After "a week of turmoil" for Olympic hockey, Russia "believes it is poised to be the big winner" at the 2018 Winter Games, according to the AP. The country has waited more than 25 years for an Olympic Gold Medal, and "its top league wants to fight" the NHL for int'l markets, so the absence of NHL players from the PyeongChang Games could be "a golden opportunity." The Russian hockey system is a "tangled web of sports, government and commercial interests," but all of those parties see Olympic Gold as a "national priority." The NHL's announcement that it "would not shut down" so its players could play in PyeongChang leaves Russia in a "strong position." It is home to the Kontinental Hockey League, "widely regarded as the best professional league outside North America." Corey Hirsch, who won a Silver Medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Games as Canada's goaltender, said, "They've got a huge advantage because they've got NHL guys, they've got guys that have gone home to play. They're going to have NHL players. But it's not going to be like we're going back to the 1980s" (AP, 4/8).
