IN BRIEF : Three Soviet Players OKd for NHL

Three of the Soviet Union’s finest ice hockey players are now free to play with the National Hockey League, the official Tass press agency reported today.

The announcement that Vyacheslav Fetisov, Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov were discharged Wednesday from the Red Army, whose hockey team they represented in the Soviet league, capped months of unprecedented public squabbling within the world champion hockey team. Tass said the three were discharged “owing to reduction of staff” in the Red Army and “are now free to sign contracts with NHL or any other foreign clubs.”

It was unclear how much of their hard-currency earnings the players will be permitted to keep if they sign NHL contracts, as expected. Other Soviet athletes competing internationally have been required to turn over a share of their earnings or winnings to Soviet sports organizations.