Have you ever read about Russian provincial clubs buying NHL players for some fairly short-term contracts? Well, you should read up on some of the stuff professional athletes from the US and Canada write about industrial cities in Russia. Some of their writing is pretty hilarious. They used sh!thole word before Trump made it popular.
I think you are a bit wrong. The third hockey player in the world Jaromir Jagr several years played in Omsk's Avangard. That time he had adopted Orthodox christianity. He names himself as a Russian Orthodox. I think he likes Russia and Omsk . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaromír_Jágr