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All of those things were important to the people in the country where the sport was taking place.
So you think NHL players being able to skate with their teams is more important to Russian citizens than US and Canadian citizens who are fans of those teams?
Aren't you shooting yourself in the foot and possibly reversing the current momentum vs Putin, and instead turning the ire of the public toward the NHL or the US government for going after individuals on NA teams in NA leagues instead of national teams in INTL competitions?
What does that do to morale in NA?
These things are important because the sports were linked to the person or the country involved.
JFK was a big fan of football, photos of the Kennedy's playing touch football all the time at Hyannis Port all helped in developing football's popularity in the country.
Baseball has long been held to be America's past time, 9/11 was an attack on our soil, an attack against our institutions and as such an attack on everything that defined being American and that we believed in.
If you can think of one sport that you immediately associate with Russia it's hockey. It's important to them. Hockey is important to Putin as well as he has been photographed playing hockey. Over the weekend we've heard where liquor stores and establishments have removed Russian sourced products (vodka) from their shelves, state governments and businesses (BP) are disposing of their financial involvement with Russia. All symbolic gestures but they all send messages that Russia needs to be held responsible for altering world normalcy.
Sadly events in Ukraine are going to get worse, translation civilian deaths. With this on the horizon, it's hard to believe that Russians not being allowed to play hockey in NA will be galvanizing the Russian people behind Putin.