Over the last few months I have attempted to learn Russian. What small success I have had comes from trying to read Russian language content such as the hockey news on NHL.com/ru. The NHL’s website, like the websites of many large companies, is designed for use by readers in many different languages. NHL.com/ru is their Russian language website.
The NHL employs sports journalists who speak Russian to write Russian language content for the website. As a consequence the content on the Russian language website has a different focus than its English counterpart. When I scrolled through NHL.com/ru a couple weeks ago I realized that the top three stories were all about Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin is one of the best players in the league, but that is still a lot news about one player. Every time I came to the website the articles seemed to be more about Russian players than about the NHL. After noticing this I began taking notes on what kind of content NHL.com/ru offers. This article elucidates whether NHL.com/ru is dedicated to bringing news about the NHL or if it is mostly concerned with Russians in the league. For the fun of it I have also included some interesting Russian language headlines. Most browsers can automatically translate the articles, but be warned it is never perfect. For example Google Translate likes to translate Kaprizov as the Italian sounding name ‘Caprice’.
NHL News or News about Russians
NHL.com/ru has a clear focus on Russian players in the league. The homepage is broken down into sections similar to the layout of English language NHL.com. The second section after the main headlines is titled Последние новости о россиянах (‘Latest News about Russians’). The first section are the websites top stories and it should highlight the NHL’s marquis news. The week of Oct. 15-21 I tallied the total number of stories in the main headlines that were about Russian players against the number that were about the league as a whole or non-Russians.
Twenty-six of the thirty-five headline stories on NHL.com/ru between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21 were exclusively about Russian players. That is over 74% of the headline content. That count does not include stories like pieces about the three stars of the week where Ovechkin is one of the three. There are a lot of good Russian players in the league, but they do not warrant 74% of the media coverage. Keep in mind that this coverage is in addition to an entire section of news entirely about Russian players. With that being said, what kind of content does NHL.com/ru feature?
Highlights from the Headlines
One of my favorite parts of NHL.com/ru are the highlight reels from the last days’ action. Take for example this gem that recaps the games from Oct. 14. These highlights are of a notably lower production value than what can be found on the English site. More interestingly, they exclusively highlight plays from Russian players. I noted the inclusion of onetime Wild prospect Anton Khudobin in one of the highlight videos. Khudobin was born in Kazakhstan, but he also plays for the Russian national team.
It is curious the kind of content NHL.com/ru includes about Russian players in place of more tradition recaps and analysis. One Oct. 17 headline story was about the social media and personal lives of Russian players. It includes tweets about the dog Shesterkin gifted to his parents, Bobrovsky’s pregnant wife, and Dmitry Orlov’s wife and son going to the zoo. One of the top articles of Oct. 18 was this short piece about Ovechkin’s young son.
A worthwhile read, also found on the English language website, was about the Jamaican hockey team’s attempts to qualify for the 2026 Olympics. Is there a “Cool Runnings 2” in our future?
There is a lot of Russian content about the Minnesota Wild right now
The Minnesota Wild, “Миннесота” уайлд in Russian, were featured in a surprising number of stories on NHL.com/ru. The website’s focus is on Russian players and Kaprizov is already one of the most recognizable Russians in the NHL. In the next few years Kaprizov may be the most popular Russian in the league. That may sound like a bold claim, but consider the alternatives. Ovechkin is getting older. Goaltenders like Andrei Vasilevskiy make headlines less often than forwards do. Defenders also get less glory than forwards. Meanwhile, Kaprizov creates one thrilling offensive play after another.
In the week of Oct. 15-21 Foligno’s positive comments about Kaprizov and the Wild’s first victory over the Ducks at the beginning of the season were headline news on NHL.com/ru.