Following team Russia's 6-1 loss to Canada at the 2015 World Ice Hockey Championships, several members of the team left the ice before the playing of the Canadian national anthem and the completion of the medal ceremony. This move was immediately frowned upon by the IIHF.
Shortly after the incident IIHF president Rene Fasel promised that there would be some sort of punishment for their actions, and on Monday it was announced that the Russian Ice Hockey Federation has been fined $80,000 Swiss Francs ($85,000) for leaving te ice.
The Russian team attempted to justify its decision by saying that a rink-side gate had been left open which the players assumed was a signal for them to leave the ice.
Here is part of the IIHF's explanation, including their reasoning for not buying into Russia's defense.
The Disciplinary Board noted that IIHF Member National Associations are obliged to abide by the IIHF Statutes, Bylaws, Regulations/Codes and decisions of the IIHF and are responsible for the actions of their national ice hockey teams and team officials registered to participate in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships and have to take care that staff and players are properly informed about their rights and obligations and urged to abide by them.
The panel is of the opinion that the occurrences on the ice show that this is not a result of an unfortunate misunderstanding. The Russian players and officials left the ice after a short discussion between the Russian team captain and some Russian officials and the unmistakable head gesture of the captain. It was also noted that the Russian team and management should have been aware of the postgame/victory and closing ceremony procedure because of their vast experience with IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. The open gate is irrelevant.
Only a handful of Russian players remained on the ice following the game, including Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (who urged his teammates to stay), Pittsburgh Peguins forward Evgeni Malkin, Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and forward Viktor Tikhonov, now a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The IIHF found in its review of the video that team captain Ilya Kovalchuk gave an "unmistakable head gesture" for his teammates to leave the ice before receiving their silver medals and the completion of the medal ceremony.
This was the video that showed the remainder of the Russian team leaving the ice.
