Cherry says Russian hockey team has “no class” after leaving ice before O Canada

TORONTO – Don Cherry says the Russian hockey team has “no class” after it snubbed the Canadian national anthem at the world hockey championships.

Canada downed Russia 6-1 on Sunday to capture its first gold medal at the tournament since 2007, and most of the Russian players quickly departed for the dressing room before the signing of O Canada.

“No class, no honour, they left the national anthem,” Cherry said on his Coach’s Corner segment during the first intermission of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final. “We were the ones that stayed there … we stood while they won, and they walked off the ice. They’ve got no class whatsoever.”

Russian news agency TASS reported on Monday that the Russian team is facing sanctions for leaving the ice before the anthem, which is a breach of the sport’s etiquette.

According to TASS, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Viktor Tikhonov and Dmitry Kulikov were among the few players who remained on the ice for the anthem.