The National Hockey League has released a statement formally condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The league shared the message on Twitter writing that the NHL is "concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL Clubs, and not on behalf of Russia."

The statement went on to say that the NHL "urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible." The NHL said that the organization has suspended its relationship with business partners in Russia and said "we are pausing our Russian language social and digital media sites. In addition, we are discontinuing any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions involving the NHL."

On Friday, Russian-born NHL player Alex Ovechkin said, "I have lots of friends in Russia and Ukraine. And, it's hard to see another war. I hope it's soon going to be over and there's going to be peace in the whole world," CNN reported.

And on Saturday, NHL great Wayne Gretzky said, "I think international hockey should say, 'We're not gonna let them play in the world junior hockey tournament. I think we got to, as Canadians, take that stance," the CBC reported.

The Seattle Kraken say they will make National Hockey League history during Thursday night's game against Winnipeg when play-by-play announcer Everett Fitzhugh and analyst JT Brown team up to form the first all-Black television broadcast crew to call an NHL game.

Fitzhugh and Brown will appear on ROOT Sports Northwest. Fitzhugh is Seattle's radio play-by-play announcer but will be moving over to the television side for one night while regular TV announcer John Forslund works the national broadcasts for Vegas and Colorado on TNT. 

Seattle senior vice president of marketing and communications Katie Townsend said the team had planned for Forslund to miss a small number of games for national broadcast duties during the season and have Fitzhugh step in. She said having Fitzhugh and Brown team up during Black History Month adds even more significance. 

"We are fortunate to have an incredibly talented broadcast team. Everett and JT moved into NHL broadcasting this season, worked hard and have made an immediate connection with our fans," Townsend said.

Fitzhugh was Seattle's first broadcast hire in the summer of 2020 after working in the ECHL. 

Brown retired after playing parts of seven seasons with Tampa Bay, Anaheim and Minnesota. He last played during the 2018-19 season.

This story was originally published by Alex Livingston of Newsy, and the Associated Press contributed.