Political and social unrest in Russia is not going to stop John Tavares from fully embracing his first Olympic experience.
Starting on Feb. 9, the NHL will shut down for two weeks and Tavares will be off to Sochi, where the Islanders star center will play for Team Canada. With a turbulent climate that includes a heightened terror alert and policy-driven discrimination against homosexuals, Tavares is bringing along six guests, including his parents, his sisters and his girlfriend.
“I think you’re obviously concerned,” he told The Post before Friday night’s Garden match against the rival Rangers, the two teams’ final meeting of the season and their third in the past 10 days.
“But at the same time, I think a lot of those things are out of your control. You trust the authorities that are in charge to do the right things and do a good job, and from everything in talking with Hockey Canada, the [Canadian Olympic Committee], and our communications with Russian Federation [and the International Olympic Committee], all precautions are being taken.”
Not all are as confident. Coyotes goalie Mike Smith, who is the third netminder on Canada’s roster, said he would be leaving his family at home because of the security concerns. Tavares made the point to say that despite his guests not being able to stay in the actual athlete’s village – the most secure place in the city – they will be staying at a hotel less than a half-kilometer away.
With a short five-minute drive through all sorts of security checkpoints, he feels that their safety is not an issue.
“We are in good locations as athletes, and our families are in a great spot,” said Tavares, who also noted the Canadian part of the athletes village is within walking distance of the rink where the games will be played. “You’re going to go there and try to focus on playing the games and put your faith and trust that they’re going to do a good job like all other Olympics have done.”
On Dec. 29, there were two suicide bombings in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, about 400 miles from Sochi, which killed 34 people and injured more than 60. On Thursday, a Russian news agency reported two accomplices in the bombings were detained. They were described as Islamist extremists working for Chechen warlord Doku Umarov. For over two decades, there has been strife over establishing an independent Chechnya, and terrorists groups from the Caucasus region have claimed ownership of repeated deadly attacks.
Umarov also is said to orchestrate “black widow” bombers, a group of Muslim widows whose husbands died as insurgents and who are now dedicated to the cause. One of these bombers is reportedly at large in downtown Sochi, yet to be apprehended. The authorities have handed out leaflets in the city with her picture, saying she is a 22-year-old named Ruzanna Ibragimova, clad in a pink Muslim headscarf.
“It’s concerning, obviously,” Tavares said, “just because the proximity is very close.”
In hopes of creating a little bit of comfort, Russian president Vladimir Putin created what he called “a ring of steel” around the city, part of the reported $50 billion invested in the Winter Games. An NBC report said there are “40,000 security officers in the city,” which is “packed with metal detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs and explosive detectors.”
In addition, Sochi mayor Anatoly Pakhomov said there is not a single gay person living in the city because “it’s not accepted here,” and the country as a whole adopted a law last year that stopped the dissemination of “gay propaganda” to children.
But security continues to be the main concern, as it was when the NHL and the Players’ Association finally made an agreement in July to participate in the Olympics.
“We know that security [concerns] are a lot of the things that were negotiated, talked about with all these things,” Tavares said. “So I know the PA, too, has been in contact with a lot of people. They believe everything should be secure, and it should be a good games.”