NHL reportedly purposefully omitting Russian players from HHOF

The National Hockey League has several new inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame, including the likes of Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso, Mike Vernon, Pierre Turgeon and Caroline Ouellette all being selected as players. Meanwhile, Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix were inducted as team builders. 

But one name that was snubbed for induction into the Hall was Russian phenom Alexander Mogilny, who defected to North America after the conclusion of the 1989 World Championships. He joined the Buffalo Sabres, who drafted him the previous year in 1998 and instantly made a major impact, eventually going on to appear in 990 career games while scoring 473 goals and 559 assists.

The 3rd highest Russian-born scorer in NHL history, Mogilny also holds the highest single-season goal total (76) and second highest single-season point total for a Russian player (127). Despite these accomplishments, he's going to have to wait for his rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame. And according to writer Rob Rossi of The Athletic, it's because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Rossi wrote on Twitter earlier today: 

"Person I spoke with last night said not to expect Russian candidates to gain entry into #HHOF anytime soon given global politics. Said the already high bar for Russian players to gain entry is higher because “it’s easier not to put in Russian right now.”'

Rossi would add the following: 

"Should be clear this was NOT a voter.
Just an observant former player who doesn’t have a HHOF candidacy offering his two cents/prediction."

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had long lasting effects on the sports world, with Russian players being banned from participating in the recent IIHF World Championship. Additionally, current Hall of Fame goaltender Dominik Hasek has gone so far as to say that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman should expel every Russian-born player from the League.