Russian native and NHL star Alex Ovechkin

SAINT PAUL  – As a longtime follower of sports and politics I have long marveled at the notion that sports boycotts and bans could have any effect whatsoever in encouraging an aggressor nation to cease their campaigns of hostilities against another. On a night earlier this week that had some minimal live hockey action on, I opted to watch the documentary film Of Miracles and Men.

I have watched this film a few times prior to this but it's an intriguing documentary and I am sure I'll watch it a few more times at some point.   

There is one word in the title that gives away the possible subject matter, but yes it's about the USA versus the Soviet Union 1980 Miracle on Ice game. But this time it's told from the perspective of the Soviet players, with one of them, Slava Fetisov being a focal point.

And beyond that historical tilt, the movie gave us a deep look into Soviet hockey culture of the era. If you are a hockey fan and have yet to see this film, I would highly recommend it.  

The 1980 Winter Games were played on the front end of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The hostilities began on Christmas Eve of 1979 and the Winter Games were scheduled to begin at Lake Placid New York six weeks later. There was some back and forth as to whether or not the games would still go forth with Russian participation. They did commit to competing and the rest is history.  

With the 1980 Summer Games on tap for Moscow the USA announced on March 20th that they would formally boycott the games there with several other countries joining in. The Soviets would return the favor when the 1984 Games were held in Los Angeles with strong support from their satellite countries. What was the end result here? The Soviet-Afghan conflict would continue until mid-February of 1989. It appears that the absence of Billy Bob and Team USA at the Moscow games had little sway over the geopolitical events at play there or encourage the Soviets to reconsider their role in the conflict.  

Fast forward to February of 2022. The Russians invaded neighboring Ukraine beginning a bloody conflict that rages on to this day. If you were not in the know of the history between the Russians and Ukrainians, they have been at odds with one another for centuries. This battle didn't just start two years back. Throw in plenty of contemporary meddling on behalf of the USA and we have a full-scale international crisis with a substantial number of casualties.  

Shortly after the conflict began the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced a ban against Russian participation in IIHF events at any age or gender level. On February 12th it was announced the ban would continue through the 2024-2025 IIHF event season. That brings into question Russian participation in the 2026 Winter Games since IIHF events also determine Olympic qualification standings.  

Even with the continuation of the ban the conflict rages forward. And that's why they are a complete and utter waste of time. Prey tell, when has any of these misguided boycotts achieved its announced and intended effect? I believe the answer is never. As in NEVER.  

So why even engage in them? That's a good question and is one I do not have a clear-cut answer to. After the Russian invasion began the NHL was under watch to see what they might do regarding the many Russian players they have in the league. Commissioner Gary Bettman and the league opted to do nothing. And that's exactly how it should be. I have had some debates with other fans who held the belief that they should be banned with one person's logic being that a couple of the Russian players had met Russian President Vladimir Putin at hockey events in the country and therefore were somehow supporters of his and hence, of the conflict.  

Until I see Alex Ovechkin or Kirill Kaprizov driving a tank down the main street of Kyiv I don't think I'll buy into that misguided opinion. Rather, in the history of armed conflicts anywhere it's quite unlikely that any athletes or sports had anything to do with any of them. I have an idea though, instead of these idiotic and misguided sports boycotts and bans, how about when any of these situations arise I'd suggest the International Criminal Courts arrest the leaders of the countries initiating these travesties. And that can very much include the US.  

If this is the way we approach matters in this day and age I find it hyper-hypocritical that the US is never the target of any bans or boycotts. We are currently involved in five different global conflicts and just because we don't have "boots on the ground" doesn't mean we are neutral, innocent bystanders. It's quite the opposite. Sports, via the Olympic Games were supposed to be where the world set aside its differences to come together in the spirit of friendly athletic competition. Leave it to humans to absolutely mess that up...  

If it wasn't official in the pregame lead-up to this afternoon's Minnesota Wild versus Vegas Golden Knights matinee tilt, it certainly is now. The Wild will not appear in the 2024 Stanley Cup tournament. When this game began I wasn't sure what to think. The Wild have disappointed this season every time they had an opportunity to inject themselves into the playoff conversation. And at the end of today's crucial game they remained true to form.  

I had low expectations going in but for the most part the team played a solid game. It was scoreless after the first frame. The Wild had a 1-0 lead on a Kirill Kaprizov tally in the second and that's how the period would end. In sticking with the theme of this season, where nothing has been even remotely easy, the Knights would tie it in the third on a Michael Amadio goal and the game would remain that way at the end of the third.      

After some back-and-forth play early in the OT period Wild Coach John Hynes again went to an infrequently used NHL strategy and pulled netminder Filip Gustavsson for an extra attacker in an attempt to get the win and the extra standings point. It was successful versus the Nashville Predators in a tilt three weeks back for a 4-3 OT win but was not on this day. In addition, for using the losing strategy, they lost the single "loser point" they got for being tied up at the end of regulation time.  

The team remains 8 points out of a playoff spot with 9 games left in the regular season. While the team isn't officially mathematically eliminated from the playoffs it would be a stretch to say that they are still in the race. They aren't and the season will conclude on April 18th with a meaningless home game versus Seattle. The Wild were holding a 2% chance at a playoff berth before this game and that says it all. It has been nothing short of a challenging campaign all the way through and there are multiple reasons for it. For the first time in five seasons, the Wild will not qualify. PEACE