On December 12, as part of the Columbus-Washington match, a group of Russian-speaking fans from America plans to organize a “Russian Heritage Evening.”
Daniil Tarasov, Ivan Provorov, Dmitry Voronkov, Egor Chinakhov and Kirill Marchenko play for Columbus. Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Alekseev, Ivan Miroshnichenko and Belarusian Alexey Protas play for Washington.
Earlier, the winner of the Stanley Cup, former goalkeeper Dominik Hasek, traditionally reacted harshly and painfully to this action. Cech wrote on social media: “The NHL has definitely gone crazy. »
spoke to the organizers of the Russian Heritage Evening, Alexander Braverman and Slava Paller.
— How often do you organize such events in North America?
— This is no longer a new project. We started with a party in 2018, which took place in Florida. The following season, we already had five such nights, and the following season, 10. There should have been 12, but the NHL regular season was stopped due to COVID-19. Our idea was to organize a “Russian Heritage Evening” in all 32 NHL arenas, but we have not yet implemented it.
— Is this an official event under the auspices of the NHL?
— In 2019, we visited the league headquarters to present our project. At that time we had already spent five evenings. NHL officials liked the idea, but it did not become an official event. We were told: continue to work with the teams, and we will observe. We negotiated with clubs in different cities, doubled the number of parties, but then the coronavirus and February 2022.
— Since then, “Russian Heritage Evening” has not been held at NHL matches?
— In March 2024, we managed to bring together a group of Russian fans during the Panthers – Islanders game in Florida. This was not particularly announced, we just agreed directly with the players. We spoke with Russians from NHL clubs, with the same Alexander Romanov.
— What are your plans for the Columbus-Washington match, which will take place on December 12?
— This season we decided to try to organize the “Russian Heritage Evening” again. However, we must bring back this wonderful event, because many Russian fans live in North America. And now five Russian players play in Columbus, and the symbol of Washington is Alexander Ovechkin.
We originally made a deal in Columbus to have a children’s dance group perform Russian folk dances before the game. But then we were told it wouldn’t work that way. We now rely on communication with the players – the same Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko, when we told him about the project, dedicated his greetings to us and we published it on our social networks.
— How many people participate in this hockey fan movement?
— We have about 6,000 people – these are just those who have already registered in our community. And there are more. Moreover, we are not only thriving in hockey, our Russian friends are artists, musicians, boxers, UFC fighters… Many famous people support us. From hockey, for example – Vladislav Tretyak, Boris Mikhailov, Phil Esposito, Vyacheslav Fetisov… During Covid, together with hockey historians, we published a book for the 50th anniversary of the Super Series-72. We organized video bridges with Canadian and Soviet stars. We are doing a lot to make Russia, Canada and the United States become friends through sports. Moreover, one of our organizers lives in Florida, another in Canada, and we have a correspondent in Moscow. Yes, we try to build bridges of friendship.
— How did you react to the famous former goalkeeper Dominik Hasek criticizing your event?
“We were very upset because the hockey players decided to hinder us. It seems Hasek himself played in the NHL and should understand how important community support and fan connections are to players. He also played in the KHL, where he enjoyed the culture, architecture of Russia as well as a good salary. But Russian fans in America were and remain the same. And Russian hockey players play in the NHL, no one can stop it. Why can’t we communicate with each other?
We salute hockey diplomacy. This was stated by the American Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan when he came to the KHL for the match between Spartak and Dynamo Moscow, took part in the throw-in of the puck and announced diplomacy of hockey, that this sport would melt the ice between countries and bring our peoples together, just as the 72nd Super Series once brought Canada and the USSR closer together.
And the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, argued in favor of this: he came from Omsk, he was given an Avangard sweater and there was an idea to throw the puck in Washington. Alexander Ovechkin also supports his Russian heritage and says his Russian spirit helps him perform well in the NHL.
A lot of people support us. What Hasek says… Well, that’s just his opinion. And we want to ensure that Russian-speaking children in America do not lose their roots. So that they find inspiration to play hockey, become good people and make our countries friends through sport.
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Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
