Russia-Ukraine war and hockey inextricably linked in Alberta
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer
VEGREVILLE, Alberta (AP) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is front and center in hockey communities in Northern Alberta and across Canada. Edmonton and the surrounding area is home to one of the largest populations of Ukrainians in the world. Junior hockey player Mykyta Protsenko and assistant coach Sergiy Ivanyuk are from Ukraine and are trying to use hockey as a refuge from the horror. Ukrainian-Canadians are rallying to show financial and emotional support for their ancestral homeland while fighting the helplessness of being thousands of miles from the war. That is proving easier said than done from tight-knit prairie towns to big cities.
