Russian Junior Hockey Champs Deny Wild Night

Friday, 07 January 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Delta employees refused to allow 30 members of the gold medal-winning Russian junior hockey team to board an aircraft yesterday because they were too drunk. Despite dozens of witnesses and a video showing the team celebrating heavily, when the Buffalo News tried to confirm the story with members of the team, responses ranged from “I don’t speak English” to the very brief, “False.”

The players, none of whom are old enough to legally drink in the US, were caught on video chugging champagne in the locker room after their 5-3 victory over Canada. Locals say the team then moved to a bar where, wrapped in flags, they continued to celebrate. A bus driver who picked team members up at 3am confirms that some heavy drinking was going on: “They were so drunk they had to carry a couple of the guys onto the bus.” Or, as the New York Post put it: