Russia were ready to reject a new transfer agreement with the
National Hockey League (NHL) on Tuesday, in a move that would
prolong a two-year-old boycott and could throw the game into
chaos.
"Our position hasn't changed a single bit," the president of the
Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF), Vladislav Tretiak, told
Reuters.
"The main thing is, we want the NHL to respect our contracts. If
they want to take a player who is under contract, they must first
negotiate his release with that club."
Russia remains the only major hockey power not to sign the
agreement, brokered by the International Ice Hockey Federation
(IIHF) and the NHL on Saturday.
Top officials, representing the NHL, the IIHF and Europe's seven
major hockey nations discussed the final details of a new pact that
would pay European clubs $200,000 for every player signed by an NHL
team.
The old agreement signed in 2005 expires next month.
The IIHF believed it was close to getting the RIHF on board at
last year's world championship, but were rebuffed by owners of
elite Russian clubs, who demanded millions of dollars in
compensation for losing top players such as Alexander Ovechkin and
Evgeni Malkin.
But Tretiak said the new deal was no different from the old.
"We don't need handouts," said the Hall of Fame goaltender.
"And to us a $200,000 sum is a handout. We know that players
such as Malkin or Ovechkin are worth millions and we intend to
fight for our rights in the courts."
Walking out
Ovechkin, 21, the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL entry
draft, joined the Washington Capitals without compensation the
following year after walking out on his club Dynamo Moscow.
Malkin, 20, who was taken second overall by the Pittsburgh
Penguins in 2004, secretly fled Russia's Metallurg Magnitogorsk to
join the NHL club last August.
The lack of an agreement has resulted in several court cases on
both sides of the Atlantic in the past.
Russian teams launched law suits in US courts in an attempt to
block Malkin, Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals teammate
Alexander Semin from playing in the NHL.
The case of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nikolai Zherdev went
all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in
Switzerland after his former club, CSKA Moscow, argued he was still
obliged to perform military service.
All four cases ended in favor of the player and the NHL, leaving
the Russian clubs with no compensation.
But Tretiak said past legal failures would not prevent Russians
trying their luck in courts in the future.
"We're about to adopt a new labor law in our country, concerning
professional athletes," he said. "It'll make it a lot tougher for
the NHL to steal our best players."
Tretiak, who has had a successful political career since
retiring in 1984, did not shut the door on the NHL completely,
hoping to find a compromise in the end.
"We haven't officially informed the IIHF of our decision. You
can always say no, but we'll wait a bit longer to see if they (NHL)
might soften their stance," he said.
(China Daily via Agencies May 10, 2007)