The hockey season is not over yet for Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Samsonov. The two Capitals, whose NHL season ended last night after being eliminated by the Boston Bruins, will join Team Russia for the 2021 World Championship being held in Minsk, Belarus, and Riga, Latvia, until June 6.
Alex Ovechkin, who missed seven games down the stretch of the regular season, will not participate “due to injury.”
BREAKING NEWS!!!! 👀🔥
Dmitri Orlov & Ilya Samsonov of the @Capitals and Vladimir Tarasenko of the @StLouisBlues will join @russiahockey at the #IIHFWorlds after quarantine! 🥵
Read more: https://t.co/YAccmHy3Rs 👈 pic.twitter.com/6Qnc7YcXo0
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 24, 2021
A tweet from Hockey Russia added that Ovechkin will be absent “due to the large amount of damage received in the regular season and NHL playoffs” per Google Translate.
⚡Александр Овечкин не сможет принять участиe в ЧМ из-за большого количества повреждений, полученных в матчах регулярного чемпионата и плей-офф НХЛ
— Хоккей России (@russiahockey) May 24, 2021
Meanwhile, Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov is ineligible to join the team due to a four-year ban for testing positive for cocaine in 2019.
In the IIHF story, Russia also announced it is adding sniper Vladimir Tarasenko to the team. Team Russia currently has 24 players on its roster (22 skaters, 2 goalies) and can add up to four more.
Once Orlov, Samsonov, and Tarasenko arrive in Riga, they will quarantine for six days and be tested every day before being allowed to join the team.
5/25 update: The Capitals are not allowing Ilya Samsonov to participate in the World Championship.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
