Plenty of well-deserved adjectives have been affixed to the glorious hockey career of Detroit Red Wings legendary defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.

Controversial, outspoken, and opinionated aren’t usually on the list.

However, Lidstrom wasn’t pulling any punches in his reaction to news that the ban on Russia from involvement in international hockey competitions may be lifting.

“The first thought is that we should boycott this,” Lidstrom told Swedish Hockey News. The IIHF was banning the Russian Ice Hockey Federation from all international competitions in February 2022 following that country’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Russia appealed this decision to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in August.

This appeal was launched after the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Council extended a blanket ban on Russia from participating in all IIHF events. The court annulled all five IIHF Council resolutions and ordered the IIHF to allow Russia to participate in all IIHF competitions.

Expectations are that the IIHF will be launching an appeal of this decision early this week.

Along with his role as vice president of hockey operations for the Red Wings, Lidstrom also serves as an advisor to the Swedish Hockey Federation (SHF). Anders Larsson, chairman of the SHF, is on record saying the country won’t boycott any international events if Russia is participating.

Red Wings Russian Five Member Supports Decision

Viacheslav Fetisov was part of the iconic Russian Five. He was Lidstrom’s teammate on two Red Wings Stanley Cup-winning teams. Fetisov finds himself on the opposite side of this debate from his fellow Hall of Fame defenseman.

A member of the Russian State Duma, Fetisov naturally supports the return of his homeland to international hockey. But he thinks that they should only do it if they are all in.

Fetisov wants to see Russia playing internationally as Russia. At the past two Olympic Games, Russian athletes were permitted to compete. However, they competed as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) without national flags, anthems, or participation in the opening ceremony parade.

“Why hasn’t our country announced its desire to reintroduce national symbols on uniforms?” Fetisov told Russian website Sport-Express. “This is also unprecedented.

“For some reason, we’re forgetting this important issue. We hope that our fans will see Russian hockey players in uniforms with national symbols at the stadiums.”