NHL-Soviet Series May Be Canceled

National Hockey League officials have given the Soviet Union two days to confirm its participation in two exhibition series or both may be canceled, Montreal Canadiens’ general manager Serge Savard said Monday.

Yuri Korolev, vice president of the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation, and Igor Dmitriev, assistant coach of the national team, said at the Goodwill Games in Seattle they will notify the league Wednesday that the two series will be canceled.

The cancellation would be a protest against the Detroit Red Wings’ signing of Sergei Fedorov, one of the top 20-year-old players in the world, who left the national team before the Goodwill Games and signed with Detroit.