Whether the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup Finals, the trophy itself won’t go to Russia or Belarus in the coming months, National Ice Hockey League (NHL) assistant commissioner Bill Daly said Wednesday .
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Speaking in Denver ahead of Colorado’s 4-3 overtime win over Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the best-of-seven finals, Daly said league officials had informed both teams that their Russian players should wait before playing the take the trophy home.
Traditionally, each player on the winning team takes possession of the trophy for one day. But with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entering its fourth month and Belarus seen as an ally in Russia’s attack, Daly said players from those countries would not be able to take the trophy home immediately.
“As for this summer, the cup will not go to Russia or Belarus,” said Daly, adding that nothing is ruled out in the future if the conflict ends.
“It can happen like we did with the pandemic, but it won’t happen this summer,” he warned.
Three Tampa Bay players are Russians: star forward Nikita Kucherov, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, 2021 playoff MVP, and defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
Colorado has two Russian players in its ranks, right winger Valeri Nichushkin and left winger Mikhail Maltsev, who are yet to make the playoffs. However, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said teams could still draft players from Russia or Belarus in the next NHL draft.
“They’ll be fully up for grabs like every year,” he explained of the players from those two countries.