Hockey

Slava Fetisov’s Disturbing Words

Red Army, the movie, is coming out on DVD soon.

If Hall of Famer Slava Fetisov gets his way, Russian hockey players won’t be able to leave for the NHL until they’re 28 years old.

What does this mean for the NHL, and Caps fans in particular? Alex Ovechkin would just have finished up his sophomore season, and Evgeny Kuznetsov would still be playing in Russia for many more years.

Fetisov, 57, is a senator on Russia’s Federation Council. He was also a virtual slave in the Soviet Union during his Red Army days. His story is outlined brilliantly in the movie Red Army, about the best Russian hockey players – Fetisov included – and the best team in the world in the 1980s. Fetisov himself wasn’t allowed out of Russia to play in the NHL until 1989–90, at the age of 31, several years after he was promised.

Fetisov’s reasoning is understandable to a degree – he wants the most talented players to play in the KHL, and of course he wants to turn the Russian national team around and get them winning gold medals again. Otherwise, the KHL will continue to be filled with not-NHL-ready youth and washed-up pros.

That said, requiring Russian players to stay home until the age of 28 is virtually a return to the Soviet-era rules, which in turn will likely lead to more rules. Perhaps after the age of 28, Russia insists, “Give us two more years of your time.” You know, like they did to one of the best defenseman of all time, Slava Fetisov. Then what? Players will start defecting. Then the KGB returns, Vladimir Putin hunts players like Leon Trotsky, yadda yadda.

While it’s understandable that Fetisov simply wants the best for Russian hockey, his tone is nothing short of disturbing.

Ben Sumner

Ben Sumner is the editor of Capitals Outsider. He also works for The Washington Post and contributes there when he gets a scoop.

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