We’re finally returning to best-on-best hockey at the international level with the 4 Nations Face-Off scheduled to begin on February 12th.
Though it’s a start to see the world's best hockey players representing their nations, we’re still without some hockey-rich nations like Czechia, Slovakia, and Russia.
The IIHF has banned Russia since February 28, 2022, after the nation's invasion of Ukraine, and yesterday, the IIHF council voted to continue its ban on Russia and Belarus through the 2025-26 international season.
Russia's IIHF ban extended
“As the current security conditions do not allow the necessary requirements for the organization of tournaments guaranteeing the safety of all, the IIHF must maintain the current status quo until further notice.”
For NY Islanders fans who will only see Brock Nelson competing at the 4 Nations Face-Off as part of Team USA, the organization has stockpiled numerous Russian players who could potentially be part of a Russian team if they were able to compete.
Russia has produced the top goaltenders the NHL has to offer over the last few years, including Igor Shesterkin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Ilya Sorokin.
Sorokin has established himself as one of the top Russian netminders, finishing as runner-up for the Vezina trophy in 2023. The former CSKA Moscow goaltender had a subpar 2023-24 season but has returned to star-caliber play as of late, recently named NHL first star of the week.
Sorokin’s first line of defense, Alexander Romanov has earned the trust of Patrick Roy in his season and has been leaned on during the Islanders injury crisis. Logging a career-high 22:34 per game this season, he’s become one of the most fearsome checkers in the league.
Max Tsyplakov, in his first NHL season, likely would be on the outside looking in on a top-tier Russian team, but with a little more experience could pave the way for himself as a power forward at some point in the future.
Unfortunately, we won’t see these players anytime soon, but there’s hope at some point we can see more Islanders representing their nation on the international level.