Starting with Alexander Mogilny in the late 80's, the best hockey players in Russia began defecting to play in the NHL. For the last 20 years, there has been a fairly easy path for Russian players to come to NA. Last week, a Russian goalie who was picked by a team in the NHLs draft was arrested in Russia and forced into military service in the Arctic rather than being allowed to come to the US. The iron curtain is indeed going back up.
Starting with Alexander Mogilny in the late 80's, the best hockey players in Russia began defecting to play in the NHL. For the last 20 years, there has been a fairly easy path for Russian players to come to NA. Last week, a Russian goalie who was picked by a team in the NHLs draft was arrested in Russia and forced into military service in the Arctic rather than being allowed to come to the US. The iron curtain is indeed going back up.
(post is archived)