At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia, American Chamber of Commerce president Robert Agee announced that an exhibition hockey game will be played between the United States and Russia. The friendly, which hopes to rebuild relations between the two world powers, is scheduled for July 1 and will take place at the Kristall Ice Palace, within Moscow’s Luzhniki Olympic Complex.
Per The Moscow Times, Agee added that Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin would be involved in the event, but did not provide further details.
“I’m proud to announce that we will be hosting the first ProAm hockey match, in part to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States on July 1 in Moscow,” Agee said. “We hope that, not to make a pun, will start to thaw a little ice (between the two countries).”
Ovechkin’s participation in the game, however, does not appear to be happening, per his agent, Gleb Chistyakov.
When Chistyakov was asked by TASS whether Ovechkin would play, he replied, “Definitely not,” as translated by Google Translate.
Some American hockey outlets reported the news on social media Thursday, falsely claiming or implying that the game would be between the senior men’s national teams of both countries.
In fact, the game isn’t set to feature any active players from either the NHL or the KHL, which makes sense, given that the USA and Russia’s hockey programs would need to go through lengthy approval processes with both leagues. Russia is also still banned, on an event-by-event basis, from all international competitions run by the IIHF, and it’s doubtful that any national team would challenge that decision of its own accord.
“This is the first we’ve heard about this match,” KHL president Alexei Morozov said. “I don’t know who’ll be playing; everyone will be on vacation on July 1, resting and preparing for the new season. Alexander Ovechkin’s participation? I don’t know how he’s connected to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“I’ll be on vacation. I don’t even know who’ll be playing or what the lineups will be. You can just imagine anything.”
Agee’s actual proclamation is more of a beer-league, pickup-style challenge between the two nations’ government officials, with the potential participation of perhaps retired or unaffiliated professionals. Svetlana Zhurova, First Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, backed that up by announcing, per TASS, that the game will feature men and women from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and the American Chamber of Commerce.
The USA-Russia game was first broached in March 2025 during a phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and was later publicly revealed in a summary of their conversation posted by the Russian government.
“Donald Trump supported Vladimir Putin’s idea to organize hockey matches in the USA and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL,” the relevant section reads, as translated via Google Translate.
Even then, the exhibition’s framework caused confusion among those who might be involved.
“We have just become aware of the conversation between President Trump and President Putin,” the league said in a statement. “Obviously, we were not a party to those discussions, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time.”
While Ovechkin won’t be leaving his vacation in Turkey to suit up in Agee’s July friendly, he will be playing in an exhibition matchup later in the month. Ovechkin is scheduled to play in the annual “Match of the Year” charity game between Russian NHL and KHL stars, to be held at SKA Arena on July 25.
The 40-year-old winger is set to decide on the future of his NHL career sometime next month. He is weighing retirement versus signing one last, one-year contract with the Capitals.
