The Russian national team will not be at the World Ice Hockey Championship. It would seem that the opponents can take a deep breath and focus on preparing for their inferior tournament, but no. Another conflict on anti-Russian grounds suddenly arose in … Finland.

One of the brightest, coolest and most experienced hockey players, Suomi, was unhooked from the national team … because of the Russian surname!

At least the player himself thinks so.

“You don’t invite me to the World Cup because of the Russian surname?”

The Finnish ice hockey team has been systematically preparing for the start of the world championship for two weeks now. Jukka Jalonen’s players played several friendly matches. A lot of hockey players who have recently played in the KHL have been called up to Suomi. However, the coaching staff did not want to include one of the most stellar players in the country, Leo Komarov, in the application for the World Cup.

The striker was extremely dissatisfied with the absence of his name in the list of participants in the gathering. Leo even called the leadership of the national team to find out the reason for this decision.

– You don’t invite me to the World Cup because of the Russian surname? Or because I didn’t leave the KHL in the spring? – Komarov conveyed the content of the conversation with officials in an interview with Match TV. The leadership of the national team chose not to answer a direct question from the eminent hockey player.

The second version of Komarov regarding the reasons for his non-call can be immediately dismissed. The Finnish national team gave a warm welcome to his teammate Mikko Lehtonen. The defender also played for the St. Petersburg “soldiers” until the last match of the team in the season ended.

“We had negotiations with Lehtonen and we have the facts that allow us to warmly welcome Mikko to the camp of the Lions,” said Jere Lehtinen, general manager of the Finnish national team, to Mtv uutiset.

At the same time, the specialist did not specify exactly what details the defense player told him during the negotiations. But the fact remains: Lehtonen is preparing for the World Cup and is already gaining points in friendly matches.

Is the player’s bad form to blame?

The absence of one of Finland’s strongest players outside of the NHL caused legitimate questions from the local press. The coaching staff had to make excuses for their decisions. Team leaders referred to Komarov’s incomplete readiness for the upcoming world championship.

Indeed, Leo’s statistics this season are not impressive. The forward scored only 9 (5+4) points in KHL games. But in the national team there are hockey players with more modest performance. Marco Anttila, known for playing for Jokerit, scored only 6 (3+3) points in the Finnish league.

It is also embarrassing that before the start of the world championship, Komarov could calmly prepare for a whole month. During this time, you can improve functional readiness and find mutual understanding with partners. In addition, Leo really wanted to play for the national team and more than once showed himself as a leader both on the ice and in the locker room.

There is no reason to unequivocally agree with Komarov that he was not called up to the national team because of his Russian surname. Yes, and I don’t want to believe that in Finland they are ready to abandon the long-term team leader and class forward just because of the anti-Russian agenda. However, this option cannot be excluded now.