Czech government caves to pressure, will allow Russian NHLers for Global Series games

Last week the Czech government informed the NHL that it will not allow Russian born players to participate in the upcoming NHL Global Series games hosted in Prague next month.

The Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks are scheduled to play back to back games in Prague but players like Alexander Barabanov, Evgeny Schevnikov and Yakov Trenin were to be barred from participation, potentially barred from even being allowed to enter the country.

Interestingly enough, former NHL superstar and Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek was one of the individuals who has pressed the Czech government to take this stance.

Hasek, of course, fled the former Russian controlled Czechoslovakia in the late 1980s to come to North America and the NHL. He understandably has strong feelings about the Russian Federation.

Sharks GM Mike Grier took a firm stance though, indicating that if all of his players weren't welcome at the event then none of them will attend.

How's that for leadership!? 

Amen!

Well... it appears that Grier's appeal actually worked!

Sharks reporter Sheng Peng is reporting that the Czech government has reversed their decision and will allow players of all nationalities to participate in the upcoming NHL Global Series.

From Peng's latest column for San Jose Hockey Now:

Tomas Pojar, Advisor for Foreign and Security Policy for the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, confirmed to Czech news outlet Seznam Zpravy: “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. National security is certainly not threatened by their presence. And I’m not even mentioning that, in addition to Schengen visas, they have long-term American work visas and live in the USA.”

Thankfully, politics have been put aside for the sake of a hockey game. I can understand that there are some pretty strong opinions on both sides of this topic, but to me... an individual without an informed opinion on the matter... I just wanna watch some damn hockey. Thankfully, I'll be able to do that now without protest.