Just one week after the Czech Foreign Ministry notified the National Hockey Association that Russian players of the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks will not be allowed to enter the country for the inaugural season of the NHL World Series on October 7 and 8 at the O2 Arena in Prague, it now appears that the issue has been resolved.
as the first mentioned by Sheng Bing San Jose Hockey NowThe Czech government has since retracted its hasty stance and confirmed that Russians from both lists will be allowed to play.
“This is a private event, they have visas, so from the state’s point of view there is no reason not to let them in,” said Thomas Bujar, foreign and security policy adviser to the prime minister of the Czech Republic. Across Czech news outlet Seznam Zpravy.
National security is certainly not threatened by their presence. And I do not recall that, in addition to Schengen visas, they have long-term US work visas and live in the USA. ”
Despite last week’s reports, both Predators and Sharks confirmed that they didn’t expect there to be any problems by the time the games rolled around. Sharks general manager Mike Greer took things a step further saying, “We’re a team. So if they say some guys can’t go, either we all go, or no one goes.”
Both teams have a few Russian players either on their current roster or are fighting for a spot on the roster at a training camp.
Nashville striker Yakov Trenin, a native of Chelyabinsk, was Nashville’s sixth-best scorer last season (17) and played more than 133 minutes on penalty kicks – the Predators’ fourth-most striker.
Prospect Egor Afanasyev, a native of Tver, is also expected to compete for a spot on the NHL roster and could be on Nashville’s opening night roster.
San Jose currently has three Russian players on its active roster, including Alexander Barabanov, Evgeny Svichnikov and Artemy Knyazev. Barabanov is a key player in the bottom six for San Jose, with a total of 10 goals and 39 points in 70 games last season.
Prospects Daniil Goshin and Timur Ibragimov are also vying for the slate and have an outside chance to make up the evening’s opening roster, and defender Nikolai Knigov is currently injured.
Follow Michael Gallagher on Twitter MGsports_
from San Jose News Bulletin https://sjnewsbulletin.com/russian-players-for-the-brids-and-the-sharks-allowed-to-play-in-prague-nashville-predators/
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