Two-time Olympic champion Vyacheslav Bykov is furious over the National Hockey League's (NHL) decision to ban Russian players from bringing the Stanley Cup to the aggressor country. The Americans decided to break a long-standing tradition that allows trophy winners to travel with the trophy to their hometowns because of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, which caused the former national team coach to throw a fit.

Bykov said this in a commentary to the propaganda news agency R-Sport. The former hockey player accused the NHL of politicising sports and that "they do everything only in their own interests", and demanded that "people be given the opportunity to develop".

"For me, the NHL has lost respect. What they're doing to the hockey community is terrible. They have set precedents where our players are not allowed to prove themselves on the international stage. For me, the NHL no longer exists. They do everything only in their own interests. Sport should give people the opportunity to develop, and the NHL is already a politicised organisation. We need to promote our league, our hockey and our sport more," Bykov said.

Earlier, he credited Russia with Latvia's historic result at the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. He also complained about the "rampant Russophobia" at the championship.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, former Russian national team head coach Vladimir Plyushchev humiliated Latvia and Ukraine, which is being "thundered".

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