“We want to see the strongest”: what do Canadian fans think about the visa ban for Russian hockey players

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to allow Russian teams to participate in international tournaments. However, Canada said it did not intend to implement the decision.

- In Canada, hockey is part of the national culture, says Andrej, who has lived in Montreal for 18 years. Saturday night with hockey for many families is a long tradition. One of the country’s oldest and most popular sports programs is Hockey Night in Canada. There are many school and university hockey teams in Canada. In rural areas, the local team is the center of public life. Needless to say, fans are looking forward to the start of the youth hockey world championship. For Canadians, this tournament is one of the main sporting events of the year, along with the World Cup.

According to Andrei, many Canadians from his entourage miss the games with the participation of Russian national teams.

- People want to see the strongest. They want to see the confrontation between Canada and Russia, because these matches are always very dramatic and spectacular. At the HFBoards forum (the largest and one of the oldest online hockey forums in the world), one fan expressed the general sentiment: The absolute majority of hockey fans do not care about political reasons. They just want to watch hockey and not think about all this political fuss.”.

According to Andrey, most of his Canadian friends believe that the absence of the Russian team in the tournaments ultimately lose the Canadian fans themselves, who will not “see the cool games.”.

- At the same time, one of my colleagues believes that the Canadian authorities did the right thing when they refused to issue visas to Russian athletes. Since 2022, he has supported Ukraine and is connected with the Ukrainian diaspora. Representatives of the Canadian Congress of Ukrainians (CCU) in general, the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which obliged to allow Russian teams to international competitions, called “shameful”.

Another of our interlocutors, Vyacheslav, who lives in Toronto, said that there were no heated discussions after the ban on entry for Russian athletes. The government’s decision was seen as an expected political move.

- The reaction of my friends was mixed, says Vyacheslav. Some were restrained, saying: “This is what the authorities decided,” “The time will come and they will return.” Others regretted that they would not see Russian guys on the ice, saying: “We should win in a fair fight, and not leave opponents without visas.” For avid fans, entertainment and competition come first.

According to Vyacheslav, on social networks, Canadians urge not to weave politics into sports.

- There are also rebukes against the government, which imposes a ban on national teams, while dozens of Russian hockey players calmly play in the NHL. Clubs actively take Russians, the Montreal Canadiens is even called the “Russian gang” because of the number of players chosen from Russia.

According to Vyacheslav, Canada often remembers the legendary super series of 1972 (a historical series of eight hockey matches between the national teams of the USSR and Canada). The first four matches were held in Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver), and the last four in Moscow.

- One of my Canadian friends believes that the 1972 superseries broke stereotypes and set the standard for an "ice confrontation between two schools." Canadian hockey is associated with power wrestling, speed and "North American" style, Russian - with technique, skating and improvisation. This contrast makes the matches particularly interesting for viewers.

According to Vyacheslav, fans of hockey in Canada believe that “hockey should unite” that “sport should be out of politics.”.