War has upended Russian-Nordic friendships forged on Arctic ice hockey rinks. Can they ever recover?
According to Guardian Sport, playing ice hockey against Russian teams was for years a central part of the social life for players like Janne Tervahauta in the border town of Ivalo, Finland. The Barents Hockey League, which served to thaw post-Cold War relations, was put on hold during the pandemic, and following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, all contact with Russia was severed. Before February 2022, ice hockey diplomacy was a normal part of daily life in northern Finland, Norway, and Russia, serving as an important soft power tool for Moscow. Nevertheless, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation to permit Russia to return to international competition before the men's world championship in Germany in May. In response, the head of the Finnish ice hockey association announced a boycott of games against Russia, followed by Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Austria, Latvia, and Canada. Mika Toivola, the chief executive of RoKi Hockey, agreed with the boycott, stressing that ending the war in Ukraine is the first prerequisite to beginning the long journey of rebuilding trust, even as locals express sadness over the loss of unique cross-border friendships.