Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev threatened NHL legend Dominique Hasek, the Hockey Hall of Fame said in a lengthy social media post this week.
In Monday’s X post, He said he sent two letters to the chairman of the International Olympic Committee, and said he was a member of the Executive Committee, the chairman of the IIHF, and a member of its council.
“I will let them know that former Russian President Medvedev threatened to kill me,” he wrote. “We will further point out, among other things, how important their decision will be in the coming months, and that sports competitions will not be ads for the Russian War and will once again provide support to create rules so that people will not die for them.
Hasek, 60, was a strong critic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Medvedev, 59, is currently vice-president of the Russian Security Council, chaired by President Vladimir Putin, and in a comment published by Tas News Agency, a Russian state-owned media outlet, who said through his assistant that Medvedev is suffering from “rauophobia.”
The comments also included comments that Hasek should carefully cross the street, saying, “Don’t drink beer in untested places,” and recommendations for the legendary goaltender to look at the psychiatrist.
The alleged threat to Hasek has generated a strong response from Hasek’s native Czech leader, with the country’s prime minister Petr Fiala calling it “unacceptable” and “not surprising.”
Cekia Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky described Medvedev’s actions as “primitive.”
“This time, we’re attacking NHL legends and attacking Dominik Hasek simply to tell the truth. The truth about the Russian war and the misuse of sports in promoting it. Such threats may not be in the civilized world in Putin’s Russia!” Lipavsky said, According to the Associated Press.
Hasek took the NHL on a league mission to allow Russian players to compete despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
And in the past, he said only Russian players who condemned the war should be allowed to play in the league.
He was particularly vocal in X’s long post when Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL score record earlier this month.
Hasek didn’t name Ovechkin in the post, but Capitals Star shares a close relationship with Putin. Putin launched Putinteam in 2017 to support him in the 2018 Russian presidential election, but Ovechkin denied “political.”
The AP reported that Czech Home Minister Vít Rakušan said Hasek would get the necessary protections if necessary.
Medvedev has been concerned about other comments about Hasek in the past, citing the Associated Press that Russians say they can expect Hasek’s suicide.
Hasek played in the NHL for 16 years, of which nine spent time with the Sabers. This included the 1998-99 season when Buffalo fell to the stars in six games for the Stanley Cup Finals.
He won six Vezina Trophies and The Hart Trophy, and captured the Stanley Cup twice in 2002 and 2008 with Red Wings.
Hasek was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.
