Boston Bruins

Former Bruins F Dmitri Khristich Taking Up Arms Against Russia

Published

3 years ago

March 1, 2022

Former Boston Bruins forward Dmitri Khristich has joined a number of Ukrainian athletes to take up arms and join the resistance to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Khristich spoke to TSN announcer and analyst Gord Miller recently and asked him to get a message out to the world.

“He called today from Ukraine asking us to pass on a message,” Miller tweeted this past Saturday: “We are fighting hard, doing our best. We need you to tell the Russian people what is really going on. All they hear is propaganda and lies.”

In December, a delegation from the Ukrainian Ice Hockey Federation visited Canada to research ways to improve their development system. As a thank you for putting them in touch with people in Canada, they gave me a personalized jersey. Several of them are fighting in Kyiv today. pic.twitter.com/YW2UMGx4Ax

— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) February 26, 2022

The man 3rd from the left in the photo is former NHL player Dmitri Kristich. He called today from Ukraine asking us to pass on a message: “We are fighting hard, doing our best. We need you to tell the Russian people what is really going on. All they hear is propaganda and lies.” pic.twitter.com/HhGYiS9zyn

— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) February 26, 2022

Khristich joined Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, the two former heavyweight champions who are now fighting for Ukraine. Vitali has been the mayor of Kyiv since 2014, while Wladimir, who is enlisted in his country’s army, has been alongside his brother these days. Vitali is reportedly one of 23 people, including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on a blacklist created by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin reportedly has sent a hit squad of 400 mercenaries into Ukraine and around the world to execute the assassinations of those on the blacklist.

Current boxing champions Vasiliy Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk have also taken up arms with their countrymen in Ukraine. Usyk was supposed to fight Anthony Joshua later this year for a hefty purse.

Khristich played for the Boston Bruins in 1997-98 and 1998-99. He scored 29 goals in each of those seasons. In 811 career NHL games, he had 259 goals and 337 assists. A native of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Khristich played 13 seasons in the NHL. He had two stints with the Washington Capitals and was the last player to wear No. 8 before Alex Ovechkin. He also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings before returning to play in KHL in Russia for two seasons.

The international hockey world continued to unite behind Ukraine and against the Russian invasion of that proud hockey country as the NHL and IIHF came down hard on Russia and the Russian Hockey Federation on Monday.

At 3 PM ET Monday, the IIHF released this statement regarding Russia’s status for all upcoming IIHF-sanctioned tournaments and games:

The IIHF Council has suspended all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from IIHF competitions until further notice and withdrew the hosting rights of the 2023 #WorldJuniors from Russia.

READ MORE: https://t.co/SpSMGTlZw1 #hockey #icehockey #Ukraine #Russia #Belarus pic.twitter.com/YYb1JduvWE

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) February 28, 2022

Then, just 25 minutes later the NHL made its first public statement on the Russian invasion into Ukraine and ceased all business with all of their Russian business partners.