One issue casting big shadow over of 4 Nations event

MONTREAL — We’ve been waiting for this for eight years, waiting for hockey and the NHL to embrace their historical international roots, tracing back to the 1972 Summit Series, when Paul Henderson scored the most momentous goal in the history of best-on-best professional hockey, when it was Canada against the Soviet Union.

In 1987, when Mario Lemieux scored off a three-on-one feed from Wayne Gretzky — No. 66 from No. 99 — with 1:26 remaining in the decisive match of the best-of-three final to give Canada the Canada Cup championship by 6-5, it was Canada against the Soviet Union.

When, in 1980 at the Lake Placid Olympic Games, for one night Team USA was “the greatest hockey team in the world,” in the words of Herb Brooks, the Soviet Union was on the other side.

But now, as best-on-best returns to the sport with the 4 Nations Face-Off, Russia is the powerhouse nation that will not be there, its players and national teams shunned while paying the price for the invasion of Ukraine.