Russia is being re-incorporated step by step into international sports, following the suspensions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine. At the beginning of the summer, for example, the International Olympic Committee IOC announced that Russians will be allowed to compete in the Olympics in the future - regardless of political positions.
But it is still unusual for Swedish ice hockey players to move to Russia to play in the KHL. A few of the Swedish players who were in the league when the war broke out stayed.
Pontus Åberg moved to the league for the 2023/2024 season, but then to the Kazakh team Barys Astana, and Dmytro Timashov went to the Russian HK Sochi in the 2024/2025 season. Linus Weissbach this summer became the third Swede to move to the KHL since the invasion.
Last season he scored 17 points in 33 SHL games for Frölunda, but there was no continuation at the club. Instead, he moved to SKA Saint Petersburg and he is currently the only Swedish player in the league.
When the move became official, he was heavily criticized for his decision. He has not commented on the criticism in the Swedish media, but during the summer he was quoted on the Russian site Sport.ru.
- It was a big decision for me and I thought about it for quite a while. Many Swedish hockey players want to play in the KHL, Weissbach said, according to the Russian site.
But Färjestad's team captain Linus Johansson doesn't recognize that.
- I don't think so - not at all. It's a bit of a way to protect yourself, I suppose, he says and continues:
- Many people think that politics and sports don't belong together, but that's exactly what it does in Russia. As I said, I was there in 2020 and 2021. Hockey is the biggest thing there is in that country, so every time they get a Swedish or Norwegian player, it is clear that it is a political gain for them.
Johansson himself played in the KHL in the 2020/2021 season, but does not think that should be an option for Swedish players at the moment, due to the war in Ukraine.
- It is difficult to answer what everyone thinks and thinks. I think it's insane that you do that.
Timrå's 33-year-old forward Anton Wedin played in the KHL when Russia invaded Ukraine.
- Then it was a little difficult to grasp what was happening. After all, it was the end of the season, so we knew we'd be going home pretty soon.
He played his last game in the KHL just under a month after Russia's invasion and then had to go home to Sweden in a minibus via Finland, because the airspace was closed.
- For me, it is not an option. That's all I can say. I wouldn't make that move, he says now about the KHL.
Why not?
- It is probably simply because of the invasion.
It remains to be seen whether any SHL players will follow Linus Weissbach to Russia. But as far as Anton Wedin knows, the issue is not a hot topic of conversation among the players.
- I have not heard anything about it and it is nothing that I have tried to find out either, he says.
DN has searched for Linus Weissbach without receiving an answer.
