Ice hockey: Henrik Haukeland moves to the KHL, banned from the national team

Haukeland, 31, terminated his contract with German club Straubing Tigers on Monday. The new address has not yet been officially confirmed, but according to the Russian media, the goalkeeper will head to Traktor Chelyabinsk.

“I have decided to take on a new athletic challenge and leave Straubing. It has not been an easy decision, but I believe it is the right one for me,” Haukeland said on the Straubing Tigers’ website.

Haukeland’s decision is upsetting in Norway, because it means that the player will be excluded from the national team. The country’s hockey association has taken a strict line since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

“The federal government has made a decision according to which players with a club connection to Russian ice hockey are not available to the national team,” the federation’s sports director Patrick Thoresen said Norway TV2:lle.

“So if Henrik continues his career there, we have no chance to play him in the national team.”

Hawkland was chosen as the best goalkeeper of the spring WC.

He has also played in the SM league in his career. In the 2018–2019 season, Haukeland represented TPS and in the 2019–2020 season, KooKoo.