NHL indicates Finland's block on Russian athletes could affect future games there

The NHL will consider Finland's plans to prevent Russian athletes entering the country when deciding whether to stage more regular-season games there in future, the league told The Associated Press.

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Russian winger Andrei Svechnikov, not pictured, had an assist for the Hurricanes in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Kraken in Helsinki. Pyotr Kochetkov was Carolina's backup goaltender. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva/ AFP via Getty Images)

The NHL will consider Finland's plans to prevent Russian athletes entering the country when deciding whether to stage more regular-season games there in future, the league told The Associated Press.

Finland and Norway both announced plans to refuse entry to Russian athletes Thursday, the same day as the Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken played the first of two NHL regular-season games in the Finnish capital, Helsinki.

The Finnish restrictions take effect from Monday, after the NHL games, and follow a backlash to Russia being reinstated in the hockey world championships, which is not an NHL event.

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