DENVER — The Russian players participating in the Stanley Cup Final for Tampa Bay and the Avalanche won’t be allowed to take the trophy back to their home country this summer.
Winger Valeri Nichushkin is the lone Russian player on the Avalanche, and winger Nikita Kucherov, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy play for Tampa Bay.
The NHL’s decision is in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
“We made both clubs aware already, with respect to this summer, that the Cup isn’t going to Russia, regardless,” associate commissioner Bill Daly said before Wednesday’s Game 1. “To that extent, we may have a make-up Cup trip in the future just like we did in the pandemic.”
Russian players remain eligible to be drafted next month.
“It wouldn’t surprise me is somebody slipped (in the draft) where they were projected to go based on the inability to access them,” Daly said.
Bettman on cable
Before the game Bettman was asked about the ongoing cable dispute between Altitude and Comcast.
“I think everybody knows and it’s not just my view, it’s the view of the Avalanche and Nuggets and all of their fans that it’s an incredibly unfortunate, distressing situation that the satellite and cable providers basically decided not to have coverage of the games within Denver,” Bettman said. “The fans should make their unhappiness known to the people who they write checks to every month.
“I think what you’re going to see over time is a transformation (to) more streaming to avoid possibly dealing with satellite and cable carriage (issues).”
Ferraro’s first
Not only was Game 1 the Stanley Cup Final debut for nearly the entire Avalanche team, it was also a first for ESPN NHL analyst Ray Ferraro.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be involved with it,” he said in a phone interview. “To be at ice level and see how important and thrilling it is for the guys to be there, for me, it becomes instantly as big an NHL game as I’ve ever done until (Game 2). It’s really cool.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work the World Junior Tournament in Canada and one of the games was Canada-Russia and there were about seven million people watching in a country of 38 million. I’ve done a big game before, but this is the Final. This is absolutely a career highlight.”
Footnotes
Avalanche winger Andre Burakovsky, who was given several maintenance days after the Edmonton series, played on the second line. … Cal Foote, son of former Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote, was a healthy scratch for Tampa Bay. … Bettman said the NHL regular season will begin in North America on Oct. 11. The Avalanche are scheduled to open Oct. 4-5 against Columbus in Tampere, Finland. … Avalanche television play-by-play announcer Marc Moser worked Game 1 on the NHL International broadcast with analyst Kevin Weekes. That production is made available to more than 100 countries world-wide outside of the United States and Canada.
