Russia Delares War! ...(on the nhl)

[thebobman]

From Reuters.com

Russia has declared an all-out war on the National Hockey League (NHL), accusing the North Americans of stealing its best players.Russian hockey officials were up in arms after several top players, including teenage prodigy Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins' number one pick in 2004, walked out on their contracts with Russian clubs to pursue a career in the NHL.


The Malkin case has been front-page news on both sides of the Atlantic since the young Russian secretly left his club Metallurg Magnitogorsk at Helsinki airport earlier this month.

Malkin, considered the best player in the world outside the NHL, vanished for several days before resurfacing in the United States last week and declaring his wish to play for Pittsburgh.


"This is pure sports terrorism," Metallurg general director Gennady Velichkin told Reuters following the sudden disappearance of his best player.

-----------------------
Bonus points to the Russian coach for using the "terrorism" buzz word. Me thinks he's just pissed about loosing the cold war

[Chewy]

let the man make his own choices, good for him for standing up for his rights

[r a m a z e]

lol the russians lost!

[Hot Karl]

typical.

nhl minimum salary is 450k. metallurgs' compensation is 200k. a one shot deal for a guaranteed impact player who is currently under contract with metallurg.

if you don't think russia has the right to be pissed, you're a jaded idiot. just because it's russia doesn't mean they can't pay guys 4-5mill. not everyone gets that, but there is money there for the superstars. just like in the nhl.

say metallurg comes and steals luc bourdon from us. but we get 200k compensation? that sounds fair? losing a top rated prospect for next to nothing? oh did i mention the top rated prospect is under contract?

we shit on athletes here that refuse to honour contracts. hold out for more money, demanding trades. essentially holding teams and their fans hostage. but as long as it's some ruuuusky coming to the great nhl, all is forgiven.

[galaxie]

^ It may not JUST be the money. Life isn't exactly peachy keen in Russia.

[cubed]

^Are you kidding me nat? that is one of the most uneducated views I've seen in a long time. Maybe about 15 years ago, but certainly not now. The amount of wealth floating around Moscow is absolutely redick.

[galaxie]

^ No, I don't mean that at all. It's just that lot of them WANT to move to north america, so, when they have the opportunity, they take it.

[Grapes]

"This is pure sports terrorism," Metallurg general director Gennady Velichkin told Reuters following the sudden disappearance of his best player.

We have a new front runner for least appropriate use of the "T" word to date.

And there are a LOT of candidates.

[freekbeetz]

why pay a hockey player (or any superstar entertainer for that matter) millions of dollars anyways? why not pay all this money to doctors and nurses who are begging for better wages? don't get me wrong, I love hockey, but jesus, these people play "professional" games when others are saving lives sometimes on an hourly basis... I think its pretty bad when hockey players demand more money, and probably a good 95% of the time they get it, then the docs, nurses, and teachers ask for more, and they have to go on strike making people suffer, then get only a precentage of what they originally asked for....

I know I know, its show business baby, but IMO, its some seriously fucked up shit.

[Magi]

Originally Posted by cubed

The amount of wealth floating around Moscow is absolutely redick.

Random fact for the day:

As of March 2006, Moscow is the most expensive city to live in the world.

How funny, I was just reading up on this stuff yesterday.

Ladies and gentlemen, your top 10:

1. Moscow
2. Seoul
3. Tokyo
4. Hong Kong
5. London
6. Osaka
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Zurich
10. Oslo/New York (tie)
...
56. Vancouver

src: Wikipedia

[neoh]

In Soviet Russia, hockey pucks you!

[e_BoY]

Hong Kong at #4. wow thats surprising

[Séguin]

I heard about this. I pinned it down to this is the most boring time of the year for sports, and they really have nothing worth reporting.
Russia just doen't pay like North America does for hockey/players.

[Josh'sFAN]

Originally Posted by Magi

Random fact for the day:

As of March 2006, Moscow is the most expensive city to live in the world.

How funny, I was just reading up on this stuff yesterday.

Ladies and gentlemen, your top 10:

1. Moscow
2. Seoul
3. Tokyo
4. Hong Kong
5. London
6. Osaka
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Zurich
10. Oslo/New York (tie)
...
56. Vancouver

src: Wikipedia

these stats are based on responses from diplomats travelling to those countries no way does this reflect the reality even though Moscow has become much more expensive from the time i lived there

[Séguin]

There was something else that proved Moscow #1 more recently than March 2006. I can't remember the source however, so feel free to not believe me.

The point was, Russia isn't as bad a place to live as it once was.

[Josh'sFAN]

maybe Moscow and the area surrounding it isn't, along with other 4-5 major cities. The rest of the country is in horrible condition though.

[cubed]

^true, but have you taken a look at the southern midwest of the united states?

The same could be said about a lot of countries around the world. My main argument was that she shouldn't kid herself if she thinks that the standard of living for a professional sports athlete is terribly different from Europe to North America.

[Séguin]

Ya, the entire east coast of Canada isn't exactaly all that glorious either. Quebec is because they got all our tax money for the past 15 years. But east of that... not so nice.

[Magi]

Originally Posted by Josh'sFAN

these stats are based on responses from diplomats travelling to those countries no way does this reflect the reality even though Moscow has become much more expensive from the time i lived there

http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease...ontent/1142150

Originally Posted by From the report

Mercer's survey covers 144 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world's most comprehensive cost-of-living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

The Wikipedia article I got my info from used the Mercer survey as its primary source. 0% diplomat. 100% thinktank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...pensive_cities