All of them had been drafted by NHL teams, and Tikhonov might have thought that they might defect if they were allowed to go to the West, just like Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Fedorov.
De var alle blevet draftet af NHL-hold, og Tikhonov har måske tænkt, at de muligvis ville hoppe af, hvis de fik lov at rejse til vesten, ligesom Aleksandr Mogilnij og Sergej Fedorov.