Myth 1: Every Russian hockey player wants to get into the NHL
Well, you have to admit, the NHL pays good money, sometimes much more that any Russian player could ever be offered at home. In 2008, Alexander Ovechkin, the star of the Washington Capitals, signed a 13-year $124 million dollar contract, becoming the first person to ever make nine digits in the NHL. However, it's not just about the money — it's about the game, and many Russians come back to play in the KHL after their NHL contracts expire.
Whatever may be going in global politics has no place on the ice, what matters is winning against the strongest teams. Like the Canadians, who've handed Russia a series of painful defeats in the recent years.
Myth 3: Russians are so good at hockey because it's cold in Russia all year round — they practically invented the game
Ice Hockey in its modern form was invented in the 1840s in Canada. It was only a century later when the sport was adopted in Russia. Before that, local teams mainly played an different version of the game, using a ball instead of a puck.
When the Soviet team lost during the 1972 championship in Czechoslovakia, nobody at home was, of course, happy about it. Disciplinary action was, however, taken: some athletes were forced to leave the team, and coach Viktor Tikhonov intensified training. Soviet media did try to keep a lid on the defeat. But none of the players were exiled to Siberia!
