Rick Grimes Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Proposed legislation in Russia could prevent a number of hockey superstars from ever competing at the Olympics again. According to the Associated Press, “Russian parliament will considerbarring athletes from competing in more than two Olympics.” The bill, which was put forward by lawmaker Yegor Anisimov, will aim to prevent older, injury-prone athletes from taking the place of younger competitors at future Games. If the bill were to pass, it would mean NHL stars Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Andrei Markov and Semyon Varlamov, among others, would be ineligible to play for Team Russia at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics should the NHL allow its players to compete in the tournament. KHL stars Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov would also be ineligible because they – like the players mentioned above – have already represented Russia at the Olympics on multiple occasions. It’s unclear at this time exactly how much support this bill will receive, but early indications suggest it’s highly unlikely to get passed. One reason for this is the fact several members of Russian parliament are former Olympians, including three-time Olympic gold medal–winning figure skater Irina Rodnina who has been critical of the proposed bill. NHLers have competed at the Olympics since the 1998 Nagano Games, but there is no agreement in place for the 2018 Games. Some believe the return of next year’s World Cup diminishes the chances of NHL players going back to the Olympics. The NHL, the NHLPA and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach are expected to meet at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in the Czech Republic next month to discuss the future of NHLers at the Olympics. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/proposed-russian-law-prevent-ovechkin-malkin-datsyuk-kovalchuk-olympics-2018/ Too much Vodka? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apple Juice Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 lol I doubt this passes. Do they want to put someone with a lot of unknowns into all that pressure from the entire nation? Or have someone come in and perform and at least have a chance to win a medal for your country? it's a good thing Plushenko is retired, otherwise there would be a huge uproar in Russia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2SKATES1STICK Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Too much Vodka? must construct additional pylons. not enough minerals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejazz97 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Russia's national team will go down. Tarasenko will be Pyeongchang's squad's captain if that happens. If NHL allows the players to go, that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2SKATES1STICK Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 doesnt russia have bigger problems than looking out for injuries potentially caused by 4-8 years of seniority... like, for example, everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Single toothpicks grinded down from individual logs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fateless Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 The Olympics is an event that allows a country to showcase the athletes who are best in their field without being restricted via age. Why would Russia handicap themselves? Young athletes are only having their spots taken if they aren't as good as the older athletes. This sounds really stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerrDrFunk Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I'm calling it: A two time Olympian peed on this guy's car or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tystick Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 What a bizarre bill. I don't understand a lot about Russia's government but I would imagine there are more important issues to resolve other than cushioning other Russian hockey players chances at the Olympics. Who are more than likely less skilled, hence the reason they're not representing their country in the first place. Law maker: Yegor Anisimov Current less talented Russian NHLer: Artem Anisimov Enough said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanGnome Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 It's a dicey subject because on the one hand, every country wants their best athletes to compete, and everyone wants the chance to compete for their country. But on the other, if the super elite keep getting preference over younger, up and coming skilled athletes, some might lose on the opportunity to represent their country, especially if they don't pursue their sport as a profession. Outside of hockey, and maybe some skiiers, winter athletes make very little money and often have to support themselves with regular jobs, and that's not even to speak of summer athletes who often receive much less in grants and the like to support their training. Hockey is, imo really ill-suited to the Olympics when it continues to include the super elite from the NHL and KHL. I'd love to see players from lower tier leagues given more opportunity to play for their countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetica Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Yeah, that's what Russia should be working on fixing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 How about just picking the best team? How about not favouring players who play in Russia? How about changing this bill to say "coaches" instead of "players", so the team will be directed by someone with modern ideas, rather than some dinosaur who decides to rest his hot starter in an elimination game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd. Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 stupid bill honestly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFBR392 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 'Ussia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatedkid666 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 They should do that to Canada so Russia has a chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lock Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 So basically they need legislature to tell them how to run their hockey team? If a veteran is more injury prone, you'd think the person in charge of recruiting for the team would consider that to begin with without legislation even being put into place. If anything, Russia would be less competitive from this. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustapha Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Why does this matter? The NHL isn't doing the Olympics any more, so those guys wouldn't be going regardless. In Sochi they had to beg the IOC to pay to have their players insured...it's obvious Bettman and the BoG do not want to have anything to do with this tournament. NHLers will play in the 2016 World Cup instead, which is more or less the same thing. NHL players on national teams, with a mishmash of Europeans and young players on their own respective teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoman13 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 It seems half the people posting here think this is about hockey, it is not! It isn't geared to hockey at all, it is all events. This bill wasn't created with hockey in mind lol. having said that, its stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dral Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 So it's ALL athletes for all sports in the olympics? Wow - that means they can't have professional olympians any more, every one from Russia will be an amateur - no one is going to devote a life time for 1 chance to compete in the olympics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiboynux4lifee******* Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Oh please Oh please. The kingpins will not allow this, way too much money will be lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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