gain here.”
Five Russian-speaking players are part of the Columbus Blue Jackets and over the last few years more than 20 Russian players were drafted by NHL teams, “who pay taxes, a portion of which goes toward assistance for Ukraine,” he said.
In his letter to the Blue Jackets, UUO President Dr. George Jaskiw urged the team “to reevaluate the propriety of your promotion … [and] the reputations of the CBJ [the Columbus Blue Jackets] as well as the NHL and to come to a belated but correct decision.”
In turn, Blue Jackets group sales manager Ian Wilkerson told the Ohio group that there will be “no in-game recognition of the group [Russian Heritage Network] or in-arena activation or celebration surrounding this group ticket offer.”
He did not respond to multiple calls placed by The Ukrainian Weekly or an emailed message requesting comment.
Criticism about the event also came from Dmitri Khristich who currently coaches Ukraine’s national hockey team.
The Kyiv native who scored more points in the NHL than any Ukrainian told The Ukrainian Weekly that the event promoting Russian heritage was “inappropriate.”
A former player for the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins, Mr. Kristich said that “I have a negative attitude about this event … and the NHL thinks it is not involved in politics, but this is political.”
Regarding what other Russians say, Mr. Khristich said that “Russians think that what their country does is separate than the political leadership, but that is not the case here.”
When he retired from the NHL, the hockey legend racked up 259 goals and had 337 assists.
Another former professional hockey player, NHL Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek, also voiced frustration over the upcoming event.
After playing 16 seasons in the NHL, he criticized the league for supporting Russia in their ongoing war against Ukraine.
“The NHL has definitely gone crazy,” he said in a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter).
He then continued the social media post with a lengthy enumeration of Russia’s litany of war crimes starting from World War II in the previous century.
The Washington Capitals boast future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin, who is on the cusp of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL all-time scoring record.
However, Mr. Ovechkin, an avowed supported of Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin, has a knee injury and won’t play against the Blue Jackets during Russian Heritage Night.
Mr. Ovechkin said he stood for peace when Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, saying “this is something I cannot control,” according to reporting by Voice of America. “This is not in my hands … but I hope this [war] ends soon and both sides establish peace.”In November 2017, a year before the sham presidential election, the Russian hockey player took the helm of Team Putin, a social movement that supported the dictator as he sought victory for another presidential term.
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The Ukrainian Weekly was founded in 1933 to serve the Ukrainian American community and to function as a vehicle for communication of that community’s concerns to the general public in the United States. It is the official English-language publication of the Ukrainian National Association.
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