Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev threatened NHL legend Dominik Hasek, the Hockey Hall of Famer said in a lengthy post on social media this week.
In a post on X on Monday, he said he sent two letters to the president of the International Olympic Committee, along with members of the executive board, the president of the IIHF and members of its council.
“I inform them that former Russian President Medvedev threatened to kill me,” he wrote. “Furthermore, among other things, I point out how important their decisions will be in the coming months and again offer assistance in creating rules so that sports competitions are not an advertisement for the Russian war and people do not die because of them. I consider both letters very important not only for the IOC and IIHF, but for the entire sports and also non-sports community. Therefore, I will publish them in a few days.”
Hasek, 60, has been a strong critic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Medvedev, 59, is currently the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, and in comments published by the TASS news agency, a Russian state-owned media outlet, Medvedev said through his assistant that Hasek suffered from “Russophobia.”
The comments also included remarks that Hasek should be careful crossing the street and should “not drink beer in unverified places,” along with a recommendation for the legendary goaltender to see a psychiatrist.
The alleged threats toward Hasek have created a strong response from leaders in Hasek’s native Czechia, with the country’s Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, calling them “unacceptable” but “not surprising.”
Czechia Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský described Medvedev’s behavior as “primitive.”
“This time attacking NHL legend Dominik Hasek simply for speaking the truth — the truth about Russia’s war and the misuse of sports in promoting it. Such intimidation may be normal in Putin’s Russia, not in the civilized world!” Lipavsky said, according to the Associated Press.
Hasek has taken the NHL to task for the league allowing Russian players to be able to compete despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
And in the past, he said that only Russian players who condemned the war should be allowed to play in the league.
He was particularly vocal when Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL scoring record earlier this month in a lengthy post on X.
Hasek did not name Ovechkin in the post, but the Capitals star has shared close ties to Putin, which included launching PutinTeam in 2017 to support him in the 2018 Russian presidential elections, though Ovechkin denied it was about “political stuff.”
The AP reported that Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said Hasek would get the necessary protection if he needed.
Medvedev has made other concerning comments about Hasek in the past, with the Associated Press quoting the Russian saying that Hasek’s suicide could be expected.
Hasek played 16 years in the NHL, nine of which were spent with the Sabres, including the 1998-99 season that saw Buffalo fall to the Stars in six games in the Stanley Cup Finals.
He won six Vezina Trophies and the Hart Trophy, while also capturing the Stanley Cup twice — in 2002 and 2008 — with the Red Wings.
Hasek was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.
