KHL

Okay, so maybe that is a stretch, but, I am already sick of these guys, as you probably can already tell.  Now, they are starting to send me press releases, which I don’t really understand.  I’m not really too concerned, but here is what they sent me when it came down that the IIHF was suspending all the players, including Filatov:

KHL is in Disagreement with the Proposal to Suspend Players Signed Contracts

Today the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) suggested conducting an investigation regarding six players: Alexander Radulov, Nikita Filatov, Tomas Mojzis, Jason Krog, Fedor Fedorov and Victor Tikhonov. Until this investigation has come to its final conclusion and the IIHF has rendered its decisions, all the concerned players will be suspended from international transfers and competitions.

Regarding this statement KHL clarifies its position:
We accept the idea of an investigation but specify that it should be conducted within the framework of the relevant legislation of Russia, USA and Canada, as well as in accordance with the labor law regulations of the KHL and the NHL.

However, the KHL cannot accept the proposal to suspend player’s signed contracts.
“We do not accept the idea of suspending the contracts because this has not been agreed on by KHL and NHL. The mentioned players should not be made ‘scapegoats’ due to the fact that the Memorandum of Agreement has not been signed between the KHL and the NHL.  In the absence of a signed Memorandum of Agreement between the KHL and the NHL, it is important to remember that the player is under contract with the individual clubs and the KHL can only enforce any such agreements with the NHL, once the Memorandum has been signed by all parties,” said KHL President Alexander Medvedev.

KHL management calls on NHL to sign the Memorandum of agreement and to put it into force from July, 10 2008, which will legally prevent similar cases between the NHL and the KHL in the future.

Anyway, the Dispatch was granted an interview with the KHL President,  Alexander Medvedev.  It is a must read, but my favorite part of the interview is when Medvedev is asked if Filatov’s family had been threatened.  Here is Medvedev’s answer:

A: Good God! I have a nagging suspicion you read a lot of James Bond stuff in your spare time! This is not the case or the reality of the KHL.

It cracked me up, I think it was funny.  Anyway, I’m pretty sure Filatov is worth the fight!

The NHL Players Association isn't happy about the suspensions of the contracts of six players.

The IIHF announced that the transfers of Alex Radulov and five others are officially under investigation.

All six players are looking to transfer between the NHL and Russia's new Continental Hockey League (KHL). There's currently no formal transfer agreement in place between the two leagues, but both sides are committed to honoring each other's contracts.

The NHLPA said the IIHF has no right to suspend the six players.

NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly said on Saturday of the suspensions:

"Yesterday's announcement by the IIHF that they have suspended certain players from international competition has no basis in fact or law, and  constitutes a violation of the rights of these players, the affected players are being unfairly singled out in a dispute between the NHL and the KHL over whether to respect each others' contracts.

"The NHLPA's strong objection to this unilateral action by the IIHF has been registered, and unless this action is reversed, the NHLPA will consider all legal option available."

The six players having their deals reviewed are Radulov, Nikita Filatov, Vikton Tikhonov, Jason Krog, Tomas Mojzis and Fedor Fedorov. All parties have until July 31 to submit documentation to the IIHF.

Adding another twist to an already confusing situation, the NHL Players' Association today announced their opposition to the IIHF's decision to suspend the contracts of Alexander Radulov and five others.  The IIHF's actions came in light of complaints by the NHL and the KHL regarding the transfer of several players currently under contract.

Alexander Radulov, who has one year left on his contract with the Nashville Predators, signed a three-year deal on July 5 with Ufa of the Kontinental League.  Also under investigation are the contracts of NHL players Jason Krog, Nikita Filatov, Fedor Federov, Viktor Tikhanov, and Tomas Mojzis. 

The KHL alleges that Krog, Federov, Tikhanov, Filatov, and Mojzis were under contract with Russian clubs when they signed their NHL deals. 

A day after KHL President Alexander Medvedev announced his opposition to the suspensions, his sentiments were echoed by NHLPA Executive Director Paul Kelly. 

"Yesterday's announcement by the IIHF that they have suspended certain players from international competition has no basis in fact or law, and constitutes a violation of the rights of these players," Kelly said Saturday. "The affected players are being unfairly singled out in a dispute between the NHL and the KHL over whether to respect each others' contracts."

The NHLPA has officially registered their displeasure with the IIHF, and warned the governing body that they will consider all legal options available.

Alexander Radulov signed with a team from the newly-formed Russian Continental League (KHL). The signing was announced a day after the NHL and the KHL signed an agreement to honor each other's contracts, after attempts by KHL teams to sign Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin. 

"I told my bosses in Nashville that I wanted to play at home, and some Russian clubs were offering me much better conditions than I had in Nashville," Radulov told the Russian media.

"They said they would call me back but never phoned. It seems that they were either not really interested in me, or just did not believe I could return home. One way or another, I'm happy to come home."

In my opinion, Radulov should not be allowed to play hockey in the NHL again unless he honors the last year of his contract. Just because he is in the KHL, he shouldn't be treated differently for not honoring a contract. If  you're not going to honor it, don't sign it.

The IIHF suspended Radulov while an investigation takes place. While suspended, Radulov cannot compete in any International events—including the Olympics or World Championships.

Besides, other leagues around the world may not even sign him. I mean, why sign someone when they will not honor their contract?

So, if Radulov signs this deal, you won't see him playing outside of Russia.

The International Ice Hockey Federation took stern action today suspending the contracts of Alexander Radulov and five other players while it investigates their transfers.  Radulov signed a contract on July 5 with Ufa of the new Russian Kontinental Hockey League.

In addition to Radulov, the IIHF has also suspended the contracts of Nikita Filatov of Columbus, Thomas Mojzis and Jason Krog of Vancouver, Fedor Fedorov of New Jersey and Viktor Tikhonov of Phoenix. 

"Until this investigation has come to its final conclusion and the IIHF has rendered its decisions, all concerned players will be suspended from international transfers and competitions," said the IIHF in a statement released through their website.

In a separate statement IIHF President Rene Fasel indicated his hope that the situation could be resolved in a timely manner that was acceptable to all sides.

For their part the KHL indicated their acceptance of the IIHF investigation but rejected the idea of suspending contracts.

"We do not accept the idea of suspending the contracts because this has not been agreed on by KHL and NHL," said KHL President Alexander Medvedev in a statement. 

The KHL indicated their opposition was grounded in the fact that no agreement has yet been signed to govern transfers with the NHL.  This comes after reports that the two sides had reached agreement on the topic but had not yet signed any formal paperwork.

"The mentioned players should not be made 'scapegoats' due to the fact that the Memorandum of Agreement has not been signed between the KHL and the NHL.  In the absence of a signed Memorandum of Agreement between the KHL and the NHL, it is important to remember that the player is under contract with the individual clubs and the KHL can only enforce any such agreements with the NHL, once the Memorandum has been signed by all parties."

While Radulov has received the lion's share of attention, the KHL has also formally protested Nikita Filatov's contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Filatov, who was the sixth overall pick in this year's draft, was still under contract with CSKA Moscow according to the KHL. 

In addition Jason Krog also finds himself mired in this mess after it was reported last week that he signed a deal with KHL team Severstal Cherepovets before signing with the Canucks.

Regardless of the outcome of these situations one thing is clear: The NHL and KHL need to reach some form of formal agreement.  This is already beginning to spiral out of hand and its not beneficial to either league to have ambiguity regarding the transfer process.

The establishment of the new Russian Continental Hockey League is already proving to be a significant threat to the NHL game.

Earlier this summer, KHL founder Alexander Medvedev proved to everyone he means business by trying to draw Evgeni Malkin out of the last year of his NHL contract with the Penguins. The NHL and the KHL have now drawn up an agreement to ensure all contracts are respected, but it is clear that the new league intends to compete with the NHL for players.

How far will it go? Well, we can only speculate.

Many Russian, Swedish, Czech and other European superstars move their lives and families over to the North America in order to play with and against the best competition in the world. It has always been taken for granted that the best hockey players in the world and the biggest money contracts are in the National Hockey League.

As a result, most of the top young European talents of the last decade have made the sacrifice in order to play with the best players and make the big bucks.

But what if they could do all of it at home?

If we think of the incredible and ever-increasing number of skilled European players (forwards, defensemen, and goalies) playing in the NHL, it becomes easy to imagine an extremely competitive league comprised of these players located overseas. European hockey leagues have always existed and have always been competitive, but the best players aren’t there.

The new Russian League has the potential to change the entire dynamic of hockey worldwide, and it will likely be the start of a huge shift in the balance of power on a worldwide stage the European way.

Although several current European players (most notably Jaromir Jagr, Alexander Radulov, and Sergei Brylin) accepted large money offers to play next year overseas, it remains unlikely that the young and established next-generation NHL superstars will move back home.

However, the NHL does have to be very concerned about the future.

In recent years, there has been enormous incentive for young European players to make the move to North America. Competition, money, sponsors, fame, the list goes on. But as the size, reputation, and power of the Russian league become more attractive to the hometown boys, the benefits of going overseas will all of a sudden not be worth the sacrifice.

And so they’ll stay.

The next generation of great European players is going to have a huge incentive to stay home. And why not? There is no reason that this league cannot, over time, become as or more competitive than the NHL. The players will be there, the fans will be there, and the money will be there.

A majority of American NHL teams are no longer (or never were) financially viable. Despite an improved on-ice product, seats are still empty, ratings are low, and teams are now struggling to meet the minimum end of the cap! The league is vulnerable and the time seems to be right for somewhat of a fresh start for hockey.

The game seems to be transitioning to more of a skillful European style of play and the European players are the most electrifying and fun to watch anyway so why should they keep coming to us? Why don’t they just move the show back home?

Soon enough they will.

And before we know it, we might be back to the Original Six.

Straight from The On Deck Circle.net by Ian Cass.

In the opening salvo of what appears more and more likely to turn into a war, the Russian Kontinental Hockey League has decided to value Alexander Radulov's contract.

This comes after Radulov signed last week with KHL club Salavat Yulaev Ufa, even though he has a year remaining on his deal with the Nashville Predators.  It also comes despite reports that the NHL and KHL had reached agreement not to poach players currently under contract in either league. 

But the KHL argues that the agreement doesn't apply to Radulov.

“The NHL is trying to put things in a retrospective way saying that the (Radulov) transfer, which was on the fifth of July, constitutes the moment when we should respect each other’s rights,” said Ilya Kochevrin, a vice-president and the director of marketing for the KHL to The Hockey News.

“But this issue was dealt with in Zurich on the 10th. If you want to look at things retrospectively, we should prorate all the way to the time when Ovechkin and Malkin were taken out of the Russian clubs.”

While promising to honor the deal, the KHL also reports that they anticipate having a formal document prohibiting poaching ready by August 1.  But the NHL isn't satisfied with that, and seems ready to do anything necessary to enforce Radulov's deal with the Predators.  That apparently includes refusal to accept any transfer agreement with the Russian league.

“While we are pleased with the announcement that the KHL has voted to approve the accord we all talked about and agreed to last week, that does not lessen the obligation they continue to have—both legally and morally based on traditional principles of contract law and on representations made to us on at least two prior occasions—to respect valid and binding contractual obligations in our league,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told The Hockey News.

The intensifying battle between the two leagues has already involved the International Ice Hockey Federation, who last week ordered the KHL to void the deal.  Now that they have refused to do so the IIHF has the power to "red flag" Radulov and ban him from international play for Russia and his KHL club.

But as far as the KHL is concerned, that's just tough for the NHL.  From their perspective, this is nothing more than the NHL getting a taste of their own medicine.

"There was a one-way street when Russian players were moving to North America and clubs feel frustrated because so much has been invested in those players and nothing was given in exchange. The NHL has not been respecting our contracts for years, or even decades, and we need to have some control with respect to contracts," said Kochevrin.