“With no NHL players and no Russia, Slovenia could win Hockey Gold.”
Not likely, as there will be plenty of great players from Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden.
Anyway, I don’t like Olympic boycotts and exclusions. Not everyone in Russia is part of some Putin machine - there is obviously some serious cheating but there are also real athletes who will be affected, on all sides - those competing against lesser competition and those excluded. I would prefer to see testing at the Olympics ramped up and root out cheaters one by one.
It’s because the Russian team is so tied to the State for its support — not private sponsorships and things.