With the success of the 4 Nations Tournament in the NHL, international hockey is currently in vogue. After nearly 10 years without seeing the best players in the world compete to defend their country’s colors, it’s nice to see such a high level of competition again.
There’s an atmosphere that’s really unique.
Your honorary captains for tonight: Wayne Gretzky and Mike Eruzione! : : #4Nations
: @espn & @ESPNPlus → https://t.co/S5tPrXCygm
: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ → https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF https://t.co/Puoc5JJPSi
— NHL (@NHL) February 21, 2025
That being said, Russia was not present in this tournament. We know that the country is excluded from international competitions due to the situation in Ukraine… but that doesn’t stop people in Russia from wanting to see their country play international hockey again.
Roman Rotenberg, who is Ivan Demidov’s coach in Russia (and president of the Russian Hockey Federation), is part of this group… and in an interview with Sport-Express (a Russian media outlet), he mentioned an interesting idea: he wants to see a friendly match between Russia and the United States.
What’s interesting, though, is that Rotenberg already has an idea of where this match would take place: he’d like it to happen in Saudi Arabia… and he’s already taken steps in that direction:
We’ve already discussed this with colleagues from the United Arab Emirates. We know they have the Etihad Arena, where UFC fights take place. – Roman Rotenberg
Obviously, this won’t happen overnight… but Rotenberg seems interested in the idea. He wants it to happen in conjunction with the NHL and the hockey federations of Canada and the United States, but clearly, he believes in his project.
Let’s see if it happens, now.
– A big correction in the QMJHL.
Ouch!
Matyas Melovsky has 3 goals and 4 assists so far. https://t.co/HBC2XDHWIt
— Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) February 21, 2025
– 60th goal this season for Nick Lardis in the OHL.
Less than a week after scoring his last hat-trick, Nick Lardis (CHI) has scored his SIXTH hat-trick of the year to hit 60 (!) goals. Fitting that he did it with yet another one-timer. Lethal.#Blackhawks https://t.co/nszvTDqY6W
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) February 21, 2025
– Will he be even more dominant than last year?
He will really be one to watch in 2025. https://t.co/NdCP4nUzo9
— Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) February 21, 2025
