“In Moscow, if you don’t watch the news, you have no idea that Russia is at war,” Bob Hartley said in his column for the 91.9 SportsFriday.
Posted yesterday at 7:11 p.m.
As the Russian invasion continues in Ukraine, life goes on as if nothing had happened in the Russian capital.
“It’s business as usual. Again today I was in the Kremlin area. The streets are crowded with people, the restaurants are full. We trained this morning, the Russian players don’t talk about it. In Moscow, you feel absolutely nothing, ”said the head coach of Avangard Omsk, in the KHL.
Every morning, Hartley drives past a military base to get to the arena.
“The tanks, the trucks with the blankets on top, it’s full. I’m not a politician, I don’t know the Russian army, but I know it’s something powerful, big. The landmark, or whatever it’s called, there’s nothing moving there. »
“We see the soldiers entering the post in the morning because we pass at roughly the same time as they return. Other than that, everything is correct. »
The Franco-Ontarian, who already has his return ticket to Canada for April 30, is not worried about being able to return home.
“It is certain that there is the unknown: how long will it last? Is it going to settle down? I’ve never been involved in politics, I don’t know anything about war decisions and all that. I play hockey. Of course, I sympathize with what is happening, but on the other hand, I have very little control over the situation. »
The future of hockey in Russia
Over the past few days, Jokerit of Helsinki, Finland made the decision to sit out the KHL playoffs in support of Ukraine. Dinamo Riga could also decide to withdraw, while Latvia’s Minister of Education and Science, Anita Muižniece, is pushing to do so.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is due to meet next Monday to discuss the future of hockey in Russia.
“My boss worked excessively hard over the last two, three years to build a new arena because ours was going to fall,” explained Bob Hartley. He had some nice hotels built in Omsk to attract the World Junior Championship next year. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Federation said they weren’t going. »
“We hope it ends,” he concluded. I like to compete on the ice, but what you see on TV is not pretty and it’s not how it should be. »