Gord Miller 🇨🇦 🇺🇦

Very proud of my home province of Alberta today 🇨🇦

Anyone who suggests that ending the war in Ukraine without a full Russian withdrawal will somehow save Ukrainian lives is either deeply misinformed or deliberately dishonest. I have been to Ukraine since the war started and have visited the scenes of the mass murders in Bucha and Irpan.

As a Ukrainian soldier told me: “We keep fighting or our people die. It’s that simple.”

12 Aug

When I was growing up in Alberta, the province was the last one to adopt a mandatory seat belt law (1987). There was a loud minority opposed, arguing that wearing a seatbelt made you more likely to die in a car fire or drown if your car went into water. Experts said it was nonsense. Sound familiar?

4 Aug

Earlier today during the USA/Czechia game at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, I mentioned that the Red Deer Rebels were in the process of being sold. That is not correct, the Sutter family is maintaining majority ownership of the franchise.

The question international sports federations (IFs) are asking is: why did the IOC provisionally lift its ban on Russia now, when nothing has materially changed in Ukraine? And why leave it up to the IFs? There are two possible explanations being floated and they may be linked.

The second reason is the United States. There have been calls from some IOC members to consider a ban on the US for the invasions of Venezuela and Iran, the rationale being if Russia is banned for invading another country, why isn’t the US? And why isn’t Israel?

Simply put, the IOC is not going to ban the host country for 2028 Games. Using the narrow technical grounds of “violating the territorial integrity of another country’s national committee through occupation” gets the IOC off the hook because theoretically, the US isn’t occupying those countries.

The IOC is now making a narrow technical argument that Ukraine’s regional sports organizations are no longer under occupation (they’ve been relocated to other parts of the country) so that the grounds for the ban (violating the terms of the IOC charter) are no longer applicable.

So why leave it up to the IFs? Two reasons: one, it hands the issue off to someone else. If the IOC announced that it was unilaterally dropping its ban on Russia, there would be enormous blowback, including potential boycotts. Leaving it to the IFs might be perceived as more of a “soft launch.”

The first is that the current US administration wants Russia included on the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The IOCs original ban was based on Russia annexing regional sports organizations from occupied Ukrainian territories, violating their territory and thus the IOC charter.

Another long follow up coming

The IIHF council made its decision based on two factors: security and consistency. Organizers of the upcoming Men’s and Women’s Worlds (Germany and Czechia) had serious security concerns about hosting Russia and its fans, with the Germans saying the inclusion of Russia would be a security nightmare.

TSN@tsnofficial.bsky.social

The IIHF has announced that Russia will not participate in the 2026–27 IIHF Championship season's Men's World Championship, World Junior Championship, or U18 World Championships following an event-by-event review.

That’s there’s consistency. The council didn’t feel it made sense for Russia to be permitted to play in the 2027 MU18 in the US, but then not in the 2028 tournament in Sweden, where the Swedish government likely wouldn’t allow it. The would also cause chaos for promotion/relegation.

The next step? Russia could appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The IIHF, UEFA (European soccer) and FIBA (international basketball) have all announced their continuation on their bans on Russian participation as long as the invasion of Ukraine continues. CAS is a wild card.

TSN@tsnofficial.bsky.social

Canada, set to host the 2027 WJC and WU18s said it was unlikely the Canadian government would allow Russian teams to enter the country. Only the US, the host of the MU18s was open to including Russian teams with the Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine ongoing.

Another long international hockey/sports thread coming.

The IOC’s announcement that it is provisionally lifting its ban on Russia, shifted the responsibility to international sports federations to decide on how to proceed. Two IFs, UEFA (European Football) and FIBA (basketball) have announced they are maintaining their bans on Russian teams. (1/12)

It gets even more problematic for the Men’s Worlds, where reinstating Russia and Belarus to the top division would mean that the two teams which won promotion from Div IA last year would not come up. The first and second place teams in Div IA were Kazakhstan and…Ukraine. (11/12)

Denying Ukraine promotion while reinstating Russia and Belarus is unthinkable to council members I have spoken with and would almost certainly trigger a European (and potentially Canadian) boycott. It seems unlikely the IIHF Council would seriously consider it. (End)

Another issue is where to place Russian and Belarussian teams. Putting Belarus back in the top division of the MU18 tournament meant that Switzerland, which had won promotion from Div IA, stayed down, a bitter setback for the Swiss, who are pouring resources into their U20 and U18 programs. (9/12)

Including Russia in the top division of the Men’s U18 tournament would likely mean that Norway, which won the relegation playoff against Germany to stay in the top division, would be sent down to Div IA, a bitter setback for their program, which just won a bronze at the Men’s Worlds. (10/12)

Another problem for European federations is security. Organizers of the 2027 Men’s World Championship in Germany have expressed deep concerns about Russia being present, both in the arena and in the fan zone, where thousands gather before and after games (7/12)

There are millions of Ukrainian refugees scattered throughout Europe, the possibility of large scale protests make Russian participation in the Men’s Worlds a security nightmare. The fan zone, a popular annual feature of the tournament and major revenue generator, would likely be closed.(8/12)

Reinstating Russia while the full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues could potentially trigger boycotts by European nations. Finnish president Alexander Stubb has said he will oppose his country’s national teams playing against Russia (his father ran the NHL’s European scouting division). (5/12)

For its part, the Canadian government responded to the IOCs decision by stating that it will continue to restrict the participation of Russia and Belarus in domestic Canadian events which receive federal funding. That would presumably include the upcoming World Junior Championship in Alberta. (6/12)

In response, IIHF announced in May that Belarus would be permitted to participate in the top division of the 2027 Men’s U18s and lower divisions of the Women’s Worlds and Women’s U18. There was immediate pushback. (3/12)

Lithuania announced it would not host or take part in or the Women’s U18 Div III tournament if Belarus was present and Latvia informed US organizers of the Men’s U18 that it could not be placed in the same group as Belarus and would forfeit medal round games against it, citing Latvian law. (4/12)

On Monday, the IIHF Council will meet to decide what to do about Russia and Belarus going forward. In May, its disciplinary board annulled the blanket ban of the two nations, leaving the IIHF to decide participation on an event by event basis. (2/12)

A (very) long 🧵 coming on Russia, Belarus, the @iihf.bsky.social and the complex issues it faces.

19 July

Remember when the government of Nova Scotia closed access to forests and parks last year due to extreme forest fire risk and certain elements were complaining about the “infringement of their rights”? Are they the same ones criticizing Canada now for not doing enough to prevent forest fires?

18 July

I hope he didn’t say that to his heart surgeon.

Rob@lowermainlandrob.bsky.social

My old drafting teacher hated the word expert. He used to say "X is an unknown quantity and a spurt is a drip under pressure."

18 July

Nice to see that the self-appointed social media epidemiologists and vaccine scientists appear to have turned their attention to forestry and become experts on that. As my ER doctor friend said during COVID: “Social media is full of experts, all they’re lacking is expertise.”

leadersgroup-sbj-prod.web.arc-cdn.netUEFA could block Russian return to international soccerUEFA is prepared to block the return of Russian teams to international soccer after the IOC provisionally lifted the country’s suspension from global competition.

9 July

If UEFA refuses to readmit Russia, that would mean no Russian club teams in the Champions league and no Russia in the 2030 World Cup. (FIFA runs the tournament but UEFA runs European qualifying)

Gord Miller 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 reposted

Adam van Koeverden

@avankoeverden.bsky.social

8 July

I am appalled by the IOC’s decision to provisionally lift their sanction on the Russian Olympic Committee. Please see my statement on behalf of the Government of Canada, below:

7 July

The decision opens the door for International Federations (IF) to readmit Russia. This will be a difficult choice for the @iihf.bsky.social, 2027 Men’s Worlds are in Germany, the Women’s is in Czechia. Neither country wants the security issues that would come with having the Russians there.

Gord Miller 🇨🇦 🇺🇦@gmillertsn.bsky.social

The initial reaction from senior sports federation officials in Europe is that reinstating Russia while the occupation of Ukraine is ongoing will likely lead to a mass European boycott of the LA Olympics, and there will be pressure on Canada to join it.

7 July

TSN@tsnofficial.bsky.social

The International Olympic Committee announces that it has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee which had been in effect since October 2023.

2 July

Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla

Big Handsome@mayorofguelph.com

I dunno, Jerome Iginla's full name is pretty awesome.

2 July

There will never be a better middle name (or full name for that matter) than that of Hal Gill (Harold Priestley Gill III). He also had a wonderfully ironic nickname (skillzy).

NHL (Bot)@notnhl.bsky.social

A thread of some middle names for the halfway point of 2026! 🧵 Did you know these players' middle names?

1 July

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian followers 🇨🇦 Our country is an ongoing work in progress, but it is still regarded around the world as a beacon of respect, fairness, justice and civility. There are some who consider those attributes to be signs of weakness. On the contrary: they define who we are.

14 June

The “Inside The Volcano” experience in Iceland is absolutely spectacular.

12 June

There’s something odd about the Hart Trophy voting totals: Kucherov got 72-60-52-12-0 (196 votes) McDavid got 68-62-56-10-2 (198 votes) That means two voters didn’t rank Kucherov in their top five. He won by a razor-thin margin, imagine the outcry if he had lost.

5 June

Cliff Fletcher was a legend in so many ways: for his work as a hockey executive, his mentorship and for the old-school gentleman he was. He was also my dear friend, and while I’ll miss him, I’m enterally grateful for having known him. I’ll be lifting a very good glass of red tonight in his honour.

28 May

Norwegian broadcasters in the final seconds of their country’s 2-0 win over Latvia. Norway advances to the SF of the #iihfworlds for the first time.

www.tsn.ca/nhl/article/...

28 May

tsn.caFormer NHL player Claude Lemieux passes away at age 60Former NHL player Claude Lemieux, whose career as one of hockey’s biggest on-ice pests and clutch scorers helped him win four Stanley Cups, has passed away at the age of 60.

Gord Miller 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 reposted

Timothy Snyder

@timothysnyder.bsky.social

27 May

I am part of this campaign; please join in; you can save lives.

UNITED24@u24.gov.ua

#SkyDefense Update: 🛡️ $2,679,915 raised 🛡️ 2,251 people subscribed On the night of May 23rd, 604 out of 690 aerial weapons were intercepted. Air defense saves lives. Thank you to our global community of donors — your support means the world to us 💙💛 u24.gov.ua/sky-defense?...