Report: Malkin leaves Russian club

[TestSubjekt]

Report: Malkin leaves Russian club

According to Reuters, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass is reporting that Evgeni Malkin has left his Russian club Metallurg Magnitogorsk during training camp in Finland.

Malkin reportedly disappeared, taking his belongings and passport with him. Earlier this week, the Russian star reworked his two-year contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk and agreed to a new one-year deal.

Malkin has made no secret of his wishes to play with the Penguins in the National Hockey League. But the Russian Ice Hockey Federation has yet to sign a transfer deal with the NHL and Malkin has found himself in the middle of the impasse.

The previous transfer agreement would have seen Metallurg Magnitogorsk receive just $200,000 in exchange for Malkin.

"His wish is to play in the NHL, and in Pittsburgh," Barry told the AP. "We will continue to talk to him about his future, and we will decide the best course for him at this time."

This reminds me of when Alexander Mogilny defected to join the Sabres.

[twominuteminor]

This could very quickly develop into a mess for Malkin if the NHL leaves him to flounder without damage control of any kind.

In the interest of conserving the space, here are the article links from 8/15 issue of Sport-Express:

Where to look for Malkin?
Where he is
(no, it does not give the answer, but it's quite interesting, largely pro-Malkin, opinion piece)

Tretiak: The player needs to think what he's doing:
Tretiak

Gonchar: Malkin told me he wants to the NHL in Torino
Gonchar

Viktor Fedorov: Malkin does not stand in the same line with my son
Fedorov

Gandler: Magnitogorsk has a legal weapon
Gandler

I haven't had the time to run this all thru' Babelfish yet, so be patient.
LINK

[TestSubjekt]

You don't think the NHL would let him join the Pens?

[BroadST]

Isn't this somewhat similar to what Zherdev did with Columbus? His Russian club tried to sue but it was thrown out.

[twominuteminor]

admin said:

You don't think the NHL would let him join the Pens?

I'm not sure just what they could do. Some, I'm sure but not everything. They're dealing with two contracts; one signed after the other. Does that void the first if the transference fee (or whatever it's called) isn't paid? And the Russian league is wanting a stipend on top of that, I'm sure. Bottom line there's just as much going on over the table as under & both leagues have to watch that. Meanwhile this kid is stuck in the middle of this & all he wants to do is follow his dream & play hockey in the NHL.

[twominuteminor]

freezepop said:

Isn't this somewhat similar to what Zherdev did with Columbus? His Russian club tried to sue but it was thrown out.

I'm not sure. I know it was touch & go. If Zherdev wasn't signed on by October 5th then he was committed to playing in Russia. The only recent info I have found on him is over a month old...

Zherdev status link

[twominuteminor]

Put on a happy face....late breaking news!

disclaimer:The following is purely fictional and meant for entertainment purposes only. By entertainment, we mean we hope you laugh while reading this, while framing this, or while burning this. Any similarities between this and actual events is strictly coincidental and frankly, dumb luck. Remember to remind your lawyer about the made-up part, OK?

Fiction: Evgeni Malkin now has a Canadian passport.
Acquiring a Canadian passport takes almost twelve minutes and there is the requisite automatic weapons test. Malkin simply would not have had the time.

Fact: In protest, Russians tanks have amassed at the Polish border.
There are reportedly six tanks. Of the six only one has an engine that is currently operational (but has no armor, guns, or a working radio). Four of the tanks are made by Lada and will have void warranties should the drivers use any of the direction signals. One of the tanks is actually a grandmother of twelve from Vladivostok.

...more here THE TRUTH ABOUT MALKIN

[EvilWillow]

That's just silly!

[twominuteminor]

I know...but people are believing the other stuff & it's just as silly, don't ya think? That's what keeps all those tabloids flying off the shelves.

I just wish we could get some news about what's happening; something we could trust & more important, something GOOD! I've had a permanent case of hives ever since this all started...lol!

The latest isn't good but at least it's news...

Malkin's whereabouts is not currently known. However, sources tell TSN he is not in Canada and it is believed he will be escorted out of Europe by one of his representatives and into the United States within the next 24 hours. Upon arrival in the United States his location will be exposed and the entire saga, including Malkin's reasons behind his sudden change of heart, will be made public.

The pressure on the 20-year-old Malkin has been immense. A Russian source close to Malkin alleges team officials swarmed his car recently and followed him home in an effort to encourage him to agree to a new deal.

"He was very upset," Penguins star Sergei Gonchar told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, noting that there must have been a lot of pressure on the youngster to re-sign with his Russian team - maybe too much pressure.

LINK

It's just deplorable what they're doing to this guy!! He's not going to be emotionally worth spit by the time he's skating his first game of the season wherever it is!

[558561]

Here is an article on Zherdev that may give insight to the Malkin situation.

sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1751178

[twominuteminor]

Thanks 558561, I couldn't find anything last night & time was a premium for me. This seems to be typical with the Russian players & the Red Army etc.. We'll have to just keep hoping the opening of our season has Malkin on OUR roster.

[BroadST]

I read somewhere today that Malkin was in LA as of today with his adgent and that he's looking to sign on with the Pens.

[twominuteminor]

Stories abound. He is everywhere. This is still a soap opera & the end is nowhere in sight.

Sources tell ESPN.com that new national hockey czar, Hall of Fame netminder Vladislav Tretiak -- appointed by Hall of Fame defenseman Slava Fetisov, who is the head of Russian sport -- was willing to sign the transfer agreement with the IIHF but folded when he was pressured by some Russian club owners.

Define 'pressured'. To us that means verbal pleading & offering incentives. To a Russian that could mean 'pick life or death, comrad'.

ESPN's rather heavy-handed article goes on to almost blame Malkin for the whole thing...ya gotta love the media!
However, I'm giving you the chance to read for yourself & decide. Victim or villain?
LINK

[BroadST]

Well, first of all, this guy is from ESPN and ESPN knows hockey about as well as I know about being a surgeon, next to nothing.

Then this guy seems to say that he could of just left by his own free will. Not that I know squat about Russia but judging by some of the things that have happened over the last 5-10 years with hockey, I would be fearful myself.

And then he seems to inply that the guy is a pushover because "whoever comes in contact with him last leaves a lasting impression" Umm, HELLO. He's 20 years old and about to come to a completely different country.

MORON!!!

[TestSubjekt]

Malkin is in LA.

www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=174525&hubname=nhl

Evgeni Malkin is in Los Angeles with his agents J.P. Barry and Pat Brisson.

Malkin is seeking counsel to determine how he can join the Pittsburgh Penguins.

''It's been a stressful couple weeks for him, but he's here and we're making plans for the future right now,'' Barry told TSN.

Barry has been with Malkin since the pair connected at an airport in Helsinki, Finland on Saturday, at which point they went into lockdown in a nearby apartment to await Malkin's visa clearance.

The 20-year-old requested Barry meet him in Helsinki because he knew this would be his first opportunity to control his own passport. Upon receiving the passport in the airport Malkin quickly slipped away from his team, found Barry and was whisked into hiding.

''Magnitogorsk controlled Evgeni's passport and this was his first opportunity he could obtain his passport and leave the team,'' Barry added.

All of the secrecy was necessary to ensure Magnitogorsk officials wouldn't track Malkin down while he waited for the U.S. embassy in Helsinki to process an American visa.

''The hard part was getting a visa through the American embassy in Finland,'' said Barry.

That visa arrived midday on Wednesday and within two hours Malkin and Barry boarded an airplane bound for the United States.

[HockeyGuru]

Honestly, I hope that they don't spill any details about his whereabouts. He and his family are not safe right now.

If anyone here has read about the extortion & threats to other Russian NHLers, then you would understand that the Russian Mafia is no one you want to mess with.

Roman Lyashenko

www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/showstory.cgi?story_id=42944


From a Blog… states Newsday as it’s source:

www.puckupdate.com/archives/2003_07_06-2003_07_12.html

Lyashenko's death is considered suspicious because Alexei Traseukh, who coached Lyashenko for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in Russia, was shot to death in January in his apartment in Yaroslavl, where Lyashenko lived. In May, Igor Grigorenko, a former teammate in international competition, sustained a broken leg and concussion in a car crash in Russia. In June, former Lokomotiv teammate Vladimir Antipov was injured and his wife killed in a car crash. Lyashenko's apparent suicide fueled speculation of links to the Russian Mafia.

I wish Malkin all the best...

[558561]

Man, I hope nothing bad happens to Malkin no wonder these guys are so secretive when they leave the country.

[twominuteminor]

Yeah, I agree hockeyguru & we are all aware. Pavel Bure told some pretty frightening stories years back, & there are documented cases of hockey players families being harmed or driven to suicide. I'm just glad he's here altho' California isn't the safest place for him either.
There is a large contingency of ROC in that state with some control in banking.

Mob killings of people related to hockey
Now bad as the situation might be in North America, it pales in comparison with what is going on in the former Soviet Union.

We spoke about Peter Schmeichel - the Danish goalkeeper who used to play for Manchester United. Well let's talk about the situation at the Manchester United of Russian hockey - TSKA Moscow.

In the 1970s and 80s - the Moscow Red Army team or TSKA practically owned hockey in the Soviet Union. They had a long string of championships and most of their players played on the world championship and Olympic winning team.

So it was a surprise when their skate sharpener - the equivalent of the guy who cleans the boots - was killed in a mafia style assassination attack. Nor was he the only person killed by the mob. One of their junior players was also killed by the mob.

Possibly you don't think there is much of a problem if only junior personnel are being killed? Well then take the case of Ms. Larisa Nechayeva - she was the President of Sparta Moscow - the chief rival of TSKA Moscow. She was shot and killed by the Russian mafiya.

Or the President of the prestigious TSKA St. Petersburg hockey team: he too was killed by the mob.

Or how about this story that was told to me by Mrs. Valentin Sych. One April morning in 1997 she and her husband were leaving their dacha outside of Moscow. As they were driving along a flat bed truck with seven men and a Kalashnikov machine gun mounted on the truck drove in front of them. The men fired three short bursts from the Kalashnikov through the window screen of the car. They severely injured Mrs. Sych, the driver and killed her husband. Why? Well, he was the President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.

LINK

We are spoiled somewhat here having lived in relative safety most of our lives, but others like Malkin haven't had that privilege

[twominuteminor]

freezepop said:

Well, first of all, this guy is from ESPN and ESPN knows hockey about as well as I know about being a surgeon, next to nothing.

Then this guy seems to say that he could of just left by his own free will. Not that I know squat about Russia but judging by some of the things that have happened over the last 5-10 years with hockey, I would be fearful myself.

And then he seems to inply that the guy is a pushover because "whoever comes in contact with him last leaves a lasting impression" Umm, HELLO. He's 20 years old and about to come to a completely different country.

MORON!!!

Well stated. I am constantly shaking my head at these Einsteins who seem to think Malkin is a free spirit & can just do whatever he wants. First of all he's one month out of his teens. And in his country, he's a commodity, & a very valuable one. They don't want to lose him. They have ways & means of achieving what they want & if he wasn't scared, then I'd wonder about him 'cuz I sure know I'd be scared under his circumstances.
Let's see how fast all these big bad brave ESPN he-men would act in his position. Good thing they never have to put their life on the line to go to work huh? Or they'd all have to have a change of underwear stashed at work.

[TestSubjekt]

www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=174657&hubname=nhl

In the midst of a firestorm over the past couple of weeks, Russian centre Evgeni Malkin has arrived in North America and TSN's Darren Dreger sat down with him for an exclusive interview Friday.

"It's been very difficult," Malkin told TSN. "I was under great psychological pressure and it was hard. But, my concern was more for my family and how they would cope."

Having reportedly signed a new contract with Magnitogorsk on August 7, Malkin has given two weeks notice that he intends to void his contract, a tactic under Russian labour law that is also being used by Edmonton Oilers prospect Alexei Mikhnov. Malkin told TSN that he will be staying in Los Angeles until that two-week window expires on August 28.

(link to TSN.CA was defunct so I'm giving you the link to the interview on Youtube.

MALKIN INTERVIEW