The National Hockey League has released a statement formally condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The league shared the message on Twitterwriting that the NHL is "concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL Clubs, and not on behalf of Russia."
The statement went on to say that the NHL "urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible." The NHL said that the organization has suspended its relationship with business partners in Russia and said "we are pausing our Russian language social and digital media sites. In addition, we are discontinuing any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions involving the NHL."
On Friday, Russian-born NHL player Alex Ovechkin said, "I have lots of friends in Russia and Ukraine. And, it's hard to see another war. I hope it's soon going to be over and there's going to be peace in the whole world," CNN reported.
And on Saturday, NHL great Wayne Gretzky said, "I think international hockey should say, 'We're not gonna let them play in the world junior hockey tournament. I think we got to, as Canadians, take that stance," the CBC reported.
