The Pull of the Soviet Lives On!
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by user Alex Holowczak
I am a talented NHL Goalie.
What would you pick?
Having browsed wikipedia (sorry!) briefly to find out about Ukrainian Hockey Players, I found a list capable of forming a decent team. Nothing special, but capable.
- Dmitri Kristich
- Ruslan Fedotenko
- Alexei Ponikarovsky
- Nikolai Zherdev
- Alexei Zhitnik
- Vitaly Vishnevski
- Oleg Tvederovsky
- Denis Shvidki
- Sergei Varlamov
- Anton Babchuk
Quite competitive NHL or ex-NHL Players. Yet all bar Varlamov, Shvidki and Fedotenko play for their homeland, Ukraine. Indeed, most were born in Kiev.
Looking on I saw similar things with other ex-Soviet nations.
Kazakhstan
- Evgeni Nabokov to Russia
- Pavel Vorobiev to Russia
- Vitaly Kolesnik and other weak NHL players
Latvia
ALL PLAYED for Latvia, and did not desert their homeland
Lithuania
- Darius Kasparaitis to Russia
- Dainius Zubrus played for Russia, but left for his homeland saying "Lithuania need me more than Russia." Quite right too.
Belarus
- Ruslan Salei plays for his homeland - as have a lot of other comparitive "nobodys."
I would love to know why so many of the former Soviet states still head to the big country, rather than play for their own country. Also, it only seems that the cream actually move on, as a result Ukraine is worst hit. Then again, Ukraine does have more of a political tie to Russia.
The IIHF should not allow former Soviets to choose which state to play for, and should make them play for their homeland. It would increase the ability in the region, and make international Hockey more exciting, as more teams would actually have a chance of winning. Ukraine would even be challenging the likes of Switzerland and Germany for eigthth in the world (it is anyway, even without the likes of Zherdev etc.)
I think this is awful, and it should be addressed quickly. I applaud the decisions of the likes of Arturs Irbe, Sandis Ozolinsch and Ruslan Salei for playing for their true nation. Dainius Zubrus caught on a bit slow, but he's got the right idea now.
I have often asked myself this question. With a Ukrainian Grandfather, but now being British, if in the zero chance I ever got selected to play international sport for anybody, I would play for Great Britain (or England, but you get the idea). Even if, e.g. for GB in Ice Hockey I would never play in an Olympics, whereas I would with Ukraine. And I expect that others would do the same. Surely!?
