Russian coach tries to explain why police were called to remove team from plane

Information that the team was removed from the flight was later confirmed by multiple media outlets including a Russian outlet. Russian coach Sergei Zubov was accused of trying to vape in business class before the flight took off, with a vaporizer he had hidden in his sleeve.

This morning Zubov issued the following comments to a Russian media outlet in an attempt to downplay the disruption and removal of the team.

"There is nothing special to comment on. The team will fly home to Russia in an hour. All are safe and sound. Probably someone really needs to exaggerate what actually happened. Many guys from both teams were wearing masks incorrectly. After repeated reminders, the airline decided to remove both teams from the flight."

Zubov also added the following statement about the accusations of his vaping on the flight.

"Come on, what kind of cigarettes? I quit smoking three years ago."

Obviously this quote doesn't directly reflect the accusations of vaping, but like a similar issue in 2011 this is likely to be handled internally by the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.

It is worth noting the legal drinking age in Alberta is 18, which would freely allow the Russian and Czechia players to legally consume alcohol.

Source: MatchTV