ST. PETERSBURG, June 1. /TASS/. Russia will send a strong ice hockey team to the 2018 Olympics, despite the recent decision by the National Hockey League (NHL) to keep its players from taking part in the Games, Russia’s Olympic chief Alexander Zhukov told TASS on Thursday.

"I’m deeply convinced that all the strongest athletes must participate in all sport events at the Olympic Games. Ice hockey is the main tournament and this can’t be done without the NHL. For well-known reasons, many best players are playing in the NHL," Zhukov said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The NHL announced in early April that it had decided against altering its schedule for the 2017-2018 season, meaning that international players bound by contracts with NHL clubs would not be able to leave next year to join their national teams to play at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, which are scheduled to take place in South Korea’s PyeongChang next year on February 9-25.

"Thanks to the strong championship of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), our situation is a bit different. In any case, we’ll send a strong team to South Korea but it would be nice if the tournament comes as a full-fledged event with the participation of NHL players," Russia’s Olympic chief said.