Ilya Kovalchuk, a four-time Olympian and three-time NHL All-Star, hopes to compete in Pyeongchang. And he hopes other Russians will join him as neutral athletes.
“It will unite the country,” he said, according to a Reuters translation of an R-Sport report. “All clean athletes must go.”
The 34-year-old Kovalchuk, who is eligible for the Olympics since he now plays in the KHL, was earlier Tuesday named to the Russian roster for a pre-Olympic tournament that starts next week.
The Russian national hockey team addressed a letter to president Vladimir Putin requesting that he allow Russian athletes to go to Pyeongchang as neutral athletes, according to Sport-Express.