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European Report: What’s going on with Russia and the Olympics?

Related Topics: Russia, Euro Hockey Tour

The Channel Once Cup begins in a few days and Russia, just before learning they were banned from the Olympics, made a curious choice for their team.

And yes, absolutely everyone has noticed the mistaken designation of Mikhail Grigorenko. For those who don’t follow the KHL closely, that is a team made up almost entirely from players from SKA and CSKA. There is one player from Lokomotiv and one from Metallurg, the only person who is travelling from a team outside the heavily populated west of Russia.

This seems to do two things. It makes the point that Russia is so powerful, they could make two or even three Olympic teams and take all the medals.