April 23 (UPI) — Dominik Hasek, NHL Hall of Famer and one of the greatest goalies to ever tend the crease, said he has received death threats from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The 60-year-old legendary Czech netminder said Wednesday on X that he informed the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation of the death threats.
“I inform them that former Russian President Medvedev threatened to kill me,” he said in the post. “Furthermore, among other things, I point out how important their decisions will be in the coming months and again offer assistance in creating rules so that sports competitions are not an advertisement for the Russian war and people do not die because of them.”
He said he plans to publish both letters in the coming days.
Hasek has been a prominent voice against Russian players playing in the NHL due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He has also been a vocal critic of Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin, a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has used his celebrity in the hockey world to promote the Russian leader and previously disseminated disinformation about Ukraine.
Hasek has frequently criticized the NHL’s decision to allow Russian players to compete for the Cup, calling it “a huge amount of advertising to Russia for its war and crimes.”
“And that costs a lot of lives,” he said on X. “The NHL has to pay Ukraine for this.”
Ahead of Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record earlier this month, Hasek took to X to say the Great Eight “will have to live with the knowledge for the rest of his life that because of his public appearance … a huge number of people, including his fellow Russian citizens, were killed and maimed in the war.
“Whether he is happy about it, indifferent to it or sorry, we do not know. However, what we do know for sure is that the NHL not only enabled him to do this but even supported him in doing so for 3 years and 40 days!”
The war in Ukraine began Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded.
Hasek did not detail the specifics of the death threats, but after Ovechkin broke Gretzky’s record by scoring goal 895 of his career on April 6, Medvedev celebrated on Telegram by stating in a statement that “We are waiting for the suicide of the crazy Czech Hasek.”
On Wednesday, following Hasek’s comments on X, Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, seemingly threatened the Olympic gold medalist.
“That former goalkeeper Hasek suffers from a severe form of mental illness: Russophobia in the form of delusion of persecution,” Medvedev’s assistant, Oleg Osipov, told Russian state news agency TASS.
“I would recommend him to cross the road more carefully and not to drink beer in unverified places and to visit a psychiatrist regularly.”
Among those who came to Hasek’s defense was Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who called Medvedev’s threats “absolutely unacceptable” and said “they cannot be ignored.”
“Medvedev is not a private person, but a high-ranking representative of Russia,” he said in a statement on X. “Thus, he once again confirms the aggressive and dangerous nature of Russian politics.”
Unlike the NHL, the IIHF has banned Russian and Belarusian players from sanctioned events, at least until 2026. The next opportunity to consider their involvement in the 2026-2027 season will be in May of next year.
